Ford Mondeo 2.0 Litre Auto.

[zcar12]

Whats that Dave no Heineken cans refreshing the exhaust? Its amazing what one can do with dog food cans and a few Jubilee clips. Also got an insurance quote today for my 1992 820Si. It was with Hastings Direct with Windscreen Cover for £103. I pay double that for the Mondeo.

Changed the oil today and discovered that I need a special wrench to remove the plastic oil filter housing. Never knew these things existed before now so filter never got changed today.Had the chance to really test out the car today on a mixture of town and open road driving. Engine and gearbox work very well, start is instant, no gearbox clonks, judders or flares. The only fault I can find is that the steering feels a little heavy maneuvering at low speed and seems to creak. I think this may be down to the steering shaft bearing being dry. I totaled up what I have spent excluding tax and insurance: Cost of car £200. two budget tires.£91. Ball joint £20. Drop Links £20 Test Fee £52 Total £383. Its looking like my decision to buy this car was one of my better decisions, and believe, me, I have made some real howlers in the past.

[CHR15E]

I wish my Mondeo had been so cheap.

I paid £4700 for it almost 3 years ago. The relatively high price for it's age is because it's an ST and they hold their money better as do most sportier Fords it seems.

Off the top of my head I've spent;

£730 for Flywheel, starter motor, clutch and slave cylinder.
£200 for 2 new front springs as one snapped after being stood a week while I was on holiday.
£85 backbox
£300 on tyres
£180 EGR Valve
£300 Aux belt tensioner, belt and crank pulley.
£120 front discs and pads.

Plus around £150 on niggly things like a used rear wiper motor. New number plate light units, reverse light switch etc.

Can't think of anything else aside towbar and extras but they don't really count.

[traineefarmer]

Who would have guessed that Mondeo motoring would cause the owner more headaches than 800 ownership?

[scoobyh123]

Whats that Dave no Heineken cans refreshing the exhaust? Its amazing what one can do with dog food cans and a few Jubilee clips.

Heineken? Heineken-Schmeineken! Dog food tins are much thicker and stronger and the heat doesn't burn holes in them! Just as well as i have some on the Volvo front pipes (they're NLA new) because ATS (while attempting to adjust the tracking) snagged the exhaust on one of their ramps because it wasn't down all the way!

Good news on the insurance, is that a classic policy?

[zcar12]

Never realized that dog food tins were thicker than beer cans.

I dont know if it is a classic policy. All I know is that the insurance company will try every trick in the book to avoid any payout. I remember an American Ins Co that rarely had to pay out on TPFT claims because the car was not on fire when it was being stolen. They got away with it for years. The law says my car must be covered by an insurance policy, or the old bill can take my car away and crush it. Its nice to think that the insurance company will cough up if I make a claim but I dont count on it. Far better to be a careful driver and avoid accidents where possible.

Cynical? Me?

[scoobyh123]

Never realized that dog food tins were thicker than beer cans.

I dont know if it is a classic policy. All I know is that the insurance company will try every trick in the book to avoid any payout. I remember an American Ins Co that rarely had to pay out on TPFT claims because the car was not on fire when it was being stolen. They got away with it for years. The law says my car must be covered by an insurance policy, or the old bill can take my car away and crush it. Its nice to think that the insurance company will cough up if I make a claim but I dont count on it. Far better to be a careful driver and avoid accidents where possible.

Cynical? Me?

Couldn't have put it better myself!

[zcar12]

After much faffing around, I have come to the view that it is the front strut bearings that are causing the clonks from the front of my Mondeo. I tried spraying grease under the mounting on the bearings and although this seemed to quieten things for a while, and improve the steering response, the clonking is now back and worse than it ever was. This makes the driving experience very unpleasant, as one is constantly waiting for the next clonk. I had no idea that the Mondeo Mk3 was so bad for suspension noise, otherwise I would have chosen something else.

I have spoken with the man I bought the car from and he tells me the bearings were last replaced 5 years ago. The good news is that he says he has all the tools to do the job including 2 sets of spring compressors and he is willing to help me do the job. So I have bought some new bearings and we will do the job on Friday. If the clonking is still present, I shall be highly tempted to drive the car to a scrapyard and say farewell. I have spent enough time on it!

[CHR15E]

Front springs are not a fun job, that's the reason I didn't do mine. Good luck with it.

[scoobyh123]

Hope it sorts things for you Nick! I know exactly how you feel, i renewed the ARB drop-links on my Volvo 6 months ago and they went fairly quickly, in fact as mentioned before it sounded like the wheel was going to drop off!

The next bump, pothole or dip would cause a gut-wrenching clunk and it was an amazing relief when a new pair of drop links sorted the problem!

[zcar12]

Dave, your drop links must have been very poor quality to only last 6 months before giving out.

I am up early this morning as something was on my mind. I examined the new Mondeo strut bearings and mounts. They are designed to only fit in one position, although they can be fitted in three different positions. Two of those positions will cause knocking. The new ones have a molded in lug for orientation . The Ford OE ones supposedly have an arrow which must face to the front of the car. One can see a slight difference, they are slightly thicker on one side than the other. When the old ones are taken out, I will check to see how they were fitted. They may have been fitted wrong from the get go and not knocked originally.

Its an interesting problem to have but I would much rather just spend my time enjoying driving the car, than spend so much time correcting problems with it. Its very frustrating!

[scoobyh123]

I've heard rumours that there were a lot of fake ones around, particularly of the brand (Meyle) i fitted Nick. I can only summise i got hold of some fake ones.
I thought the 800 was noisy when the drop links went, this Volvo beats it hands down for the same noise!

I hope your new strut-top bearings fix the problem for you, it's a horrible noise to live/drive with!

[zcar12]

Forgive my ignorance Dave but where are the drop links on an 820? I dont remember a reference to them in the Haynes manual. Are we talking front or rear here?

[scoobyh123]

Same place as all the 800s Nick - on the front between the lower control arm and anti-roll bar, on the back between the lower arm/spring seat and the anti-roll bar.

I get the impression this is more "mental block" than ignorance! If you turn the steering full lock left you can look behind the right wheel and see the end of the ARB and the drop-link connecting it to the control arm.

[zcar12]

Dave, you are correct. Yesterday was a strange day for me. I kept thinking about the hereafter. I found myself several times going around the house and then thinking, " What am I here after"?

Of course, you meant the "dog bones" I replaced mine on the 820 15 years go and have not had an advisory on them since. Back ones have never been mentioned, I think they must be the originals.

[scoobyh123]

I do that most days Nick!

Dog bones - i can see the analogy! Some years back i bought a batch of NOS genuine Rover ones. Several of them only lasted a couple of months but the set that are on the car now have been on for about 3 years, as have the ones on the Coupé that i fitted when i upgraded to the 26mm front ARB - i suppose some were better quality than the others or perhaps just older originally.
The 26mm bar is harder on the drop link bushes than the 21mm bar but it's worth it to not have terminal body roll through the corners.

Don't think i've ever needed to change the back ones either, the back end of an 800 has a much easier time than the front as it has much less work to do, simply being a means of keeping the back end off the ground. Or, to paraphrase what someone else says about the rear end of an 800, it only exists to stop the car dragging its ar5e on the deck!

That said, upgrading the rear ARB to the 21mm version is also a worthwhile mod as it controls the body roll on the back end.