Recommended Mondeo Mechanic

[badboysoulja]

Hi guys.

I just purchased a 2009 Mondeo Zetec Wagon. I am looking for a mechanic who knows the mondeos in and out to take it to and have it checked. Preferably in Western Sydney.

Thanks guys.

[borntoshop666]

I have been using Sinclair Ford in Kingswood for a long Time [EF Falcon, MB Mondeo, MC Mondeo and now MD Mondeo].
Based on my Experience, they know what they are doing and provide good Service
cheers

[badboysoulja]

Thank you for the recommendation.

Are the gear boxes in these supposed to be very laggy? I find it won't change into 5th until I'm over 60km/h and if on a highway will hang onto 5th until over 100km/h then will change to 6th.

When slowing down nearing a compete stop the gearbox shifts into 1st and jolts the car a bit.

I also have a whine from start to about 60km/h that sounds like power steering but when turning the wheel it doesn't make it louder.

Any help on these 2 issues would be awesome.

Thank guys!

[cobrin]

It's not really lag but more so programmed shifting for optimal fuel economy and probably emissions, you'd be doing 2000rpm in 4th at 60kph that's spot on, 5th will have it too low, I know, I tried in manual mode to see how it behaves. 4th gives you fuel economy and power to accelerate if needed.

In 5th you'd be looking at 1200 odd rpm and you've got no go in it. 5th is good to 100kph and 6th to keep economy. Of course that's normal easy going driving, you can get up and boogie and hit much higher speeds in each gear if you wanted/needed. Mine will change to 6th at 100kph though.


1st can be noticeable (slight jolt wise) when oozing in gear at idle speeds in heavy traffic, I've picked up on that too but mine isn't a concerning feeling only that you can feel it in some circumstances. A little bug bear of mine is idling in 2nd can be a tad fast for keeping with the slow traffic, then 1st be a tad slow. Only to ever so slightly increase it and it drops into 2nd and I'm on the brake again to adjust lol.

1st IMO is to get me started from stand still, I find it picks up rpm too quick for relatively low ground speed so I don't mind changing before 2000rpm and hit the 2nd gear gravy train and ride that baby all the way only to do it again in 3rd and so on.

When I bought mine I noticed it had a tendency to drop into higher gears far to early, then I had a fan and controller replaced recently and it came back a different spirited vehicle. It would rev out a bit longer to spot on timing where I really wanted it to and downshifts were perfect much sooner than before. I believe they may have disconnected the battery so it had to relearn my driving style. I loved it. But now the missus has been driving it more than I have (very easy driver) and I've noticed it's changed to a sedate far to early gear changing up and way late do nothing sloth downshifts. Just feels like drowsy sleepy mode. Weird...I wanna remove the battery lead again lol.

Hard to say about the whine I've not heard anything like that except for the turbo dump when backing off after moderate acceleration. I guess that's more of a whistle.

One steering test is to be on about 1000rpm and with two fingers turn the wheel and feel for any notchy or segmented feel to it, something not smooth as you'd expect. That can be a partially blocked filter in the steering reservoir or restriction to some degree. Which you can't gain access to clean. However someone on here said you can get a revised reservoir that you can clean the filter and solved any steering abnormality without changing the rack to what it was pointed to be the cause from debris internally.

One thing I can suggest is to get your trans oil changed, that made a remarkable change in feel on gear change speed of changes and harshness. It felt so much more tighter, responsive and a much nicer trans. afterwards. I'm due again to drop it once to keep it relatively fresh so to speak. I flushed it three times to clean it out and will keep to one flush every 30K kms. Seems to be popular with some owners on here.

With any luck you may have an improvement.

[Mondaveo]

Excuse me pulling up an old topic.

I know a few of us are down Canberra way. Has anyone found a good mechanic around the A.C.T. who knows their way around these cars? The dealer's service department appear to be guessing as often as not.

[Scoobth]

Originally Posted by Mondaveo

Excuse me pulling up an old topic.

I know a few of us are down Canberra way. Has anyone found a good mechanic around the A.C.T. who knows their way around these cars? The dealer's service department appear to be guessing as often as not.

Being a 'new' MC 2013 TDCi owner in the region, I would also like to know this. My car needs the 60k service shortly.

[rondeo]

Ford dealers employ go-betweens to deal with the public. They may have little or no interest in mechanical matters and may never have seen your car, yet still express strong opinions about it. Mechanics at Ford dealers are another matter, they have access Ford information (IDS) and will hopefully take a close look at your car. They don't usually talk to the public though.

General mechanics, although competent may not have access to information. So ask: do you have information about this gearbox, fuel pump, fluids etc?

I'd be looking for a mechanic whose workshop is brightly illuminated and above all appears to be able to hold a sensible conversation.

Maybe someone can reply to you original question!

[cobrin]

Originally Posted by rondeo

Mechanics at Ford dealers are another matter, they have access Ford information (IDS) and will hopefully take a close look at your car.

I find they're reluctant to even access/update or even check updates to the Convers+ system, some even saying they can't flash as they don't have the hardware to do it (being Euro) and that frustrates. Yeah charge me $200 to check and be told there's no update when clearly there are going from other owners.

Temped to use the guy who has updated and modded the firmware and pay him instead.

The industry is crap in AU, they've all got themselves to blame.

[Mondaveo]

Originally Posted by cobrin

Temped to use the guy who has updated and modded the firmware and pay him instead.

I know what you mean, and I reckon I'll be in too once he's added the DPF regen indicator.

[rondeo]

The owner may saY 'yes, we have regeneration'. What next is down to the system: finished? if not, resume, if so and so.

In any case, there's a relay for the fuel vapourizer, which could be monitored with an LED, not very complicated. Still, WHY unless (like me) a teensy bit obsessed?

I admit watching and listening for regens. Instantanious fuel consumption, booming exhaust etc.
Not sure why. Still a nice big red LED would be nice.

[Mondaveo]

Originally Posted by rondeo

Still, WHY unless (like me) a teensy bit obsessed?

I admit watching and listening for regens. Instantanious fuel consumption, booming exhaust etc.
Not sure why.

In 10,000km, I've actually never been able to discern when a regen was occurring according to those telltale signs (RPM, instantaneous fuel consumption or exhaust note). Not sure whether my car is exceptionally quiet, or I just haven't been paying attention to the right things at the right times.
The only time I have been able to tell a regen was happening was when I had FORScan monitoring a bunch of DPF variables and saw the soot loading value decrease, but even then I didn't notice the engine doing anything different. With a more obvious signal I might get to notice the transition when it starts and stops.

A dash DPF indicator would just be for interest. Otherwise I have to say they've succeeded in making the DPF maintenance quite invisible to me.

[Binny]

If you do a decent commute on highway/motorway you will very rarely notice it.
The only time I do is if my usual cruise gets interrupted. Like this morning I came across a traffic jam on the motorway and it was in the middle of doing one. Its the first time in ages I have spotted one.
You know all about it in heavy traffic though. It idles rough and is jerky when you are trying to crawl along. I wish you could manually cancel it in that scenario as its annoying.

[NZ XR6]

I no longer have the wife's car available to go to the shops, etc, so am using the Mondeo more often for short trips. I was a bit concerned about the DPF, so have been driving more "briskly" than I used to. I haven't noticed a regen for many months.

Diesel is cheap at the moment, so I'm not bothered about the increased fuel consumption.

Sent from somewhere using Tapatalk

[bananasnblow]

And on the same question, does anyone recommend a Mechanic for TDCI MC Mondeo around Thomastown in VIC?

[sailaway]

Originally Posted by bananasnblow

And on the same question, does anyone recommend a Mechanic for TDCI MC Mondeo around Thomastown in VIC?

Wrong side of the Yarra even though he is a mobile mechanic it may be out of his range.

Due to weather and a suitable area at home I opted to drive to his workshop in Noble Park and watched as he did the job. The drive may be worth it for you if you want a good job and being able to watch and ask questions.
http://imgur.com/a/Cvfs3

Service $130
+ 2x5 Ltrs oil including Oil Filter $100 (5.5litres oil used remainder carried for next time)
FUCHS TITAN SuperSyn F Eco - DT
http://imgur.com/a/Zk0vZ

Total all up $230



I can highly recommend this guy. Second time I have used him. First time on my Focus in a local carpark (Saved towing fees) when circlip came off front left driveshaft making car undrivable.

Let me know and I will post his details if interested. He specialises in European cars and diesels. If you speak Polish ask for a discount. I don't but he looked after me. Less than half of Ford's cost.

[bananasnblow]

Noble Park is too far away sailaway. Thanks anyway.

[Johnny0utah]

Any other Mondeo owners out there in the North West suburbs of Sydney (Hills District) that can recommend a good mechanic who is familiar with the Mondeo? New owner, and would rather not have to deal with Ford dealerships.
Thanks in advance.

[Mondaveo]

Originally Posted by Mondaveo

I know a few of us are down Canberra way. Has anyone found a good mechanic around the A.C.T. who knows their way around these cars?

To contribute a self-answer, I've just had a very positive experience with Auto Torque in Phillip. They are ostensibly set up as a specialist in transmission repairs (and my car was with them to have the Powershift sensor replaced) but Dean who mans the desk told me they have been taking on more logbook and general servicing work lately as well. They appear to be very thorough and diligent without over-servicing the car (Dean noted for example that the wiper rubbers were checked and don't need changing, and they appear to have even had a crack at cleaning the sunblock smear on my door panel and quelling my squeaky driver's seat without my asking). Fuchs fluids were used judging from the sticker on my windscreen.

On the downsides, I had to chase them up on the phone to give myself enough notice whether to leave work on the southbound bus to them, and the bonnet was not properly closed when I collected the car. Also the exterior was somewhat dustier than when I dropped it off (noticable because I'd just washed it on the weekend), but it had just spent three days onsite for the tranny rebuild, and getting dirty is a risk you take whenever you wheel it out.

It probably won't save you money (cost was the same as Ford capped price quote) and I've no idea if they necessarily know or approve of all the ins and outs of the vehicle, though Dean is an enthusiast for Peugeot and Citroen so the Mondy with its PSA engine seemed to get the tick of approval from him. Will strongly consider taking it back to them for future servicing.

[manchu]

How important is it to use a mechanic specifically familiar with the modeo (MC diesel in my case)?

I've been using a local independent mechanic for 7-8 yrs with my other cars and have been very happy with him, but haven't needed to take the mondeo in yet. I do know he's hasn't worked on many of them though.

[Mondaveo]

Originally Posted by manchu

How important is it to use a mechanic specifically familiar with the modeo (MC diesel in my case)?

Good question. I'll admit that when I asked for recommendations, I was hoping to be directed to some kind of Euro/Ford guru, like that would matter. But realistically, for regular maintenance probably not?

The diesel motor is pretty complicated (what with the DPF business) and you need the right oil. But lots of cars use diesels these days, and the procedure is just an oil change like any other.

The Powershift transmission is pretty different, and has a very particular process. But again, it's just a matter of following the steps, and it's not hard to obtain the right specification fluid.

As long as the person doing the work is able to follow the specs, and is not the kind to act rashly when faced with something unknown, they should be able to accomplish the regular service items without problems. Where it might matter more is if you are troubleshooting or doing a major rebuild (say, of the transmission...).

[bundybear75]

Originally Posted by Mondaveo

To contribute a self-answer, I've just had a very positive experience with Auto Torque in Phillip. They are ostensibly set up as a specialist in transmission repairs (and my car was with them to have the Powershift sensor replaced) but Dean who mans the desk told me they have been taking on more logbook and general servicing work lately as well. They appear to be very thorough and diligent without over-servicing the car (Dean noted for example that the wiper rubbers were checked and don't need changing, and they appear to have even had a crack at cleaning the sunblock smear on my door panel and quelling my squeaky driver's seat without my asking). Fuchs fluids were used judging from the sticker on my windscreen.

On the downsides, I had to chase them up on the phone to give myself enough notice whether to leave work on the southbound bus to them, and the bonnet was not properly closed when I collected the car. Also the exterior was somewhat dustier than when I dropped it off (noticable because I'd just washed it on the weekend), but it had just spent three days onsite for the tranny rebuild, and getting dirty is a risk you take whenever you wheel it out.

It probably won't save you money (cost was the same as Ford capped price quote) and I've no idea if they necessarily know or approve of all the ins and outs of the vehicle, though Dean is an enthusiast for Peugeot and Citroen so the Mondy with its PSA engine seemed to get the tick of approval from him. Will strongly consider taking it back to them for future servicing.

I glad you had a good experience with the guys at Auto Torque. They were great to deal with when they fixed my transmission problems. I'm seriously considering taking it back to them for the 180,000km transmission service. The rest of the servicing I'm doing myself.

[Sumo]

Any recommended good mechanic in south western Sydney that doesn't cost a arm and leg?