Grogee's spannering (Maestro & Mondeo IV). MAESTRO SERVICE

[IronStar]

22 minutes ago, grogee said:

I won't sell the originals! 

Is it possible to drop to 17" or even 16" without fouling the brakes? 

It is (assuming the same brake size as 1.8), but it looks like you're running BBurago wheels on a full-size car. 

Sole photo of the friend's car on 16s I could find. It looks even more ridiculous in person. Hopelessly lost under the arches. 

[sierraman]

I’ve got 16s on mine from a Focus Titanium. I weighed in one a few weeks ago with a full set of Ghia alloys on as I figured nobody would want them. Personally I’d save your money for preventative jobs like the vapouriser that loves to block itself up on the Euro 5 or the rear bushes that get knocked out. 

[Con2K]

Front brakes are the same across the mondeo range. All mk4 mondeo wheels fit all mondeo models. 300mm discs (and associated caliper dimensions) and seem to fit behind 16’s and upwards. 17’s to be on the safe side/look better due to the sport kit.

But I fitted 336mm volvo XC90 calipers discs and pads (identical to Focus RS brakes but without the  RS tax). Calipers can be picked up 2nd hand for about £40-60 a side and i just did it when i was next renewing the discs and pads. The stopping power is dramatically increased when needed imo. Makes a huge difference towing (and generally motoring along at any pace).

 

RNZ has had dpf delete by a previous owner so no vaporiser issues there and still passes emissions.

The rear trailing arm bushes have also been done. The clue is the back sitting excessively low when empty and going through a set of rear tyres because the inside edge has worn in less than 15k.

[sierraman]

Or it failing the MOT… 😂

They’re not a bad old bus I’ve had a number of them. Probably over the next few years though the numbers will thin out, there’s some dreadful ones about. 

[Out Run]

Shit ones will always be shit. But a good TXS is a cracking car.

The one with retrofitted OEM DAB that @Con2K owns is my old car, which I know had a few fans on here.

I may have documented the DAB install on here, but fair enough if you don't want to go that route @grogee. As said, all brakes are the same, so 16" wheels will fit if need be. I ran mine on 16" steels one winter and they were too small, not enough speed bump clearance.

Good luck with RNZ, it's yet another fine example of these underrated cars. 

[grogee]

4 minutes ago, Out Run said:

Shit ones will always be shit. But a good TXS is a cracking car.

The one with retrofitted OEM DAB that @Con2K owns is my old car, which I know had a few fans on here.

I may have documented the DAB install on here, but fair enough if you don't want to go that route @grogee. As said, all brakes are the same, so 16" wheels will fit if need be. I ran mine on 16" steels one winter and they were too small, not enough speed bump clearance.

Good luck with RNZ, it's yet another fine example of these underrated cars. 

Thanks, the bronzy colour is growing on me and it can pass for AS racing colours at a push. 

Re: wheels, I'm thinking that small wheels + high profile tyres should equal same (or similar) rolling diameter. It probably comes down to if I manage to find a set with half decent tyres as I don't want to spend £1000 making the change. 

I do agree the 19s look nice. 

DAB install: I'm following this nice Scottish chap's advice: 

 

[Rightnider]

16 inch wheels fit, but I found out the hard way that at least this type of wheel (from Focus Mk3.5) means calliper interference.

I do also go for smaller wheels and more rubber if possible. 

[sierraman]

Problem is some people ask mad money for them if they’re high spec, well into Mk5 money. I’ve got almost those exact ones above fitted and they have no interference issues at all on the brakes. Upgrading the speakers to Titanium ones was a worthwhile job. 

[grogee]

Maestro news, I managed to find a NOS boot latch for £not mental, so I'll be sticking this on in the Spring to try and cure the self-opening tailgate. 

I've contacted a local-ish place to ask about a transmission flush on the Mondeo, it's one of those jobs where you have to disconnect the cooler circuit and drain the fluid as engine runs. 

Trouble is, you have to stop the engine the instant the fluid is drained, which will probably involve some gymnastics to jump out from under the car and hit the start/stop button. 

I just know I'm going to end up doing it myself, auto boxes seem to be surrounded by some witches curse that means normal mechanics won't touch them, even to drain and fill the bloody fluid. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

don't try and fix a problem it hasn't got?

shirley a normal fluid & filter change will suffice?

[grogee]

30 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

don't try and fix a problem it hasn't got?

shirley a normal fluid & filter change will suffice?

It's "fill for life" but is now 12 years and 150k miles old. There's no drain plug... 

[Noel Tidybeard]

there will be a way

[sierraman]

I would find a place that specialises in automatic gearboxes and get them to do it. Couple of hours labour well spent rather than guesswork on the driveway. 

[Brigsy]

As above, id use a specialist to change the fluid in the box. Save loads of potential aggro

[sierraman]

Expect the garage to do a full diagnostics and road test prior to avoid the ‘You changed the gearbox oil and now it does XYZ’. Benefit in that is you’ll know beforehand if you are wasting your time. 

[grogee]

I lifted the bonnet for the first time since I bought it. Luckily, there was an engine present. 

It was to change one of the the xenon burners. Dip beam feels a bit dim, and changing the bulbs worked well in my Saab 9-5.

According to @Con2K the more pressing problem is likely to be dust on the projector lens. It's possible to buy replacements but I've tried the council fix method which was blowing it out with an airline. We'll see if that's made any difference when I go to get Master Grogee this evening. 

With the new bulb in, it's certainly yellower than the other side. I don't know if that's good or bad really. 

I also did some fluid level topping up and tyre pressure checks to make myself feel like a competent* mechanic. 

[Brigsy]

If headlamp output is still poor, id remove the projector dome to clean as only 4x bolts. If its not possible to get it out fully can prob get it turned 90deg so you can clean in situ. I done my clio and megane last year, made a massive difference to light output, the domes were covered in shite..

[sierraman]

That gulley is in an excellent place for oil/coolant changes. 😂

[Matty]

19 minutes ago, sierraman said:

That gulley is in an excellent place for oil/coolant changes. 😂

Cant laugh and agree react at the same time 🤣

[grogee]

1 hour ago, Brigsy said:

If headlamp output is still poor, id remove the projector dome to clean as only 4x bolts. If its not possible to get it out fully can prob get it turned 90deg so you can clean in situ. I done my clio and megane last year, made a massive difference to light output, the domes were covered in shite..

Inside the lens or outside it? 

It looks like the projector bit might come out of that access hole, which would be good. 

[sierraman]

17 minutes ago, Matty said:

Cant laugh and agree react at the same time 🤣

Joking aside (!) I knew a bloke years ago that ran a bit of a garage at the back of his house, one of those blokes in the pub that ‘did cars’. He had a sloped concrete drive and he used to do that regularly, piss the oil straight down the gulley at the bottom. It usually went fine unless the sump plug shot out of his hand down the drain. 

[grogee]

I did a two hour drive this evening across B roads. I took the liberty of selecting 'S' gear instead of boring old 'D'. 

I can honestly say I've not needed to press the throttle past halfway yet. It's just got a great diesel torque waft that is soooo satisfying. And very quiet. 

The steering is much lighter than I expected. It matches the effortless waft factor but I thought Ford used to put hundreds of man-hours into generating 'feel'. If they did it's not very evident. 

Brakes are excellent, I know there's a Volvo upgrade available but I honestly don't feel the need. 

Downsides? The indicator 'click' isn't loud enough. And the rear view camera is worse than useless. That's really all I can think of. Unless you count 42mpg - I'm mainly being careful so I don't think I could stretch that much further. 

Honestly I don't think the lights have improved much so I'll take out the projector lenses and give them a clean (with alcohol maybe?). 

I parked next to a 2011 Skoda Superb Estate at Lidl this evening. In my head, the Superb is a bigger car, but actually they looked almost identical length and height. That generation Superb was a gawky looking thing, too. 

[Brigsy]

3 hours ago, grogee said:

Inside the lens or outside it? 

It looks like the projector bit might come out of that access hole, which would be good. 

Clean both inside and outside of the glass dome. Check out the shit on the outside, my headlamps went from hazy to sharp, difference was night and day. I had to do mine in situ as the domes were too big to fit through the hole.

[Wibble]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

parked next to a 2011 Skoda Superb Estate at Lidl this evening. In my head, the Superb is a bigger car, but actually they looked almost identical length and height. That generation Superb was a gawky looking thing, too. 

The Superb has more room but I agree, they were gawky looking pre 2013 facelift, especially the hatchback. Glad you’re enjoying your Mondeo and hope it serves you well.

[stuboy]

ive always wanted a 2,5 turbo txs

[grogee]

Thanks for the advice telling me to take it elsewhere, but I'll ignore that in the same way I ignored calls to tell me not to repair a Powershift gearbox on my drive. 

This bearded man seems to know his onions and has some very good tips, eg don't start the job before ensuring the fill plug can be released. Sound advice. 

Contrary to my first impressions, turns out the box does have a drain plug which makes life much easier. All* you have to ensure is to check fill level with engine running. I did this on a RWD BMW and it was a lot more awkward than this. 

 

[sierraman]

That didn’t go well though did it… it was on the verge of packing up as you sold it. 😂

[grogee]

9 minutes ago, sierraman said:

That didn’t go well though did it… it was on the verge of packing up as you sold it. 😂

Actually, it did. It misbehaved after I did the repair but after I did another reset/calibration it's been as good as gold. The guy still has it and uses it daily - proof not all Powershifts are made of cheese. 

[grogee]

Eye gouging again. 

This time I removed the lenses for the xenons to clean them with a clean cloth and alcohol. 

They came apart surprisingly easily and I was able to separate the lens from the bulb holder pretty easily. 

In the main they seemed pretty clean. Once I'd given them a good going over, there was a yellowish residue left on the cloth, not sure if that's responsible for blocking the light. 

I do worry it's actually the reflector at fault. Behind the bulb there is a black plastic reflector surface spray painted silver. The area directly above the bulb (where the heat goes) was cracked and a bit flaky. As soon as I tried starting to clean this bit, the paint came off on the cloth 😕

I'm not certain of the path the light takes through the lens, which is very curved. Possibly it's bounced off the top of the reflector then 'inverted' by the lens onto the road... Who knows really. 

Anyway it's only 10 mins to remove the light so I can always come back and revisit with some silver spray paint if needed. If all else fails I've seen replacement lens assemblies on sale from Chy-nah. 

Yesterday I tried replacing the tailgate struts but discovered that ebay had sent the wrong ones. Can't imagine how that has happened, but I've told them now so I'm sure it'll be water-tight from now on 🙄

[Out Run]

On 11/12/2025 at 11:29, grogee said:

DAB install: I'm following this nice Scottish chap's advice: 

 

Just watched this and I remember now, some cars are pre-wired for a DAB module. Although I have converted two over now with all of the factory stuff and neither of those were. Hence the requirement to make up a DAB loom with a repinned mk3 Mondeo estate tailgate loom and a Quadlock headunit loom extension.

I guess the aftermarket aerial idea works, but it is just a case of replacing the factory aerial from A pillar to HU, signal amplifier and enabling with EML Config anyway if you do it as it would be when fitted as standard. Depends how much of a stickler you are for things.

I never found out which cars come pre-wired, but hopefully yours is!