Seat Belt Minder Disable

Tired of the seat belt chime activating while you're sitting in the car waiting for someone? The ford owners manual tells all. Here's how to disable it.

Time Required:
5 minutes

Tools Needed:

Hands

Keys

Lots of patience

Procedure:

The Belt Minder is the electronic warning system to remind you to use your safety belt system. It's a combination of a sounding chime and the illuminating warning light on your instrument panel. By default, the Belt Minder is active. When active, if the driver's safety belt is not buckled in about 5 seconds from the time the warning light has turned off, the warning light will again illuminate and the alarm chime will sound for 6 seconds, repeating itself every 30 seconds for the next 5 minutes, or until you buckle your seat belt.

You can De-Activate the Belt Minder two ways. First, you can deactivate it temporarily for your current "run cycle", that is after you have started your car and it's still running. Second, you completely deactivate the Belt Minder so that it never reminds you again, or at least until your reactivate it...

The first method, temporary deactivation, or one time disable: After you have started your vehicle, buckle and then un-buckle your safety belt. Be sure to buckle back up.... This will disable the Belt Minder only for that ignition cycle.

The second method, permanent deactivation: Before starting, make sure that:

The partking brake is set.

The car is in Park(automatic), Neutral(manual).

The ignition is OFF.

All doors are closed.

The driver's safety belt is un-buckled.

The parking and headlights are OFF.

1) Turn the ignition switch to ON, but DO NOT START.
2) Wait for the safety belt warning light to go OFF(1-2 minutes).
Steps 3-5 MUST be completed within 60 seconds!
3) Buckle, then un-buckle the driver's safety belt 3 times, ending with the belt un-buckled.
4) Turn on the headlights, turn off the headlights.
5) Buckle, then un-buckle the driver's safety belt 3 times, ending with the belt un-buckled.
After step 5, the Safety Belt Warning Light will be turned on for 3 seconds.
6) Within 7 seconds of the safety belt warning light turning OFF, buckle then un-buckle the safety belt. This will disable the Belt Minder if it is currently enabled, or enable the Belt Minder if it is currently disabled.

Confirmation of the disabling of the Belt Minder is provided by flashing the safety belt warning light 4 times per seconds for 3 seconds. Confirmation of the enabling of the Belt Minder is provided by flashing the safety belt warning light 4 times per seconds for 3 seconds, followed by 3 seconds with the safety belt light off, then followed by flashing the safety belt light 4 times per second for 3 seconds again. After confirmation, the deactivation/activation of the Belt Minder procedure is complete.

Identifying your engine

Some Focus owners are having trouble identifying their engines. When troubleshooting problems and shopping for aftermarket parts, you must know what engine you have under the hood. Here are some ways to tell which engine you have.

Time Required:
5 minutes or less

Tools Needed:

Hands

Eyes

Procedure:

 First, open the hood and prop it open.  Take a look at your engine bay.  2.0L Zetec-E (Commonly referred to as "Zetec" in the Focus world)  * Valve cover is usually black, and bearing "Ford" and "16v Zetec" logos on it * Valve cover has 4 spark plug boots running down the middle, with two raised areas in front of and behind the spark plug boots * Oil cap is in the front drivers side corner of the valve cover * Found in many 2000-2004 Focus trim levels * Not available in the Focus LX. * Not available in 2005 and newer Focus  2.0L Split Port (Commonly referred to as "SPI")  (Photo courtest MUTTLEE on the Focaljet forums) * Valve cover usually unpolished aluminum, silver in color, with "2.0L Split Port" cast into it * Valve cover has 3 bolts in the top middle, holding it down * Spark plug boots are on the front of the engine, above the exhaust manifold * Oil cap is in the top center of the valve cover * Front of valve cover has 4 "humps" that stick out, with indentations where the spark plugs go * Found in all Focus LX's from 2000-2004 * Found in certain Focus SE's from 2000-2004 * Found in all 5-speed Focus Wagons for the 2000 model year  2.0L SVT Zetec (Commonly referred to as "SVT Engine")  * Valve cover is aluminum, with a silver color to it. * Spark plug wires and coil-pack are covered with a black plastic shroud, with an SVT badge over the spark plug wires * Oil cap is in the front drivers side corner of the valve cover * Found only in 2002-2004 Focus SVTs  2.3L Duratec PZEV (Commonly referred to as "PZEV Engine", "2.3 Duratec")  (Photo courtesy PZEVInside on the Focaljet forums) * Intake runner is on the front of the engine, and is black in color * Contains a very elaborate air intake and air filter system * Coil packs are mounted on top of the (barely visible) valve cover * Engine bay, in stock form, looks somewhat cluttered with cables and hoses for emissions purposes.  Pictures Coming soon: 2.3L Duratec High Output (Commonly referred to as "Focus ST Engine", 2.3 Duratec) * Mechanically, almost identical to the 2.3L Duratec PZEV, without the strict emissions controls * Found only in the 2005 Focus ST (for now)  2.0L Duratec (Commonly referred to as "2.0 Duratec") * Found in almost all 2005 Focus models, the only exception being the Focus ST. * Other info pending  

Rear Seat Trick: Cargo Mode

This hack turns everything behind the front seats into a cavernous cargo area. It works for all Foci, but to a lesser extent on the sedans. It is great for the ZX3, ZX5, SVT, and Wagons though!

Time Required:
5 minutes or less

Tools Needed:

Hands

Procedure:

First, pardon how messy my car is in these photos. I haven't gotten around to cleaning it out after the christmas festivities!

When you fold the back seats down, it usually looks like this:

That's nice and all, but don't you wish that the area back there was flat all the way across instead of jutting up at an angle like that?

Step 1: Start with the seat in the normal upright position.

Step 2: Grab the bottom part of the seat where it meets the seat backs, and pull it up and forward. It helps if you move the front seats up a bit first.

Step 3: NOW, push the buttons on the seat backs, and lean them forward. They'll fall flat instead of up at an angle, and they'll hold the bottom seat cushion up against the front seats!

Step 4: Remove the upper cargo area cover (if equipped) and lay it on the floor of the hatchback or remove it from the car completely.

Instant cargo mode!

Finding your PCM Code

To order a performance chip, you need to tell the retailer what PCM Code you have. This indicates the version of Ford's engine management software you are running on the computer inside your car. This is very important, because performance chips are much like a software upgrade for your car's Powertrain Control Module. If the software upgrade is not compatable with the software you're currently running, your on-board computer will not work properly.

Time Required:
10 minutes or less

Tools Needed:

Flat-head screwdriver (Not always req'd)

Procedure:

From what I've seen, all PCM codes are 3 letters followed by a number, such as LFQ0, LDC8, JFA7, WCC4, JFR5, etc.

The code is in three places within your focus that I know of:

1) Passenger side door jamb, close to the firewall, near the top hinge. This one is usually worn off and unreadable. If it's legible, it will have the PCM code and a barcode, and nothing else on it. It's about 3/4" x 1.5" or so.

My sticker had already worn all the way off.

2) On the connector plug of the PCM, visible with a flashlight and some eye strain. It will appear to be right below the metal box. There's lots of information, but you're only looking for the PCM code, which again, should be 3 letters and a number. Ignore the rest of the stuff on the sticker.

Here you can see my PCM code. It's in bold font and easy to see it's JFA8.

3) On the test port cover at the top of the PCM. It's a black plastic cover that you'd need to remove to install the chip. You can pry it off with a stubby flathead screwdriver, but be careful not to damage anything. I usually check this as a last resort if the other 2 locations are not visible.

Here's my whole PCM. Yes, my CLM (black box) is mounted crooked. The dust cover is located on the top. Since I have a chip installed, all you see is the red tag hangin' out. If you pry the dust cover off gently with a flathead screwdriver, there's another sticker on it similar to the one pictured above.