May 2, 2008 by wannabemechanic
I have, after a lot of thinking, decided to take the car into the garage for the renewal of the lower arm. I have been quoted £100 but they will be doing the job properly (not inverting the screw) for that. It is a lot of money but am not in the position in regards to experience and confidence to do the job. Also I don’t want to have to wait for all the parts and equipment to turn up as I’d have to order a few things off the net.
Also the wear on the tyre I swapped onto the offending passenger side has also worn quickly so I don’t want to wait any longer. I think that the tyres will have to be renewed anyway so that can be done whilst in the garage.
I know I set up the blog up to detail the maintenance I would be doing but I do also think that you have to know your limits and admit when things might be beyond you. I have decided to cut my teeth on the service that is by now overdue and begin preparing for the M.O.T. due towards the end of June.
Posted in Mondeo Related, My Car | Tagged Car Maintenance, Ford, Mondeo Related, Lower Arm | No Comments »
May 1, 2008 by wannabemechanic
As mentioned in my previous post I have noticed the premature wear on the outside edge of the passenger side front tyre. And I thought it was the suspension or steering that was causing the problem.
I read through a post called ‘Geometry means nothing!’ on the Mondeo Enthusiast Group’s forum on which someone wrote ‘Lower arm bush was worn causing outside tyre wear on front nearside’ and with this is mind I decided to have a look. With the car jacked and supported with axle stands I took off each of the front wheels as I meant to swap the wheels so the tread doesn’t wear down dangerously while I sort out the problem. I know this will eventually pretty much ruin two tyres but they are on their way out anyway with between 2 and 3 mm of tread. On inspecting offending tyre it was confirmed that the wear was just on the outside of the tyre. I had a good look around the brakes and suspension springs and found nothing that looked to me like it was wrong except…………one of the bushes in the Lower Arm;
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Posted in Mondeo Related, My Car, Suspension, Tyres | Tagged Car Maintenance, Car Repair, Cars, Ford, Lower Arm, Mondeo Related, Suspension, Tyres | No Comments »
April 27, 2008 by wannabemechanic
As noted in my last post I have noticed that the front and to some extent the rear tyres are wearing quite quickly on the outside (well I think it is just the outside from feeling the inside of the tyres).
The Haynes manual that covers the petrol version of Mondeos up the year before mine (ISBN:1859605133) suggests that there could be;
“a) Incorrect camber and castor angles, b) Worn steering or suspension joints, bushes or components, c) Front subframe out of alignment, d) Excessively-hard cornering or e) Accident damage”.
As there are some noises occasionally when cornering I am concentrating on b) (Worn steering or suspension joints, bushes or components) for the time being and have also made a concerted effort to corner slowly.
Posted in Mondeo Related, My Car, Tyres | Tagged Suspension, Tyres | No Comments »
April 23, 2008 by wannabemechanic
This is a quick catch up post for those of you that regularly read this blog. I have been away and unable do any work on my car or access the internet. Although my car has been esconced in the dry for the change - being parked in a hospital car park.
Before I became indisposed I bought a few things in preparation of servicing the car my young nephew has now officially named ‘Tiger Tops’ - don’t ask. This included oil (purchased from Halfords so I could take advantage of an offer of a free set of screwdrivers when oil is bought), oil filter, sump plug, air filter, pollen filter and what I hope is the correct fuel filter for ‘TT’ (there was a choice of either RotoDiesel or Bosch so I picked what I was informed was the most popular - and can take it back to swap if it isn’t the right filter). I also bought a new weatherstrip from Ford but haven’t picked it up as it wasn’t ready when I went away.
I really want to get on with this work but there seems something that may be more important that I will be concentrating on first. There is a noise coming from the drivers side front wheel when I turn corners and the left tyre is wearing on one side reasoanably quickly. My suspicion is that they are related but we shall see.
Posted in My Car | Tagged Car Maintenance, Car Repair | No Comments »
March 28, 2008 by wannabemechanic
A month or so ago whilst we were holidaying in Somerset my wife and I begun to hear a ominous grating sound coming from the passenger side rear wheel when we were going slowly or braking. When I checked the rear pads I found that they were ground all the way down and were grinding into the brake discs. It cost around £170 for new discs and pads - ouch! (This was a another reason for starting this blog)
When I bought the car I noted from receipts that it had had new discs and pads around seven months before so I didn’t really worry about the brakes. With steel wheels and hub caps you can’t really tell that easily. Also I didn’t have that chance to check properly before I left.
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Posted in Brakes, Mondeo Related, My Car | Tagged Brake Pads, Car Maintenance, Checking brakes, Ford, Ford Mondeo, Suspension | No Comments »
March 25, 2008 by wannabemechanic
One thing I love about the internet is forums; even if nobody knows the exact answer to your problem, at least someone will give a few suggestions - just as long as you have asked politely.
I asked a few questions on the Mondeo Enthusiats Group website a few weeks back but there weren’t any answers for the first few days so I gave them up as irrelevant to others. However I went back on today and they had been answered.
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Posted in Mondeo Related, My Car | Tagged Cars, Car Maintenance, Ford, Mondeo Related, Car Repair, Forums, Problems | No Comments »
March 20, 2008 by wannabemechanic
I was so frustrated at not having information on my model of Mondeo that I bought a manual on CD from Ebay. It turned up yesterday and I have been looking through it today. I think it will come in handy until the revised and updated Haynes manual featuring the 2000 Mondeo TD gets released (when the old version sells out). The CD manual is aimed at Ford mechanics and as such is not worded as clearly as the Haynes’.
I don’t know if it is worth the money (£4) and the guy who is selling it must be making a mint but I’ve got it now. And at least it has other ford model’s information so I ever have a different Ford then it will come in useful.
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Posted in Mondeo Related, My Car | Tagged Car Maintenance, Ford Manual, Ford Mondeo | No Comments »
March 16, 2008 by wannabemechanic
As I mentioned in an earlier post I noticed a possible problem with what the turbo attached to my engine. As you can see from the picture there is sooty deposits and grease on the turbo going into the intercooler.
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Posted in Engine, Mondeo Related, My Car | Tagged Cars, Car Maintenance, Car Repair | No Comments »
March 15, 2008 by wannabemechanic
After reading on the Honest John site that the timing/cam belt should be changed every 36,000 miles or 3 years I have been worrying that it might slip or break at any minute causing engine damage I wouldn’t be able to afford to put right or fix myself just yet. This fear has been compounded after reading some comments on Preloved - Premature Timing Belt Failure on Ford Diesel.
However I been have trawling through the forum dedicated to diesel mondeos over at MEG and feel a lot less anxious now. As I have an Endura - DE engine it looks like more like 70k/5 years for timing belt changes. To be on the safe side though I will check it’s condition soon using this article on Performing a Timing Belt Inspection as a reference.
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Posted in Engine, Mondeo Related, My Car | Tagged Cam Belt, Car Maintenace, Car Repair, Cars, Ford, Mondeo Related, Timing Belt | No Comments »
March 14, 2008 by wannabemechanic
I bought the Haynes manual for my previous car ‘Agatha’ and poured over the instructions for most jobs, even ones I wouldn’t have any way of doing, but I never actually got around to doing anything apart from putting in a new stereo and botching rust repairs.
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Posted in Mondeo Related, My Car | Tagged Car Maintenance, Cars, Haynes | No Comments »
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