Hello Mondeo forum. I've been using this website a while and a recent problem I encountered with my mondeo has prompted my to join up, share my experiences and maybe put something back to the service.
I've had a MK2 petrol for a couple of years but have just sold it on and upgraded to a MK3 TDCI (2004).
I bought sed vehicle just before Christmas and was happily enjoying its power comfort and engine response. (only one complaint is slightly rough on idle and start up but thats another story).
Basically I turned on the engine one morning just before starting a 2 hour drive home. Glow plug light started flashing, I had no idea what it meant so took it to the local Ford dealer as I didn't know if it was safe to drive. It was then I noticed a major loss of power, I instantly thought limp mode and started to worry about my wallet getting substantially thinner.
Ford told me that it was a combined engine management warning light and I would have to pay £50.00 for the privalige of finding out what it meant. I felt I had no option but to pay up and it turned out to be fault code 132A which relates to the turbo charger (from what I've found on here A is the actuator which controls the boost, B is the turbo itself - usually the vains coked up). Ford advised that I would have to replace the whole unit at a cost of £1500 and under no circumstances should I just replace the actuator is it is calibrated to the unit.
At this point the sensible side of me kicked in and I walked away having heard plenty of stories about extortionate prices at main dealers and limped off home to Leeds in my recently acquired shed on wheels.
So whilst I still had 1.5K in my pocket I now had a car that was now as quick as my girlfriend's Fiat Seicento....the butt of many of my jokes, booo.
Basically my point is that had I had not had this fantastic resource to use I would probably had to send the car to a garage and shed out a lot of money as I have very basic mechanical skills but knew nothing about turbos until about 2 weeks ago.
I finally got round to having a look at it before biting the bullet and taking it to a turbo clinic. I heard of stories of broken solder joints on the actuator's PCB on here and decided to take it off and had a look at it. Nothing seemed untoward - upon disconecting the arm from the actuator and turning the engine over I could see it was still rotating. So put it back together and back on the car. Took it around the block and suprise of all suprises, the light's stopped flashing and the power is back!
I'm not quite celebrating yet because I know that if its happened once its possible that it could happen again but fingers crossed the arm could have just got jammed or something simple.
I just wanted to say thanks to all the lovely people on this forum for potentially saving me a lot of money, and for the newbies like myself - have a good look through the vast resources on here and don't be afraid to have a tinker.
Only thing thats worrying me is the car is smoking a little (especially when I put my foot down), and as I said a little rough on idle. Once the turbo's settled down I may have a look at a bit of cleaning. From what I can see the MAF sensor, EGR valve and cat. can all be cuprits.
If anyone can shed any light on my mystery turbo actuator problem or the smoking I would much appreciate any input.
Thanks again!
I've had a MK2 petrol for a couple of years but have just sold it on and upgraded to a MK3 TDCI (2004).
I bought sed vehicle just before Christmas and was happily enjoying its power comfort and engine response. (only one complaint is slightly rough on idle and start up but thats another story).
Basically I turned on the engine one morning just before starting a 2 hour drive home. Glow plug light started flashing, I had no idea what it meant so took it to the local Ford dealer as I didn't know if it was safe to drive. It was then I noticed a major loss of power, I instantly thought limp mode and started to worry about my wallet getting substantially thinner.
Ford told me that it was a combined engine management warning light and I would have to pay £50.00 for the privalige of finding out what it meant. I felt I had no option but to pay up and it turned out to be fault code 132A which relates to the turbo charger (from what I've found on here A is the actuator which controls the boost, B is the turbo itself - usually the vains coked up). Ford advised that I would have to replace the whole unit at a cost of £1500 and under no circumstances should I just replace the actuator is it is calibrated to the unit.
At this point the sensible side of me kicked in and I walked away having heard plenty of stories about extortionate prices at main dealers and limped off home to Leeds in my recently acquired shed on wheels.
So whilst I still had 1.5K in my pocket I now had a car that was now as quick as my girlfriend's Fiat Seicento....the butt of many of my jokes, booo.
Basically my point is that had I had not had this fantastic resource to use I would probably had to send the car to a garage and shed out a lot of money as I have very basic mechanical skills but knew nothing about turbos until about 2 weeks ago.
I finally got round to having a look at it before biting the bullet and taking it to a turbo clinic. I heard of stories of broken solder joints on the actuator's PCB on here and decided to take it off and had a look at it. Nothing seemed untoward - upon disconecting the arm from the actuator and turning the engine over I could see it was still rotating. So put it back together and back on the car. Took it around the block and suprise of all suprises, the light's stopped flashing and the power is back!
I'm not quite celebrating yet because I know that if its happened once its possible that it could happen again but fingers crossed the arm could have just got jammed or something simple.
I just wanted to say thanks to all the lovely people on this forum for potentially saving me a lot of money, and for the newbies like myself - have a good look through the vast resources on here and don't be afraid to have a tinker.
Only thing thats worrying me is the car is smoking a little (especially when I put my foot down), and as I said a little rough on idle. Once the turbo's settled down I may have a look at a bit of cleaning. From what I can see the MAF sensor, EGR valve and cat. can all be cuprits.
If anyone can shed any light on my mystery turbo actuator problem or the smoking I would much appreciate any input.
Thanks again!
