[tacpot12]

Vehicle: 2001 Ford Mondeo Estate
Engine: Duractec 2.0, Code: CJBA
Trim: Ghia X - Black Leather Interior

Initial Inspection of vehicle at dealer indicated the following problems:
- Swirl Flaps rattling
- Drivers Seat Height Adjustment not working
- Drivers Seat Cushion torn (repaired with black duct tape)
- Drivers Seat Bolster split (repaired with black duct tape)
- Front and Rear Discs heavily worn
- Towing Eye missing
- Only one, badly worn, key available

No service history was available for the vehicle.

Having purchased the car, on the drive home, it was noticed that the coolant temperature indicated on the dashboard never moved off the bottom stop, except on restarting the car having stopped at a garage to check tyre pressures. The coolant temperature quickly returned to the bottom stop as soon as the car was moving again (Outside Air temp was just +2 Degrees C).

Subsequent post-purchase inspection has foudn the following problems to date:
- Induction Air Filter heavily soiled
- Pollen Filter heavily soiled
- Drivers Seat Belt very stiff (Dirt?)
- DTC P0125 reported by FORScan/Vgate iCar - "Insufficient Coolant Temperature for Closed Loop Operation"
- No Radio or Key Codes supplied with vehicle

The post-purchase inspection is still ongoing. Further problems will be updated in the list above until I'm happy to start driving the car.

I intent to remove the inlet manifold to inspect the swirl flaps, and will replace any worn parts. I will also remove and inspect the coolant thermostat while the Inlet Manifold is off. I don't intend to drive the car until this work is done.

I'm trying to avoid spending money on fixing the other problems until I know whether this car has a future with us...

 

[tacpot12]

Started removing the Inlet Manifold. The job went easily enough until I went to remove the oil dipstick tube. This was very difficult to remove. I ended up looping some nylon cord around the bottom and top brackets and used a bar resting on a long baulk of timber across the front of the car to lever the cord upwards and so pull the dipstick tube upwards. Luckily this didn't distort the brackets or the tube at all. The top bracket appears particularly strong.

Following reviews of the cheap thermostats from Euro Car Parts, I've bought a genuine Ford thermostat.

I've just got the manifold bolts and PCV hose to remove, to free the inlet manifold, then I can check the swirl flaps and rod, and replace the thermostat. I'll also be cleaning the EGR valve while the coolant is drained, and will flush the coolant system before refilling with Comma Long Life Red Antifreeze.

 

[tacpot12]

I got the EGR valve off. See this thread for details of how ->

I cleaned the EGR valve and reinstalled it.

I replaced the PCV valve and pipe. I found it easier to instal the pipe onto the PCV valve first, then connect the pipe to the inlet manifold when I dropped the manifold back into position (before installing any bolts).

I lifted the inlet manifold out of the car using a ratchet strap threaded through the bonnet (hood) catch and the middle two inlet tracts. I used the same setup to lower the manifold back into position and support it while reconnecting the PCV pipe.

The oil dipstick tube was very difficult to reinstall. I decided to make a 'tool' to push the tube back into its housing. The tool was a block of wood with a 16mm hole drilled in it. I dropped a 10mm open-ended spanner into the hole, put the block of wood on the cross-member in from of the dipstick housing and put the spanner into the collar at the base of the dipstick. I then dropped a length of wood down between the inlet manifold and the radiator fan so that it sat on top of my block of wood and stuck out at the top of the engine.

I also lubricated the housing and o ring with a generous quantity of engine oil. One quick tap with a hammer on the length of wood seated the tube easily.

Reinstalling the inlet manifold bolts went ok, but three of the lower bolts needed to be installed blind. I taped the bolts into the socket with masking tape (thanks to Craig for the tip) and managed to get all the bolts in quickly.

Flushing the cooling system and refilling went ok.

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[tacpot12]

Took the car for a test drive that seemed to go ok, but did not clear the P1000 code in the PCM.

Decided to take the car to Nottingham. The Engine Management Light came on on the M1
Motorway. I came off at the next junction and checked the engine bay but couldn't see any obvious problem so carried on. Arriving in Nottingham, I check the PCM for DTCs using FORScan. The error code was P0172 "Bank 1 running too rich."

I was also aware of a strong smell of exhaust fumes in the cabin.

After some head scratching, I realised that I had failed to reconnect the vent pipe from the cylinder head to the main air inlet when reinstalling the air filter housing. I reconnected the pipe and reset the PCM. On the journey back to Sheffield the smell was gone and the EML did not light. I'm not sure that the problem is actually cured yet, but I'm hopefully that the disconnected pipe was the root cause of the DTC.

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[tacpot12]

The thread where I describe how I removed the EGR valve is here: http://www.talkford.com/community/topic/185028-removing-a-egr-valve/?p=2977865

 

[tacpot12]

I've noticed now that the car is producing a cloud of blue smoke when accelerating away from rest after long decelerations at idle, and the smell of exhaust fumes in the cabin has come back. The car also appeared to have no oil in the engine! I added a litre of the correct oil (WSS-M2C913-C) which took it back to MIN on the dipstick.

I was concerned this was either the valve stem seals or oil control rings, but after a couple of days of worrying and reading around the subject, I came across a statement on the internet that said "Don't use the PCV valve for one model of car in another, they are specifically tuned to a particular engine."

So I went to the Ford Parts Catalog to check what part number I ordered for the PCV valve and was part was sent. The part numbers all matched, but when I checked the Parts Catalog for the correct part number, I noticed that there was an O Ring shown under the PCV valve. I had no recollection of fitting an O ring to the new PCV valve! When I checked the old PCV Valve there was an O ring on it.

So I took the Inlet Manifold off again, and checked and the PCV valve had no O ring and was quite loose in its housing. I fitted the old O ring from the old valve onto the new and reinstalled it. It is now tight in the housing (and hopefully gas-tight). I reattached the inlet manifold and took the car for a test drive.

The smell of exhaust fumes was totally gone and the amount of blue smoke reduced to 10% of the previous amount - I still get a little puff of smoke accelerating away, but not the cloud I was getting previously! Phew.

I also took the opportunity of having the inlet manifold off again to clean the T-Map sensor probes with Electrical Contact Cleaner.

While investigating the cause of the smoke, I also checked the spark plugs to see if their condition could indicate anything useful. The spark plugs gaps were all 1.3mm and all the plugs were lightly fouled with oil/carbon.

 

[tacpot12]

I've now replaced the Induction Air and Cabin Pollen filters with new Bosch items from Eurocarparts.

I've also purchased a towing eye from a scrap yard for 8 GBP.

 

[tacpot12]

New faults found:

Steering/Suspension creaks when turning the steering wheel at low speed.

Wet Headlining at top of A Pillar on driver's side.

Whirring noise from under the steering wheel

Initial investigations suggest:

• Steering/Suspension creaking might be Anti Roll Bar Drop Links, Top Suspension Mounts, or Excess friction in the Steering shaft length compensator.
• Headlining issue might be due to blocked sunroof drains or faulty door seal.
• Whirring noise will be the fan on the Cabin Climate Control Sensor

 

[tacpot12]

Unfortunately the car is still using oil at a prodigious rate - 1 litre per 60 miles or so. So it looks likely that there is still a problem with the valve stem seals or oil control rings. In recent driving, it is apparent that the car smokes badly at idle. I have booked the car in with a local independent motor mechanic for a compression test. I also have an cheap (eBay) endoscope so will try to have a look at the insides of the cylinders before it goes to the mechanic.

I did have a look at the headlining issue and found that the sunroof drain pipe on the drivers side was not connected to the sunroof AND there was a big kink in it. The pipe was too short to connect onto the sunroof properly (it only went on about 5mm), but I was able to get rid of the kink to some degree by warming the pipe with a hairdryer and holding it open while it cooled. It could really do with a connector inserting at the point of the kink to stop it collapsing, but I didn't have a suitable connector available and I'm not spending any more money on the car until the cause of the oil consumption has been determined. I did have a piece of thin-walled tube that fitted inside the sunroof's spigot and the drain pipe, so that I could push the pipe back onto the spigot and it will stay there. I've leak tested it, and it appears to be cured.

 

[tacpot12]

In preparation for the car going to the mechanic, I looked at the rigid brake pipes from the petrol tank to the rear flexible hoses. They were in ok condition, but I also discovered that the drivers side rear shock absorber was leaking and the boot was torn. Investigating the cost of a replacement part, I discovered that the presence of the boot meant that my car had the self-levelling suspension. The shock absorbers are available as new parts from Ford, but at £275 each! eBay has second hand units for £50-£100.

Using the eBay Borescope/Endoscope I was able to examine the pistons. All appeared to have significant scouring of the carbon around their circumference due to blow-by. I took photographs and showed these to the mechanic. He also did a compression test and found all the cylinders had good compressions, but agreed that the rate of oil consumption was down to the oil control rings failing, and probably the valve stem seals being worn as well.

We discussed the potential to repair the engine, but decided that it was beyond economic repair. Luckily, the mechanic had just bought a Mondeo MK3 Hatchback as a runaround and was prepared to sell it to me for £900, and give me £200 for the Estate. So we have a new car! The new car is a 55 plate with about 48000 miles on the clock. I'll start a new diary for it as I collected it today....

RIP Minty