AS Communal MK4&5 Mondeo Thread

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, Cookiesouwest said:

How about a cheap Picasso. No one wants them. Often giffer owned and quite well looked after. PSA diesel.

On paper your right, but in my head no, never. I can see why no one wants them

I dislike them so much a Nissan fucking quashqai is higher up my maybe list 😂 Otherwise your right it'll just be my car in a different shell... 

 

[junkyarddog]

That time of the year again,annual test.

Didn't get a clean pass this year unfortunately. 

Two rear tyres were worn on the inner edge,but not excessively(imo)but were getting thin,so two cheapy Massimo ditch finders later we have this...

Let's see if I can knock another 12 months out of the old girl!😁

[Bren]

Ours dipped it's MOT. Near side parking brake - not the side I fitted the caliper to. So it's another caliper - to be fair it looks like a lump of coal and when I fitted pads in the summer it looked past it's best then.

[sierraman]

22 hours ago, Bren said:

Ours dipped it's MOT. Near side parking brake - not the side I fitted the caliper to. So it's another caliper - to be fair it looks like a lump of coal and when I fitted pads in the summer it looked past it's best then.

Might just be the sliders, I used to use red rubber but it just doesn’t last, had no issues since I’ve switched to the ceramic shit. Sometimes the cables get very frayed on the ends as well, you find sometimes it wants the whole lot. Complete bitch of a job on the driveway, needs a ramp. Especially seeing as the adjustment is above the exhaust. 🙄

[Bren]

A new caliper and a fresh MOT certificate. It's been expensive this year - four tyres, battery, two calipers, a flexi,pads, trailing arm bushes, leak off pipes - I hope we get a rest for a bit.

[sierraman]

I had my rear bushes done this year, £200 Labour and £60 for some genuine Ford bushes. Wasn’t going to be farting around on the floor with the tool for that. Done the ARB D bushes and springs this year as well so should be good to go. 

[Bren]

12 hours ago, sierraman said:

I had my rear bushes done this year, £200 Labour and £60 for some genuine Ford bushes. Wasn’t going to be farting around on the floor with the tool for that. Done the ARB D bushes and springs this year as well so should be good to go. 

I bought the genuine ones as I had a bill for them being replaced a few years before and they had started to split - I had them fitted at mates rates - I would have paid going rate rather than buying the tool and doing them myself.

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, Bren said:

I bought the genuine ones as I had a bill for them being replaced a few years before and they had started to split - I had them fitted at mates rates - I would have paid going rate rather than buying the tool and doing them myself.

I cannot see the logic in paying £100 for a tool that may/may not strip the threads mid job when someone can fit them for you for another ton. I just don’t price a day off of my life that cheaply especially this weather. 

[Bren]

I concur.

[warren t claim]

9 hours ago, sierraman said:

I cannot see the logic in paying £100 for a tool that may/may not strip the threads mid job when someone can fit them for you for another ton. I just don’t price a day off of my life that cheaply especially this weather. 

I've just remembered the lad who borrowed my Cortina Void Bush tool never returned it to me.

Funny how a post can trigger a memory that's laid dormant in my mind for over thirty years.

 

[beko1987]

My mate had the battery go flat again yesterday. Went ove to help him this morning. And I found my battery charge I picked up years ago from the car boot and have never used

The lights didn't come on but the multimeter confirmed it was pushing volts so we left it for a bit and I noticed his passenger headlight was full of water 🙄

Unbolted that (very easy) and just tipping it up so the water found the drain holes worked well. We took photos of the part no for another day (my mate found a cluster for £60 iirc) and I noted the green crusty looking connector for another day

I'd meant to pack some contact cleaner and wd40 but forgot. Both bottom fogs are fucked too, but still work apparently. 

The next job I wanted to do was have a look at the radio fault again. But in a more brutal way. I failed but the plan was to find the live wire in here (which I thought I had) 

Chop it and feed it through an switch

Mounted somewhere handily on the dash

This totally failed. I got bored of finding the specific wiring diagram for his car, every forum post I read had different wiring colours or people answering a 2008 mondeo specific question with wiring colours from a 1992 Escort 😡 I got the multimeter out and the wire I cut had 12v on ignition, but isn't the wire that kills the power. 

We pulled the fuse in the end, and called 2 jobs out of 3 good enough. 

Anyone know which wire to cut to kill the radio? It's a cd6000. And do I actually want the ground wire not live? It seemed easier to try up top rather than find the wire from the fusebox that's directly affected by pulling the fuse, but I'll do some research and have a go another day. 

He's got a Bluetooth speaker in the cup holder now and it sounds fine. As I said to him, I'd rather have an annoying battery drain that can be disconnected and worked around than my airbag light 😂

We then turned the car on to idle and charge, when the most awful noise started from the engine bay. Having touched zero mechanical things we were a bit alarmed, but I found a metal heatshield for the alternator loose and wobbling. Bent it around the alternator bracket and it's nice and solid now. Noise stopped so who knows what it actually was 🤷

[beko1987]

Afternoon! I have a question! 

The simple version - The driver seat in my mates mondeo has a spring sticking out and he says one of the adjustments doesn't work. Cloth seat, probs airbags but not heated etc. 

This seat would bolt up and plug in wouldn't it? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305912130075?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=-QDus94xQs2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=QOvj0cTJQtq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

That's his most immediate annoyance with it. The dash cluster keeps saying there's a stop light fault. All the lights work, but before blaming it fully on whatever the cluster fault is, it needs all the lights and holders looking at to rule out/clean up. Ignoring that for now. 

He washed the key 🤣😱 And fucked it. Apparently he then ordered a spare key set off ebay and cobbled enough together so he can lock it with the new key and start the car, but the old fucked one has to be on his keys as well for the immobiliser. I guess that's going to cost a bit to sort... 😬

We still haven't serviced or washed it. We did discuss that on Thursday though so thags as good as done*

My switch bodge is working too! As long as he taps the button as he turns the car off the bsi must shit itself and think it doesn't exist and most crucially turns the power off to it nicely and the car shuts down gracefully everywhere else. He has a decent Bluetooth speaker he's used before, or he says he just pushes the switch and enters the code if he's going more than a few miles. But no more dead battery issues so far 🤞

[Homersimpson]

3 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Afternoon! I have a question! 

The simple version - The driver seat in my mates mondeo has a spring sticking out and he says one of the adjustments doesn't work. Cloth seat, probs airbags but not heated etc. 

This seat would bolt up and plug in wouldn't it? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305912130075?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=-QDus94xQs2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=QOvj0cTJQtq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

That's his most immediate annoyance with it. The dash cluster keeps saying there's a stop light fault. All the lights work, but before blaming it fully on whatever the cluster fault is, it needs all the lights and holders looking at to rule out/clean up. Ignoring that for now. 

He washed the key 🤣😱 And fucked it. Apparently he then ordered a spare key set off ebay and cobbled enough together so he can lock it with the new key and start the car, but the old fucked one has to be on his keys as well for the immobiliser. I guess that's going to cost a bit to sort... 😬

We still haven't serviced or washed it. We did discuss that on Thursday though so thags as good as done*

My switch bodge is working too! As long as he taps the button as he turns the car off the bsi must shit itself and think it doesn't exist and most crucially turns the power off to it nicely and the car shuts down gracefully everywhere else. He has a decent Bluetooth speaker he's used before, or he says he just pushes the switch and enters the code if he's going more than a few miles. But no more dead battery issues so far 🤞

On Fords (80's/90's) it used to be quite common to strap a key to the steering column under the cowl and have new blanks cut so you could open the doors and turn the ignition on and it read the key in the cowl for the chip.

 

Saved the cost of programming a key on a £200 Sierra.

[sierraman]

3 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Afternoon! I have a question! 

The simple version - The driver seat in my mates mondeo has a spring sticking out and he says one of the adjustments doesn't work. Cloth seat, probs airbags but not heated etc. 

This seat would bolt up and plug in wouldn't it? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305912130075?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=-QDus94xQs2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=QOvj0cTJQtq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

That's his most immediate annoyance with it. The dash cluster keeps saying there's a stop light fault. All the lights work, but before blaming it fully on whatever the cluster fault is, it needs all the lights and holders looking at to rule out/clean up. Ignoring that for now. 

He washed the key 🤣😱 And fucked it. Apparently he then ordered a spare key set off ebay and cobbled enough together so he can lock it with the new key and start the car, but the old fucked one has to be on his keys as well for the immobiliser. I guess that's going to cost a bit to sort... 😬

We still haven't serviced or washed it. We did discuss that on Thursday though so thags as good as done*

My switch bodge is working too! As long as he taps the button as he turns the car off the bsi must shit itself and think it doesn't exist and most crucially turns the power off to it nicely and the car shuts down gracefully everywhere else. He has a decent Bluetooth speaker he's used before, or he says he just pushes the switch and enters the code if he's going more than a few miles. But no more dead battery issues so far 🤞

I’d get rid of it and buy a German car to avoid these problems in future. 😂

On a serious note I’d just go to Timpsons, last time I checked it was about £70-80 for a spare key cutting and programming. Seat will drop straight in but disconnect the battery for 30 mins to let the pyro shit discharge itself. 

[BorniteIdentity]

It’s a time of change in the Huntingdonshire taxi market. The infamous Steve of Steve’s Taxis sold up last year or so, being bought by Panther Taxis off of Cambridge.

This has meant a change in rolling stock; a lot of Corolla estates are now spotted across St Neots where I live, replacing the famous red MK4/5 Mondeos.

With permission of @warren t claimi will try to capture the changing tide over the next couple of years. There’s a lot of stuff coming up to retirement which I’ll try and snap. its weird; I’ve lived here twenty years this weekend and I’ve seen the slide from MK3s (and the odd MK2) to 4s and 5s. Always red, and nearly always with that odd black boot trim. (There’s an odd 17 plate that’s all red which I will try to snap for prosperity)

I love my adopted home, and the red Mondeos are as much a fixture as the market on a Thursday and the pissheads in ‘spoons at 9.30am. I will miss them. 

[warren t claim]

The Mk4 is becoming a rare sight here on Wirral due to age and lack of Euro 6 engines.

[junkyarddog]

There was a Guy that worked on those Taxis that had a YouTube channel.

Think he went out to Asia.

 

[sierraman]

8 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

There was a Guy that worked on those Taxis that had a YouTube channel.

Think he went out to Asia.

 

No he’s back now. 

[BorniteIdentity]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

It’s a time of change in the Huntingdonshire taxi market. The infamous Steve of Steve’s Taxis sold up last year or so, being bought by Panther Taxis off of Cambridge.

This has meant a change in rolling stock; a lot of Corolla estates are now spotted across St Neots where I live, replacing the famous red MK4/5 Mondeos.

With permission of @warren t claimi will try to capture the changing tide over the next couple of years. There’s a lot of stuff coming up to retirement which I’ll try and snap. its weird; I’ve lived here twenty years this weekend and I’ve seen the slide from MK3s (and the odd MK2) to 4s and 5s. Always red, and nearly always with that odd black boot trim. (There’s an odd 17 plate that’s all red which I will try to snap for prosperity)

I love my adopted home, and the red Mondeos are as much a fixture as the market on a Thursday and the pissheads in ‘spoons at 9.30am. I will miss them. 

A quick bit of perving suggests that mondeo has probably ticked over 400,000 miles. If not then very soon. 

[beko1987]

9 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

It’s a time of change in the Huntingdonshire taxi market. The infamous Steve of Steve’s Taxis sold up last year or so, being bought by Panther Taxis off of Cambridge.

This has meant a change in rolling stock; a lot of Corolla estates are now spotted across St Neots where I live, replacing the famous red MK4/5 Mondeos.

With permission of @warren t claimi will try to capture the changing tide over the next couple of years. There’s a lot of stuff coming up to retirement which I’ll try and snap. its weird; I’ve lived here twenty years this weekend and I’ve seen the slide from MK3s (and the odd MK2) to 4s and 5s. Always red, and nearly always with that odd black boot trim. (There’s an odd 17 plate that’s all red which I will try to snap for prosperity)

I love my adopted home, and the red Mondeos are as much a fixture as the market on a Thursday and the pissheads in ‘spoons at 9.30am. I will miss them. 

 

 

9 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

There was a Guy that worked on those Taxis that had a YouTube channel.

Think he went out to Asia.

 

Ive watched some of his videos before! 

[beko1987]

On 26/01/2025 at 15:42, sierraman said:

I’d get rid of it and buy a German car to avoid these problems in future. 😂

On a serious note I’d just go to Timpsons, last time I checked it was about £70-80 for a spare key cutting and programming. Seat will drop straight in but disconnect the battery for 30 mins to let the pyro shit discharge itself. 

I think he's messed up the pcb in the key too though, as the central locking doesn't work. 

He only key locks it when he parks in London to go watch the football. I think that's the only time he turns the radio back on too 😂

I keep seeing high milage 2007-10 mondeo titanium x estates cheap (£12-£1500)... Should I keep ignoring them? 

[sierraman]

Just now, beko1987 said:

I think he's messed up the pcb in the key too though, as the central locking doesn't work. 

He only key locks it when he parks in London to go watch the football. I think that's the only time he turns the radio back on too 😂

I keep seeing high milage 2007-10 mondeo titanium x estates cheap (£12-£1500)... Should I keep ignoring them? 

Not necessarily, they’re a very good car. Providing it’s got no clutch/DMF issues and it runs fine it should be ok. Trouble is at that money a lot of them will have been worked or run on a shoestring. You don’t want to be on the back end of something that’s done 220,000 miles, the interior looks like it’s housed farm yard animals and it’s been fucked about with. I’d pay another £1k or so and you’ve something that’s a fighting chance of seeing a few years out. But that’s true for any £1,200 car - 80% chance its total junk.

[warren t claim]

A memory from ten years ago today. OXG getting bodywork. Probably the best Mk4 I ever had the pleasure of owning/driving. Cost me £2500.

[warren t claim]

Incoming. 

[warren t claim]

180000 mile 2.0d. 

Let's see how this works out.

[warren t claim]

On 07/07/2018 at 23:07, warren t claim said:

The OCD amongst you may have noticed a slight change in the thread title.

 

Due to Millie shitting her wet belt I've been without a car so I've had to rent another for work at the eye cost of £35 a day. Now as you've probably guessed already the car s I've been renting are Mk5 Mondeos so I thought it's high time I gave you my less than expert opinion of Ford's latest effort at a mass market mid sized family car. 

 

Here's the first one I had...

 

 

Looks nice, doesn't it? 

 

Now the first thing any Mk4 veteran will immediately notice is the improvement in the solidity of the car. Right from when you first open the door it feels like a quality product, something that extends into the plastics used in the interior. A couple of customers has asked if it's the new Jaguar or remarked that they thought it was an Audi. The seats are amazing, a bit like an 80s Saab or Porsche with loads of adjustments available although the seat height is non-electric. Legroom both front and rear is improved over the already cavernous Mk4 with the bonus of not having rear head restraints that dig into your back unless raised. 

 

The kit offered is basic by the standards of a modern car. No reversing sensors, let alone camera and the rear visibility isn't fantastic. No adaptive cruise, autonomous emergency braking or lane assist either. Lots of confusing wheel-mounted buttons as you'd expect and a big screen in the dash for the climate, sat nav and phone. Sadly due to the angle of the screen, it's virtually unreadable during the bright sunshine we've been having lately. It comes fitted with Apple Car Play and Android Auto as well although that doesn't seem to work as well as I had hoped. 

 

Now the bad part. Ford have equipped it with stop start and even after a mere 26,000 miles the starter and DMF are beginning to rattle worryingly. You can override the system with the button but it's default setting seems to be in the on position. As you'd expect it comes equipped with an elestric parking brake which is as unpredictable in whether it releases automatically when you try and pull off. Also on the subject of the transmission tunnel, the cup holders are too deep, if you put a standard sized McDonalds cup into them the cup sinks right down removing the lid in the process. Other switches controlling the elecric windows (front and rear) on the drivers armrest are just a bit too far forward, often when I've gone to open the drivers window I've mistakenly opened the rear instead. Column stalks are as you'd expect although Ford have copied the Insignia by putting a rocker switch on the end of the wiper stalk to operate the rear wiper. Headlights are Bi-Xenon and really do light the road well without dazzling oncoming traffic although there's no automatic lights fitted or come to think of it rain sensing wipers either. The wipers themselves are those modern overlapping clap hands type that save manufacturers having to tool up for different RHD/LHD markets and they do a great job of keeping the screen clean. 

 

The two litre diesel engine is very refined and flexable and returned 42 mpg in my useage and has plenty of power, more than you'll ever need and is mated to a pretty slick six speed box.

 

Any other faults? Well after a mere 26,000 miles the tyre pressure sensors have gone haywire promising all sorts of MOT issues down the line.

 

Now due to that particular car being plated for several councils I had to return it and swap it for another as it was needed elsewhere on Merseyside and I was given this 19,000 mile example as a replacement.

 

 

Now this example has none of the rattly stop start and TPMS faults that the silver car had although whether it'll get them only time will tell.

 

So would I spend my own money on one? Well the answer has to be a definite maybe. Passengers love it and it's a nice car to spend a shift in.

 

7.5/10 from me.

I thought that I'd revisit this six and a half year old post I made here to see if my opinion has changed.

I won't bore you here with the reasons why the Insignia was showing signs of a premature death as I'll save that story for my taxi thread and why I couldn't jump in another car from the fleet I help manage (spoiler alert the owner has sold all of his cars through auction) but suffice to say I had to find a replacement car pronto.

Enter YR66LRV (reg quoted cos I know some of you are car history/DVLA pervs). Needing a car pronto I called in to see a guy I know who rents out taxis. He's the fells who I did a deal with seven years ago to take the remains of Modern Half Millie, the Mk4 estate I owned in exchange for the use of a black Mk4 estate on his rental fleet after Millie shat her wet belt and I needed a taxi until my Hyundai could be delivered.

He had a couple of Mondeos for hire, a black 65 plate hatch and YR66. As well as those he also had an Insignia, DU66ZXR, that ironically I tried to buy from him seven years ago but at the time he'd already agreed to sell it to another driver. The driver concerned lives around the corner from me and that Insignia clearly suffered a major fault down the line meaning the owner sold it back which explains its place on his rental fleet. 

I chose YR66 because it can't have been a taxi for over a year as it's got rear privacy glass which my council outlawed until ten months ago. At the time YR66 was sitting on some very snazzy 19" wheels one of which was sporting a flat tyre. After my experience with the MG6 which wore 18" Mr Creosote waffer thin tyres which aren't suitable for taxi use due to pothole induced side wall damage we agreed to fit YR66 with the more sensible Mk5 Mondeo wheels. 

YR66 has clearly seen some action in its life which I discovered when I rang my insurance company to cover her. I read out the reg number to the lady on the other end of the line and she said that is coming back as a grey Mondeo Titanium. YR66 has had a fair bit of work done to her after a collision meaning a lot of the Titanium has been removed. The accident was obviously a hit on her offside as she no longer has touch entry on the right side doors and although fitted with a reversing camera on her tailgate it doesn't show on the infotainment screen. Not really an issue to me as I have previously owned a Mk4 Ghia estate, BD09HDO, that after a knock lost its Ghia front and faux wood dash trim.  

That's not to say that YR66 doesn't have any issues. The biggest of those is the immobiliser. If I stall her or leave the stop/start switched on she has an annoying habit of refusing to start unless I get out and lock/unlock the doors before starting again. The engine is far from silent but I've heard much worse sounding Mk5 2.0 diesels so on the Mondeo death rattle scale I'll rate her as a 5.5 out of 10. The sat nav shows no GPS and still thinks that I'm parked in a Birkenhead back street although it does still display the speed limit on whatever road I'm driving on. 

Let's move on to some other observations. The lane keep assist isn't anything like the system fitted to my Ioniq that was happy to drive itself on motorways. Even in its active mode all it does if send a vide through the steering wheel whenever I stray too close to a white line. YR66 is fitted with Ford's Parking Pilot, the feature which when activated will tell you when you've found a suitably sized space and park the car for you. I honestly thought that this feature would be a bag of shite and not work properly but in reality it works well. In fact it's wincingly brave when deciding on a parking space and will happily squeeze itself into a space that has you thinking "no fucking way!"

Fuel economy seems to be about 43 MPG around the doors even with the stop/start switched off which is OK. The engine does seem less torquey than the 1.6 dizzler Insignia often needing a lower gear but that could be down the the gearing. 

 

 

[Jds1]

I'm currently in the market for a new family car and a 2011 estate , 2.0 petrol (non ecoboost) has caught my eye is there anything specific I should keep my eye out for ?

[sierraman]

5 hours ago, Jds1 said:

I'm currently in the market for a new family car and a 2011 estate , 2.0 petrol (non ecoboost) has caught my eye is there anything specific I should keep my eye out for ?

Nothing as such but the diesel is quicker in the real world and considerably more economical. Swings and roundabouts, no DMF of DPF bother but you get bummed on the tax and the running costs. In fairness it’s less likely to have been ‘worked’. Check for smoke, they can get a bit smoky by 120k ish. 

[warren t claim]

Internal slave cylinder burst last night forcing me to aquire copious amounts of DOT 4 and utilise a bungee cord in an unusual way. 

Replacement clutch flywheel and gearbox fitted in five and a half hours. 

[beko1987]

How many times has the chap who did it done that job to do get it down to only 5 1/2 hours with I assume you standing over him gassing away half the time? 😂