I'm a MONDEO MAN, now !!!

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Incursus

unless they're different on the Estate?

They are, actually.

I tried with long nose pliers but they wouldn't turn in . . . I tried putting pressure on but apparently it's common for them not to wind back without major effort (or special tool).

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

Quoting: Incursus
unless they're different on the Estate?


They are, actually.

Yeah you have to turn them in a different direction..

Quoting: Roadkill

I tried putting pressure on but apparently it's common for them not to wind back without major effort (or special tool).

I did have to give one side a technical tap with a hammer before it would catch, though for the sake of £30 it was a bit of a bugger...well one side was.

P.S they take fecking ages to wind in.

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Incursus

Yeah you have to turn them in a different direction..

Not just that, the calipers are different (in fact the set-up on the estates at the rear is all different, it seems).

I tried giving it a hefty blow with a hammer - nothing.

I tried turning it both C/W and A/C/W constantly for a few minutes each.  Nothing.

After that I got bored.  I'll pay somebody else to do it . . . Can't be ar$ed to have another look . . especially not when I'm restricted to weekends . . .

[Roadkill]

Well, she's MoT'ed again - no advisers.

December's been the most expensive month to date . . . in fact she's cost more this month than she has in the average 12-month period previously ! :

Brake Pads £16 (inc. del)
Trailing Sub Arm £40 (inc. del)
MoT £40
2 x Tyres £90
Puncture £15
Bulb (from stock) £0
Exhaust repair (P40 from stock) £0
Total Labour £50

Total £251 assuming the DMF don't fail tomorrow.

[Cunning Plan]

Not bad, anymore than that and I think you would have been right to sell or scrap it and bought something else.

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Roadkill

assuming the DMF don't fail tomorrow.

Weeeellll . . . .

The starter is making a racket again and taking a couple of go's to get started meaning that either it's picked up more existing crap floating around in the bell housing OR it's picked up new crap from the flywheel breaking down.

Either way it'll become unusable within a day or two again . . . .

Repairs will be in the region of £550 which is still cheaper than a new car and when I got the car it was £800-£1000 below market value at the time so I shouldn't complain.

My long-term plan will be to get the next shape Mondeo but I'm waiting for the "new" shape to come out so it devalues the current one.

Buying a new replacement this year though is simply out of the question . . . I've got too many other things planned !!

[Andy]

Quoting: Roadkill

My long-term plan will be to get the next shape Mondeo but I'm waiting for the "new" shape to come out so it devalues the current one.

Just bare in mind the new diesels are a lot more grief than the Mk2 or Mk3 ones.

If you thought DMF was bad, try knackered DPFs or ones that are blocked. Now by the new MOT standard, if it had a DPF fitted, it has to have one, so you can't bypass them.

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

My long-term plan will be to get the next shape Mondeo but I'm waiting for the "new" shape to come out so it devalues the current one.

Should be out end of this year/early next year.

[Roadkill]

After actually having to scrape ice of Sammy's Focus this morning (arrgh, old cars !) I decided to buy the Solid flywheel conversion, clutch, slave cylinder and new starter for the Mondeo.

I figure it's the cheapest option, long term, as the Focus is costing me nearly twice as much to run as my Mondeo - especially on motorway runs.



So, £225 for the flywheel and clutch and £57 for the starter . . .

I'll wait til they get here and then worry about how much it is to fit them.  

On the plus side she'll drive like a new car again.

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

After actually having to scrape ice of Sammy's Focus this morning (arrgh, old cars !)

Not just old cars, I had to scrape the ice off Katie's 6 month old Mini this morning as the battery in the Mondeo went kaput.. Heated windscreens fortehwin!!1

Ahh well £50 for a new battery and 45 minutes of knuckle scraping to get the battery swapped (have to remove a buttload of plastic covers and the air box..) and jobs a goodun...even found the radio code

Quoting: Roadkill

On the plus side she'll drive like a new car again.

Triggers broom..

[Andy]

I absolutely love hearing people complaining about having to scrape ice off their screen. As I sit, in my 'Climate' spec Focus, watching the heated screen and air con quickly deforest and clear my screen and mirrors!

[Incursus]

Quoting: Andy

I absolutely love hearing people complaining about having to scrape ice off their screen. As I sit, in my 'Climate' spec Focus, watching the heated screen and air con quickly deforest and clear my screen and mirrors

Indeed and the geek in me still likes to use the voice command "Auto defrost on!"...even though it's only one button press..

[art b]

Quoting: Roadkill

I decided to buy the Solid flywheel conversion, clutch, slave cylinder and new starter for the Mondeo.

should be interesting to see how much difference there is when fitted .

.i suspect not much ..

[Roadkill]

Quoting: art b

should be interesting to see how much difference there is when fitted .

I'll find out later - she's in the garage having the new flywheel, clutch and starter fitted.

There's a lot of talk about the solid flywheels chewing up the gearboxes due to the "shock loads" . . . but, to be honest, I drive her pretty gently anyway so I'm not too concerned.

On top of that I only need her to survive until next February and the parts are all within warranty up until then.



Looking forward to driving her again, TBH.  The Focus has been fine but lacks the refinements of the Mondeo !

[Roadkill]

Well, reports so far regarding the solid-mass flywheel are pretty good.

Start up is no different . . . low-speed driving isn't noticeably different  . . . booting it is where you notice it - a little less refined but it's certainly more fun !!!

The only downside so far is when you turn the engine off . . . you get that old-skool diesel "chudder-chudder" which the DMF hid nicely.

I've also got a vibration at 1600-1800 revs when accelerating hard (but that could be the engine cover as I know one of the clips don't line up properly - I'll check it out this w/e).

Not noticed any "pull" on the drive-train but as I say, I generally drive her pretty gently.

On the plus side I also got the power steering fluid replaced for free !!

[Roadkill]

Over a month-on with a solid mass flywheel and it's going O.K* . . . Idle is actually smoother, I noticed recently, with the SMF . . . which is a little bonus . . .

Now for the * : However - She's developed a little issue recently . . .

About a week ago I ran her about 20 miles into the reserve (ie. passed 0 miles in the tank) and after that I noticed a definite mis-fire.



Fair enough, silly me.  So I thought blocked injector(s) caused by rubbish from the tank . . . add to that the fact that I haven't run any injector cleaner in her for over 6 months (I used to do this every 2 months or so)  - it all pointed to injectors.

So I put in some injector cleaner in and a splash of diesel (to keep the mix ratio pretty strong) . . . 100 miles later and no improvement . . . worse in fact.

Bugger.

Fooked injectors ?



So I set out this morning . . . now, she's been a bit smokey recently, but today the smoke has turned to a smoke-screen at times with thick clouds of  the stuff pumping out the back . . .



So I check the "MPG" setting and it's showing 2mpg less than normal . . .



Surely if she's mis-firing because of a blockage that'd be using LESS fuel . . . ?

So I guess she's over-fueling . . . . meaning the ECU-thingy is over-compensating for too much air.

So there's a leak . . .

Ta-dah !

The pipe just south of the EGR valve has gone . . err . . . south.

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Ford want £70+ for a replacement but I've managed to find an "as OEM" one on ebay for £18.50 with free P&P.

I'll wrap it up in gaffer tape tonight to try and limp through the next day or so.

Could've been worse . . .

[Titsy]

That's what Chris had on his last one when he was driving it away... It put out a hell of a smoke screen on the motorway so we took it straight back to the dealer and they changed out the pipe there and then.

[Incursus]

went again a few months before I replaced the car..

[Titsy]

I'm guessing it's a weak point as the one they put on was off of another car on the lot, so would already be aged.

[Roadkill]

The old one appears to be original so it's done pretty good.

The new one from eBay should be here Thursday but I won't have time to fit it until the weekend so I made a quick "repair" last night.

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Duct tape FTW !!!

It's holding so far . . . . I'm keeping the revs below 2,000 which isn't a major problem as that's how I *tend* to drive her anyway.

[Cunning Plan]

Good logical mechanical knowledge to find and repair bodge the issue

[Roadkill]

She passed the 240,000 mark a few days ago . . . . I'm hoping that the Quarter-million mark will happen in July/August so I can coincide it with her yearly service !

[Roadkill]

She passed 245,000 last week . . now nudging 246,000 miles today . . .

I'm at the end of my current project tomorrow / Saturday so have booked a couple of days off for myself and the Mondeo to recover next week.

She's due a service this month so I'm gonna get her cleaned on Monday, then do the service Tuesday / Wednesday when I'm off.

She needs another two hub caps, too.

No issues to report except I've had a "noise" that sounds like a wheel bearing for the last 7 months . . . It's not a wheel bearing as it passed the MoT and I've recently jacked her up to re-check the bearings.

It's road-speed dependent, not engine rev dependent, so the only other thing I can think of is maybe a worn driveshaft ??





I may take her to the garage and let someone have a look next week, too . . .

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: Roadkill

No issues to report except I've had a "noise" that sounds like a wheel bearing for the last 7 months . . . It's not a wheel bearing as it passed the MoT and I've recently jacked her up to re-check the bearings.

It's road-speed dependent, not engine rev dependent, so the only other thing I can think of is maybe a worn driveshaft ??

My old Mondeo only used to make a 'bearing-like' noise on this one section of road around one particular corner, everywhere else it was okay. I didn't find out what it was and I just drove it as it was.

I think driveshafts are a good possibility, although it could still the wheel bearing with the weight on it at a certain angle and speed, it just maybe only slightly worn and not worn enough to show when you test it

[Roadkill]

It was initially only present on long bends (like the southbound entry of the M1 at J9 near flamsted) . . but now it's in a straight line after 30-40mph, too . . .