I'm a MONDEO MAN, now !!!

[Roadkill]

Hmm.

Well that ain't great.

Put it all back together last night and started her up.  No flashing light.  Took her for a drive - got 50 yards up the road and the light started flashing - WTF ??

She's never put the light on when stone cold before and never while moving so I thought (hoped) it was maybe a throw-back from the ECU . . .

Cleared the error by doing the old trick of getting to speed and turning her off, getting to second-stage ignition and pausing before re-starting (all above 50mph)

Took her for a drive through town, stop-start-stop-start to warm her up, then up the A5 to get her really toasty.

Pulled into a lay-by.  Turned her off . . . and on again - no flashy lights.  Did it again.  No flashy lights.

Drove back into town and pulled into a bus stop.  Repeated again with no issues.

Get back home parked up.  Turn off.  Pause.  Start up again.  Still no flashy lights.

At this point I'm hopeful it was just the ECU complaining.

So.

This morning.

Goes out.  Starts her up.  No issues.

Drive 14 miles, through town, through the country roads, up the bypass and into Leighton Buzzard . . . . About 500 yards from work and the light starts flashing !!!





Really.

Gets to work.  Turn her off.  Wait.  Start her back up again (normally without doubt the light would be flashing) but no flashy light.

It's now gone from a very predicable, manageable fault to a totally erratic will-it-won't-it fault.

In short.  About 10 times WORSE !!!



Question is, is this a good sign.  What I did obviously had some effect.  Is it worth trying to re-do the soldering again, this time tidier or am I really grasping at straws.

The actuator comes off and apart in minutes so it's not a major big deal to have another look I suppose . . .

???

What do we reckon ?

[Roadkill]

I'm thinking that for £9, replacing the fuel filter will eliminate another possible fault . . unlikely but possible.



Plus it hasn't been done in at least 55,000 miles . . . .

[Andy]

Never heard of that method for resetting the ECU. Disconnect the battery for half an hour and then let it re learn your driving.

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

Cleared the error by doing the old trick of getting to speed and turning her off, getting to second-stage ignition and pausing before re-starting (all above 50mph)

I think I can safely say WTF?  I never heard that before..

Quoting: Andy

Disconnect the battery for half an hour and then let it re learn your driving.

 

Then go find your radio code

And get another code read off Steve.

[Roadkill]

I never said re-set the ECU.  I said clearing the error - which it does.

The guy in the thread I linked to did the same, too.  Not a problem as long as it's not dark (ie. you need your headlights).

[art b]

ah intermittent electrical faults ....drive ya mad..

get a secondhand unit to swap out ...

247 spares
interpart [daventry]

[Andy]

I still got to say I've never heard of something like that. That is beyond insane for resetting a code. Resetting the ECU via disconnecting the battery will do the same thing.

[Roadkill]

Unfortunately on my way to work in the rain I don't fancy pulling over, popping the bonnet, getting out my tool kit, disconnecting the battery . . . . . waiting half an hour, then reconnecting and starting only to find the fault immediately comes back.

Killing the engine at speed clears it (and gives me my Turbo back) EVERY time.

My way is quicker and I don't get wet or dirty.

EDIT - I'm not saying this would clear every code - but it remedies this particular fault, short term and if that's enough for me to complete my journey then all well and good.

[Roadkill]

Bought a new soldering iron and attacked the solder joins again.  Got two looking good and tidy but the one on the board just would not take solder.



I tried multiple times and scratched the terminal down so far it was almost level with the board but still wouldn't take the solder.



Evenually found some "Leaded" solder that stuck to the terminal but f**k was it difficult to work with and would not flow.
In the process of working it I broke the 4mm wire so it's now 3mm.
Had to re-do one of the decent looking joins again . . . the two solders got mixed (and didn't like that) but in the end I'm 95% sure I got decent connections this time.

Problem is it didn't work.  I tested it last night and it was going good but the light came on and hasn't really been off since . . .



I re-read some other threads and have now checked the inter-cooler pipe, cleaned the Actuator connectors and MAF connectors, have cleaned the MAF itself and re-set the ECU by disconnecting the battery for an hour.

I've also replaced the fuel filter.

I drained the old filter and checked the contents . . . a bit of grit but no metal particles so the fuel pump should be good.

All of this and no change.  The light is now on most of the time.

Total cost was £9 for the filter but I'm still thinking actuator.

Dunno.

[Cunning Plan]

Does it drrive okay with the light on? Or is it in limp mode?

[Roadkill]

It's in limp mode (no turbo).

[Roadkill]

I've ordered a "used - but tested good" actuator off of eBay for £60 . . . I figure if it doesn't work I can flog it again and get my money back so it's a cheapie try-out.

Of course, if it doesn't work - I really am out of ideas.

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

I've ordered a "used - but tested good" actuator off of eBay for £60 . . . I figure if it doesn't work I can flog it again and get my money back so it's a cheapie try-out

Shame mine doesn't have the same really.

Quoting: Roadkill

Of course, if it doesn't work - I really am out of ideas.

Injectors

[Roadkill]

Not one person has suggested injectors with that fault code or I would consider it.

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

Not one person has suggested injectors with that fault code or I would consider it.

Yeah I know, it's just that the symptoms are so similar and I went through all the same fault finding activities you have before giving up and taking it to the garage.

[Roadkill]

Where did you take it, out of interest ?

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

Where did you take it, out of interest ?

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8#sclient=psy-ab&q=aeh+inwards+leighton+buzzard&oq=Inwards+lei&gs_l=hp.1.2.0j0i22i30l3.1150235.1160736.0.1163261.5.5.0.0.0.0.166.589.2j3.5.0...0.0.0..1c.1.17.psy-ab.8LieGmaRiD8&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48572450,d.d2k&fp=9870844cc690c4ee&ion=1&biw=501&bih=379\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">A.E.H. Inwards in LB .  Nobby recommended them, they didn't mess me around and did me proud with the Mustang's MOT

[Roadkill]

Well, I should get the replacement actuator today (hopefully) so that'll be the first thing.

Will go from there . . .

[Roadkill]

Weeeeelllllllllllll . . . .

I did a couple more tests earlier . . . the ram to the turbo gate was pretty smooth in operation so I've never thought this was the issue.

That said I wanted to test it anyway.

A way of doing this (apparently) is to start the car and bring the revs up . . if the gate is getting stuck you should hear the actuator clicking as the worm gear inside is trying to open the gate.

(No clicking).

so i disconnect arm from actuator, bring up to 2500 revs and move the arm back and forth . . . I could clearly hear the turbo spinning so felt fairly safe to put the "new" actuator on.

Bolted it up in seconds (I could do it with my eyes closed, now), started her up and no lights.

Good so far.

Gun her up to 4,000 revs . . . still no light.

Take her for a long run.  Pull in and shut her off when she's nice and hot.  Re-start.  Nothing.

Get diesel (I'm feeling lucky) . . still no lights on start-up.

Drive home, park up, shut off, start up.  Nothing.

No lights and by now the EML has also turned itself off, too !!



I *think* it's sorted.

I'm certainly hoping so as I've just put another 6 months tax on her . . . normally I'd go for a year but I'm not pushing my luck !!!

<provisional> <provisional>

[Roadkill]

Gonna have a look at the rear brakes this weekend as they're squealing and she's due a service so that'll be soon, too.

[art b]

 our king of dwesil stuff....

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

I *think* it's sorted

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Roadkill

I *think* it's sorted.

[Roadkill]

O.K. so to summarise this last little issue . . .

Total time researching issue : 1.5 hours
Total time testing/checking/repairing issue : 4.5 hours
Total cost of repair parts : £75 (Actuator was £60 but I opted for next day delivery for £15)
Misc : £9 for Fuel filter (much needed), £14 for Soldering Iron (an improvement on my old one).

It's been a headache but I can't complain.

On the plus side I've got a job in Ipswich on Friday and the mileage the Mondeo will earn me from that will pay for all the expenses.



She lives a little longer !

[Roadkill]

I thought I'd treat the mondey to a bit of TLC last night so tackled something that's been irritating me ever since I bought her . . . .

Somehow, the P/S front rub-strip has always been a grey-ish white colour . . . which is odd as I'd assumed that it'd just be plastic . .



Anyway.  Here's what it looked like :

http://s30.photobucket.com/user/Roadkill-Auto/media/IMAG2627_zps69c548f3.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">

And with a wipe over with thinners, some masking, a spray of primer left over from a previous job and a top-coat of satin black I've had sitting in my garage for years -

Ta-dah !!

I did both sides in the end as I just about had enough paint and the paint didn't quite match the original colour . . .

http://s30.photobucket.com/user/Roadkill-Auto/media/IMAG2629_zps279fbbef.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">

1 hour's work (off-and-on) and all free or "in stock" materials.



Also had a look at the rear brakes . . . the discs look really good so I'm just gonna replace the pads.



Also gonna do my anti-slip tape trick to her rear bumper, too, as she's always had a few chips on her rear end.