I have some questions about my car. it has 150k miles about 65-70% high way driving. I have done the timing belt and the serpintine tentioner pulley. I have not done any other major work to it. Am I going to see alt/ps pump and water pump replacements in the near future?? I use the gold preston extended life coolant and drain it once a year with distilled water 50/50. I try to keep my revs below 2500rpm, I try to not gas on it while the wheels are turned tightly(fear of cv joint failier). I let it run 5-10 minutes to let the engine warm up and the gaskets expand so they don't start leaking. I leave it running whenever possible to avoid starter failer.
I'm just kinda paranoid that this car is going to fail on me, and it is my only insured car.
thanks,
Dustin

 

Sounds to me that your babying it more than enough . Only things I can think of would be: giving it a tune up if it hasn't had one lately (including the fuel filter which I know is a pain to change out), getting your alternator checked and making sure it's charging like it shoud, check your serpentine belt (they're prone to cracking around every 60K regardless of which brand belt you use), check your vacuum hoses (specifically the ones that go to the pcv valves) since they are prone to getting soft and cause a vacuum leak as the result of a hole in one of the hoses, and have your brakes checked out if you haven't looked at them in a while.

Those are the only things I can think of at the moment that escorts have problems with (from personal experience) but other than checking those things you sound like you've been on top of maintenece for quite some time. Good luck.

 

Are we a little paranoid? What is the use in asking "what if?" Drive the car, and if the water pump fails then replace it. Plain and simple. You woudln't be the first person to ever have car trouble and have to get towed home. Anything on a car can fail - does that mean you should replace everything on the car everytime you get paranoid? If something is not broken then it makes no sense to worry about it. If your water pump fails, replace it. If it's not failing, don't replace it.

 

I do the serpintine belt every 2 years, fuel filter(wix) every 25k miles, brakes it needs about every 75k( I do them). I have put the one 02 sensor in the manifold(check engine light came on) I have put one set of wires and plugs(motor craft XXXXX) I change trans fluid/filter every 25-30k miles. i have put one wix air filter on the car sense I've owned it.
How long do the cv joints last on the zx2s? I don't see much talk about them in the zx2 forums.
The car has no mesurable amount of oil consumption. It is still right put on full at the 5k OCI. I use moble one in the trans and engine.
It is bone dry underneath the car and no gasket seepage.
Is 5w-30 a good wieght in texas for this car??

 

5W20 would be better. That's what Ford now recommend for your engine.

I have a friend that ran some of the qualification tests at Ford to qualify engines for 5W20. That's the testing they do before they recommend it to make sure it doesn't hurt durability. He expected to have problems, but the engine looked BETTER after the test running 5W20 than it did running 5W30. There's more to oil than the viscosity, and the 5W20 oils are better.

That's what I'm running in my '96 Escort.

One change that I'd recommend is to cut down on the idling warm up. One minute is PLENTY, then drive easy until it is up to temperature. All that idling is not really good for anything.

 

I had an 02 ZX2 and ran the **** out of it, that 2.0 zetec will run for a 4 cylinder, it was a great car. The new cars will easily run 200,000 to 300,000 miles with proper care. My ZX2 also would get 38 mpg highway, it was a 5 speed manual. There a good car and easy to work on and parts aren't real expensive as it's in the excort family. Drive it like you stole it and it will last longer, seems like cars that you baby are allways breaking.

 

wendell,
drive it like i stole it uuuuhhhhhh.......
Doesn't letting it warm up help eliminate gasket and seal leaks.
I'm worried about accessory bearing failing on me like ideler pulleys, water pump, alterator if I spin the motor faster than 2500rpm

 

Dude, you're paranoid.
First off, it's only parts. It's a fairly new car, so parts are most likely on the shelf at any store. The parts won't fail revving it within the factory pre-set limits unless they are already bad, then they'll fail even at idle. By going too easy on the car, you wind up with deposit buildups in the intake, combustion chamber, EGR passages, etc. The car is designed to be run at a certain stress level, too much above or below, and things fail.
BTW, service interval on the air filter should be 12K. That and oil changes are the only maintenance stuff I really keep on top of, if it starts starting hard or misfiring on rainy days it gets a tuneup. Speaking of starting, starters are meant to be used. You don't get a set amount of starts, and the underhood heat while idling and not moving will do more harm to the starter than it being used every five minutes.
A CV won't fail by giving it gas a tight angle unless the CV is already bad. If you have clicking while giving it gas on turns, then replace the axle shaft. If the boot is ripped and it's gotten dirt in there or the grease is all gone, then replace it. If there are no signs of failure, don't sit there and wait for it to happen. Drive it till it fails, THEN fix it.
BTW, I have several vehicles that I beat on daily when it's their turn on the road, and none are anywhere near as new as your car. I have a 70 Ford Galaxie that is a daily driver, that gets beaten. 60mph in first at about 5500rpm getting on the highway. The only failures I have had on that car are related to what morons have done to it before, the only time it's left me on the side of the road was when I ran it out of gas. My truck is a 69 F250, six cylinder auto. It has low gears, and turns about 3500rpm at 65. It's top speed floored on a level highway is about 75, and I have held it at that for around an hour straight, with no issues. I have used it to tow about 1.5times it's own weight over a mountain pass at near highway speeds (maxed out at 45 in second gear), and again the only time I've had to walk away from it is when I ran it out of gas.
So, enjoy your car. Drive in a manner that the people behind you will appreciate, and do your car a favor at the same time.

 

No, it doesn't.