What problems have you had with your Mondeo?

[gsd112]

Originally Posted by cobrin

Well my folks 2015 MD steering wheel is okay, and they're in the Tropics with temps of 30's and high humidity the majority of the time. That being said it gets a clean a few times a year when the whole exterior/interior gets done.

Western Sydney we see multiple repeat days 40+. Our local dealer never questioned any of the changes and said it is a well known issue with the Mondeos world wide. And yes my car was treated like my own and Im trained in detailing and paint correction.

[gsd112]

Originally Posted by blue17

The dealer said that this one was the first one they had seen. As with most dealers you need to take what they say with a big grain of salt.

Yep im sure it was the first! It wont be your last new wheel. Our company bought all the guys steering wheel covers to put over the wheels when parked and it has helped.

[NZ XR6]

Originally Posted by blue17

MA 2008 Diesel.
Had to have hydraulic power steering filter replaced as it was clogged, fluid very dirty, and frothing. Was not a simple fix as could not just replace filter and cost about $800. Not exactly sure why it had a filter and what the source of contamination was.

I believe that was a common fault on early Mondeos due to a manufacturing problem. My 08 MA was fine thankfully.

[Mondaveo]

Accidentally nicked the garage door opening with the nose of the car while backing in the other week. Scraped a stack of horizontal gouges into the side of the bumper just ahead of the FL wheel by the corner of the brick wall.

Luckily it is only the plastic bumper bar, and I didn't mark the metal quarter panel.

Question, does anyone else have white plastic components (bumpers and boot) under the paint on their Mondeos? Every other car I've observed has had black plastics.
It's quite galling that our white car has black plastics and the black car has white plastics, ensuring that scratches really show up...

[cobrin]

I think my moondust silver has grey unless that's the primer so it hasn't gone deeper. Missus got to close to a shelving unit and scratched the wheel arch.

[asteele-xr6]

Originally Posted by Mondaveo

Accidentally nicked the garage door opening with the nose of the car while backing in the other week. Scraped a stack of horizontal gouges into the side of the bumper just ahead of the FL wheel by the corner of the brick wall.

Luckily it is only the plastic bumper bar, and I didn't mark the metal quarter panel.

Question, does anyone else have white plastic components (bumpers and boot) under the paint on their Mondeos? Every other car I've observed has had black plastics.
It's quite galling that our white car has black plastics and the black car has white plastics, ensuring that scratches really show up...

Hey, my White Mondeo bumper was found to be white underneath the paint too I found... when I reversed into one of those small posts that sometimes mark disabled spots - so cross! There is a great chap in Fyshwick that can make it as new again... he reshaped the bumper and resprayed it. PM me for his details if you want them.

[Mondaveo]

Thanks asteele, I don't think it's severe enough to warrant taking for a respray though. I'll probably just touch it up with my brush-on paint to hide the nicks until I feel brave enough to try some body filler and spray at home a la YouTube videos.

[Mondaveo]

The car also went for a service yesterday at my local independent (sorry, DIY advocates ).

I suggested they do a tyre rotation as I knew my fronts are getting pretty worn down, and the rears looked to me to have a little more tread depth left in them.

I got a call back to tell me my rear tyres are "lumpy" and it would be unpleasant and even dangerous to drive with them on the front. He called it "radial warp", but I think the Googleable term must be "cupping" for uneven wear most usually caused by suspension or alignment problems. I have the described characteristics, being a lot of road noise in general and "whump whump whump whump" at speed. (My mechanic reckoned it was unbearably noisy, but I guess I just don't know any different...)

It's not clear why the tyres went wonky, as a simple bounce test suggests the shock absorbers are okay... I'm a bit worried there's something expensive to be revealed under there. All four tyres are practically finished anyway so will get a new set and probably an alignment check and see...

The current tyres are Michelin Primacy HP manufactured in 2012, so they've likely done 57,000 km assuming they were fitted at the '13 logbook service (before my ownership). The car itself is now at 116,000km and 8 years old...

[rondeo]

My wagons are quite noisy from the rear tyres. Just an even whining from the treads and roar from the road surface.
Could be made worse by the fact I have full sized spares which raise the floor 2cm leaving a gap.
But was noisy before that anyway.


Tyres get noisier as they wear. Michelins.

[rondeo]

Originally Posted by Mondaveo

The car also went for a service yesterday at my local independent (sorry, DIY advocates ).

It's not clear why the tyres went wonky, as a simple bounce test suggests the shock absorbers are okay... I'm a bit worried there's something expensive to be revealed under there.

If I were you (?) I'd just put new tyres on without a wheel alignment and check the wear pattern every fill up. If the tyres are wearing evenly and the car goes straight ahead there's not a problem.


I've not had a wheel alignment in 7 years and the tyres are wearing just fine. Excepting my own adjustment of front toe in - I had excessive wear on the inside edge
so I turned the tie rod nut half a turn each, been fine ever since.



More controversial perhaps is the notion I have that the front wheel toe in is best set by trial and error, as it can be in spec but not in practice, i.e. with half at ton at 100km/h.


Of course I shouldn't need to say IMHO should I? Otherwise you might think everything I said without an IMHO was true? . Sorry.


I suggest Just put new tyres on, and go from there, any sign of steering or uneven wear issues - off to the alignment experts.
Chek the tyres each fill up.

[asteele-xr6]

I get a wheel alignment at every 15k km service without fail - the tyres are too expensive to not get it done in my opinion, and if they wear badly on the edges due to the alignment shifting very slightly - then the tyre can be illegal long before the middle tread has got to halfway!

I only learned this after having to throw away tyres that should not have been even halfway through their life, due to an alignment shift, and had destroyed the inside edges of the front tyres. Very annoying!

[rondeo]

My experience has been different.

If you read the wheel alignment specifications in the Haynes manual for example, you will see that the toe specification has quite a wide range, from negative to positive even. There is no ideal specification, just a tolerance range. Ask what the target values are on your next visit for alignment. I'd be interested to know.

'Alignment shifts' could arise from potholes or suspension wear I suppose, but if there's a problem the tyres will show it well before being trashed.
Inspect at 1000km intervals if concerned. I Check/rotate mine at 10000km, no alignments in 200000km except once as I said before..


Looking at my records: new tyres at 53600km,113700km,164459k


I use a Michelin digital tread depth and tyre pressure gauge. Supercheap.

[rondeo]

This is how I record tyre wear.
Takes about 5 minutes with a cheap digital gauge and gives a clear picture of wear issues.

I check each of the four grooves from outside to inside on each tyre, same time as oil change.
Only done at one point across tyre so run hand round to check for feathering etc.
Another handy tool is a stone pick to get stones out of the grooves.
I use a sharpened #2 philips screwdriver bent at the end.
After new roadworks my tyres had hundreds of sharp stones embedded.




Michelin tyres after 10000km from new (mm):

Outside > Inside

Right front 5.5 6.0 6.0 5.6
Left front ..5.5 6.0 6.0 5.7


Right rear 5.7 6.5 6.5 6.3
Left rear...5.7 6.5 6.7 6.0


When new: 6.8 7.2 7.2 6.8



Of course get all suspension checked if in doubt. Then 4 point alignment.

[bundybear75]

Originally Posted by Mondaveo

The current tyres are Michelin Primacy HP manufactured in 2012, so they've likely done 57,000 km assuming they were fitted at the '13 logbook service (before my ownership). The car itself is now at 116,000km and 8 years old...

I can't get past the idea you have got 57000km out of a set of tyres. The best I've got would be around 35000km, average would be high 20's.....

[asteele-xr6]

Yep, same for me - if I didn't destroy the edges on my first set due to bad alignment! My 2nd set was about 26,000km

[cobrin]

My tired suspension saw to bad tyre life as in 12mths life, renewing that and having a wheel alignment done right after has seen a huge improvement as you'd expect. I should go over the numbers but two tyres have 12mths on them before two others went on.

(took advantage of buy 4 get $100 back when two were needed)

[bundybear75]

Originally Posted by cobrin

My tired suspension saw to bad tyre life as in 12mths life, renewing that and having a wheel alignment done right after has seen a huge improvement as you'd expect. I should go over the numbers but two tyres have 12mths on them before two others went on.

(took advantage of buy 4 get $100 back when two were needed)

I'm on to my second set since February, but a buckled rim and rear wheel that was badly out of alignment (even after 2 alignments) put paid to the first set in about 24K.

I need to do something about my suspension, I'd imagine it's all original and pretty tired after 235K km

[Mondaveo]

Thanks folks for the input.

Wow rondeo, that's some fastidious record-keeping.

Bundy, the 57K km figure is my best guess based on the age of the tyres and dates in the service history, it might be less or it might even be 75K(!) if they were fitted at the 2012 service. I can only speak to the last 27K km personally, at any rate I thought they looked mildly worn when I took ownership so thought I'd be replacing before now. The Primacy is supposed to be a high-mileage tyre and it seems they wear very slowly.

I'll admit I was primed with the notion of getting an alignment by my mechanic, who offered to make it complimentary with a set of tyres. But Jax have a better price and a $100 cashback offer on four Michelins at the moment too. I guess the first thing I need to do is jack up the car and see for myself what these lumpy tyres are like, help inform whether I should be concerned...

[stefcio007]

Originally Posted by bundybear75

I can't get past the idea you have got 57000km out of a set of tyres. The best I've got would be around 35000km, average would be high 20's.....

I've currently got over 62k km out of my OEM tyres (rear) on my Focus. Tread is still good but the rubber is ageing as expected, and I reckon I'll need to replace them soon because of age alone at almost 7.5 years (date on tyre).

[rondeo]

Things to check:

Mondeo front wheels normally point inward. If there isn't enough 'toe-in' the inside of the tyre will wear faster than the outside and vice versa.

Eyeballing will show what's happening, but too late, that's why I use a tread depth gauge.

Wrong camber also causes this wear issue, but is not adjustable on Mondeo (at least as part of a common wheel alignment) and is perhaps less common.

The rear tyres wear slightly more on the outside. This is not a problem. Unusual wear on the rear tyres suggests getting a 4 wheel alignment using a laser alignment system.

Once you have a 4 wheel alignment, the main thing to watch is the front wheels, as above.



If you get a wheel alignment, I suggest you ask the folowing questions:

What were the initial results?

What adjustments were made?

What were the final results?

Then take a look at the specifications.


Even more amusing: Get two wheel alignments and compare results.


Finally, not much point in doing a wheel alignment if any suspension issues are not resolved first.


I'm not saying IMHO, as an old timer said to me once 'You're not often wrong, but you're right this time!'
And so on ...

[byrnzy]

After replacing Fan Controller Unit just over a month ago, a new issue has appeared. Power steering pump is making a horrible noise. Apparently it would have required a genuine Ford pump, and a rack rebuild / replacement. Was getting quotes of minimum $2100 to fix.........

A bit of background, the reservoir was replaced 13 months ago when similar sounds occurred. This silenced the issue, once the orange filter was removed. According to the mechanic, it is a common trait. Replace reservoir, it will last about 12 months, then pump........etc. The issue from what I have been told is in the rack, with a component that is slowly breaking down. Now mine as mentioned in previous posts is a 2007 MA, so fairly early into the production run.

So with heavy heart, the decision was made to trade the old girl in. Just had too many expenses over the last 6 months, who knows what would go next on her. It was a great 10 years, but all good things must come to an end.

[NZ XR6]

You've done well to keep a MA that long. I traded mine as soon as the factory warranty ran out after having a few problems during the warranty period.

I thought the MB had recently developed a knock in the rear suspension but it was a loose fire extinguisher!

[Jeremy J]

I bought my MA TDCI new in Dec 2008. When I gave it to my daughter in July 2017 it had 139,000kms on the clock.

It has been a very reliable & fuel efficient car. Apart from regular services and minor items such as wipers, pollen, air and fuel filters etc. the only replacements have been:
1. Rear pads and discs at 30k!!
2. Front pads & discs at 90k
3. Lower front wish bone/control arms and ball joint @ 115kms
4. Two sets of tyres @ 65k & 139k

At 10 years old, it now has 179k. Still going strong and reliable. New set of tyres, alignment and service just completed.

[gfbpsm]

I am new to the forum and am hopeful that with the collective experience here I might actually get an answer to my query. I have a Mondeo Titanium diesel 2010 model. For about the last twelve months I have been having intermittent problems with my auto cruise control. I can be driving along and may hit a bump and immediately get the message "ACC Unavailable" The message will pop up again and again and cannot turn it off until I turn the car off. I have had it to the Ford dealers in Cooee Tasmania about four times in all, cost me a fortune only to be told they cannot find the problem. They turn off the messages and say bring it in as soon as the error comes up again which I have done and once again zip. It is driving me crazy and no one seems to have any idea. Hope someone else has had the issue and have found a fix of some sort. Help please.

[Mondaveo]

G'day gfbpsm, welcome the forum.

I haven't experienced that issue, so I can only theorycraft how I'd go about about troubleshooting. ACC involves a radar system that measures the following distance to the vehicle in front, and some number of the car's other computer and control modules. Hitting a bump and losing the ACC function sounds like the car is encountering a communication fault with a required control system. It could be a loose connection, so in the absence of other information I would first try inspecting the modules and plugs. Unfortunately my Haynes manual doesn't include any mention of the radar, but I found this Talkford thread on retrofitting ACC that I think will help: https://talkford.com/community/topic...mondeo-pre-fl/

The radar module is situated behind the upper radiator grille on the passenger side, you should know it by the flat panel on the exterior of the grille. The control module is situated behind the glove box. The wiring plugs are (allegedly) easily reached once access is obtained. The ACC reportedly also involves the ABS controller and yaw sensor, though I'm not read up on where those are located.

It's going to be hard to identify the problem on visual inspection alone, so to help track this down I suggest you get an OBDII port scanner that will enable you to read the diagnostic codes reported by the car. I use an OBDLink MX dongle bluetoothed to my Android phone with the FORScan app. With this kind of setup you can drive around as normal with the app recording all kinds of data you usually wouldn't see, and keep a lasting log of any errors that occur (the car often clears them itself when you switch it off and leaves no trace, which rather stymies forensics back at the service department). When the error appears on your dash, I would expect there to be some kind of DTC possibly of the form "Lost communication with X" or similar that will give you a strong hint of what the culprit is. You can then either take that information to Ford, or delve into rectifying it yourself.

Good luck and let us know what you find

[vk7bs@yahoo.com]

Experienced my first problem today when my 2016 md mondeo titanium steering failed, dashboard message said steering failed, driver assist failed and a whole lot of other messages relating to this and power steering stopped. Car has 70000 klms. I have noticed the same car in the USA prompted a recall because of corroded bolts in steering motor. Worried that this is going to be a costly event.

[NX74205]

My blind spot monitoring system stopped working properly. Took it to the dealer yesterday who diagnosed the problem as a faulty blind spot monitoring module, which would require a new one to be fitted, programmed and calibrated. Quoted $2,710.

It's not a major issue, I can drive without it, but fark that's expensive!

[steve289]

I sold my 2010 MB Zetec TDCI about 18 moths ago, to a friends daughter.
She absolutely loves the car, and it's still in near perfect condition, ie the same as it was when I handed it over!

Caught up with her on the weekend to change a brake light globe, and had a good look over the car.
The only thing I could notice was one headlight starting to deteriorate, but not over the spread of the beam, at this stage.
May need to be polished out or replaced in a few years.
The timing belt & water pump were replaced 6 months ago.
Aside from routine maintenance, its been trouble free for 12 years.

[vk7bs@yahoo.com]

Originally Posted by vk7bs@yahoo.com

Experienced my first problem today when my 2016 md mondeo titanium steering failed, dashboard message said steering failed, driver assist failed and a whole lot of other messages relating to this and power steering stopped. Car has 70000 klms. I have noticed the same car in the USA prompted a recall because of corroded bolts in steering motor. Worried that this is going to be a costly event.

Well the car was taken to the ford dealer in Hobart who kept it there for 10days before they even looked at it, they then called me to say the steering rack would need to be replaced and quoted $7,500 they also said the battery that I had replaced by RACT less than 12 months before and quoted $550 for that as well. The car was due for its 75,000 service so I gave permission to service and replace battery, but not the steering as according to them it was now working but it I took the car I had to sign a document absolving them of responsibility. I have been driving the car since then and have done around 10k without an issue. I suspect the cars computer detected a surge in current through the steering motor and when that came up the so called “ mechanic “ didn’t look any further.
The mechanic in my humble opinion is best described as a “change O magic”

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by vk7bs@yahoo.com

Well the car was taken to the ford dealer

They're called "Fraud Stealers" for a reason.

Only ever use a stealer for warranty work. Other than that:

1. DIY
2. Find a decent local mechanic you can trust, OR
3. Use a Specialist