£600 Mondeo shedding
Discussion
Frustrated at the muddy mess our Vizsla makes in the back of my 2019 Golf gti and general abuse it gets going to the tip I decided a shed was in order.
Browsing the normal sources I came across this 2003 Mondeo estate. 2.0 TDCI Ghia X with 161k and 10 months mot on Facebook 20 Miles from home. The family of the deceased owner were selling it told a sad story of his demise. A box full of history with a spare double din dvd touchscreen on the back seat, although the regular radio works fine.
It has issues, went in to limp mode on the test drive, turned off and restarted fine. Perhaps the fuel filter?
A knock from the offside rear when on bumpy roads, new shocks at about £20 a corner may fix it, if not then some new bushes may be in order.
OSF bearing is starting to make noises too.
Rev counter doesn't work and bounces around sometimes, I may have to live with this for a while.
With these in mind a cheeky offer of £600 was accepted.
Interior is fine, no excessive wear anywhere except the gear knob no tears in the leather.
Gave it a wash when I got it home, polished the bonnet but gave up when I thought why on earth am I polishing my shed.
Time for some spannering.
Browsing the normal sources I came across this 2003 Mondeo estate. 2.0 TDCI Ghia X with 161k and 10 months mot on Facebook 20 Miles from home. The family of the deceased owner were selling it told a sad story of his demise. A box full of history with a spare double din dvd touchscreen on the back seat, although the regular radio works fine.
It has issues, went in to limp mode on the test drive, turned off and restarted fine. Perhaps the fuel filter?
A knock from the offside rear when on bumpy roads, new shocks at about £20 a corner may fix it, if not then some new bushes may be in order.
OSF bearing is starting to make noises too.
Rev counter doesn't work and bounces around sometimes, I may have to live with this for a while.
With these in mind a cheeky offer of £600 was accepted.
Interior is fine, no excessive wear anywhere except the gear knob no tears in the leather.
Gave it a wash when I got it home, polished the bonnet but gave up when I thought why on earth am I polishing my shed.
Time for some spannering.
Edited by Jakarta on Saturday 27th February 19:38
Edited by Jakarta on Saturday 27th February 20:08
I like these, the TDCI can be a be a handful, I remember someone saying years ago it will be the best car you've had or the worst!
I had a 54 plate back in the day and that went in to limp mode because of the turbo waste gate or something like that. I got rid as it was a £1k bill to sort. That was intermittent and would be OK if turned off and on.
My brother had an issue. First garage quoted all sorts of silly stuff. Second diagnosed and sorted it for £100. Cam shaft sensor (I think his struggled to start).
Gets me thinking of my 2008 Tit X 2.0 TDCI I bought in 2015 with 171K on the clock. I kept that 4 years and put another 70k on it. Brilliant car.
I had a 54 plate back in the day and that went in to limp mode because of the turbo waste gate or something like that. I got rid as it was a £1k bill to sort. That was intermittent and would be OK if turned off and on.
My brother had an issue. First garage quoted all sorts of silly stuff. Second diagnosed and sorted it for £100. Cam shaft sensor (I think his struggled to start).
Gets me thinking of my 2008 Tit X 2.0 TDCI I bought in 2015 with 171K on the clock. I kept that 4 years and put another 70k on it. Brilliant car.
I've been doing some spannering on this. Replaced the OSF wheel bearing, managed to get the hub off and then took it to a local garage to press out the old and then in the new bearing.
Today I replaced the OSR shock that was knocking. That was an absolute bum of a job trying to get on the the top mounting bolt. It took a 12" & 6" extension with a swivel joint 15mm socket and a 18mm offset ringspanner on the backside. Not easy with the car on axle stands.
Took it for a test drive after, still knocking. On closer inspection the rear cross member assembly is toast, with the mounting point rusted away from the bush.
So now I need a rear cross member assembly. A quick browse on Ebay doesn't show any in country, I guess a trip to the local breakers is in order to see what they have.
Am I being overly ambitious trying to do this on my drive? The guy opposite me has a post lift, but I've only moved here recently and still at unfamiliar wave stage. I'll broach the subject with him gently over the next few days. If that's a non-starter then I'll source a sub-frame and then ask a local garage to fit.
Today I replaced the OSR shock that was knocking. That was an absolute bum of a job trying to get on the the top mounting bolt. It took a 12" & 6" extension with a swivel joint 15mm socket and a 18mm offset ringspanner on the backside. Not easy with the car on axle stands.
Took it for a test drive after, still knocking. On closer inspection the rear cross member assembly is toast, with the mounting point rusted away from the bush.
So now I need a rear cross member assembly. A quick browse on Ebay doesn't show any in country, I guess a trip to the local breakers is in order to see what they have.
Am I being overly ambitious trying to do this on my drive? The guy opposite me has a post lift, but I've only moved here recently and still at unfamiliar wave stage. I'll broach the subject with him gently over the next few days. If that's a non-starter then I'll source a sub-frame and then ask a local garage to fit.
bungz said:
Lovely cars, hopefully the limp mode can be pinned down and sorted.
Not seen one on Mk4 alloys before
Get the rear sub off if that is knocking, and get proper friendly with the bloke with the lift
There is a recipt in the history for the wheels at about £600. Somebody loved it once.Not seen one on Mk4 alloys before
Get the rear sub off if that is knocking, and get proper friendly with the bloke with the lift
When I say the rear sub is toast, with the car jacked up there is an inch gap betwen the frame and the body, this closes if the rear hub is jacked up. Also, the tubular section behind the wheel is about 70% present, I've no idea how this passed an MOT 2 months ago. Must have been wearing a blindfold.
As mentioned above the rear subframe was in pieces. I found a Mk3 estate breaking on facebook not too far away, half expecting to have to pull the unit off the car myself, I packed up my trusty toolbox and then something came up over the weekend and I told the seller I couldn't come till Monday evening.
He gracefully offered to deliver it to me for petrol money - happy days.
Cue a few hours of extracting one subframe, changing over the shocks to new ones, I also had to change the caliper mounts and calipers as the newer unit had a slightly larger offset even though the disks were the same size.
The process was quite simple, jack up on axle stands as high as you can, remove brake lines including the handbrake. Ease 5 bolts on each side, I then removed the front bolts, supported the subframe with a trolley jack and a decent chunk of wood. Removed the the next 3 bolts on each side and then lowered the unit from the car. As per Haynes normal instructions, refitting is the opposite of removal.
Once all reconnected, bleed the brakes, go for a drive and all is good in the world.
Now I have a non-knocky rear end I will go ahead with the oil and filters service including the fuel filter. Hopefully this will stop the fuel starvation that I believe is causing limp mode when under hard acceleration.
If it doesn't then I'll dig deeper, or just not accelerate hard. If it is, then the only issue left to resolve is the intermittent rev counter.
And then a decent clean inside, maybe a replacement drivers door as there is some bubbling at the bottom.
Only a couple of pics as I was focussed on other things at the time.
Ruined subframe:
ReplacementSubframe :
He gracefully offered to deliver it to me for petrol money - happy days.
Cue a few hours of extracting one subframe, changing over the shocks to new ones, I also had to change the caliper mounts and calipers as the newer unit had a slightly larger offset even though the disks were the same size.
The process was quite simple, jack up on axle stands as high as you can, remove brake lines including the handbrake. Ease 5 bolts on each side, I then removed the front bolts, supported the subframe with a trolley jack and a decent chunk of wood. Removed the the next 3 bolts on each side and then lowered the unit from the car. As per Haynes normal instructions, refitting is the opposite of removal.
Once all reconnected, bleed the brakes, go for a drive and all is good in the world.
Now I have a non-knocky rear end I will go ahead with the oil and filters service including the fuel filter. Hopefully this will stop the fuel starvation that I believe is causing limp mode when under hard acceleration.
If it doesn't then I'll dig deeper, or just not accelerate hard. If it is, then the only issue left to resolve is the intermittent rev counter.
And then a decent clean inside, maybe a replacement drivers door as there is some bubbling at the bottom.
Only a couple of pics as I was focussed on other things at the time.
Ruined subframe:
ReplacementSubframe :
Cabin, air, oil and more importantly the fuel filter all changed. The fuel filter fixed the EML and limp mode when pressing on. I assume that the demand not being met was the issue, thankfully job jobbed.
Next on the list :
Remove the awful tints behind the C-pillar.
Replace a slow puncture (and quite worn) OSR tyre. Annoyingly, this has the Mk4 18" wheels which call for 235/40/18 tyres. Previous owner has fitted 225 tyres, I assume because they're about £25 a tyre cheaper. So do I go for the correct size but have different size tyres across the car, stick with 225's or go all out on a shed and get 4 new tyres in the correct size?
My golf wears the same size 225's and I see that Goodyear ASY5's are on for a good price at the moment.
Get a replacement fuel filler cap (the body part, not the screw on cap) as this one has a chipped part that prevents locking.
Get a replacement windscreen, I plumped for TPFT insurance on this shed, day one of owning it I took a rock to the windscreen and it now has a 10" crack from the top left corner. As expected, MOT runs out before my insurance expires and I don't have windscreen cover on this policy. BawBags!
Consider looking in to the intermittent rev counter.
Continue to take junk to the tip in it, it was a resounding success transporting the old subframe in, which I had to dismantle to get to a point I could lift it in to the car.
Next on the list :
Remove the awful tints behind the C-pillar.
Replace a slow puncture (and quite worn) OSR tyre. Annoyingly, this has the Mk4 18" wheels which call for 235/40/18 tyres. Previous owner has fitted 225 tyres, I assume because they're about £25 a tyre cheaper. So do I go for the correct size but have different size tyres across the car, stick with 225's or go all out on a shed and get 4 new tyres in the correct size?
My golf wears the same size 225's and I see that Goodyear ASY5's are on for a good price at the moment.
Get a replacement fuel filler cap (the body part, not the screw on cap) as this one has a chipped part that prevents locking.
Get a replacement windscreen, I plumped for TPFT insurance on this shed, day one of owning it I took a rock to the windscreen and it now has a 10" crack from the top left corner. As expected, MOT runs out before my insurance expires and I don't have windscreen cover on this policy. BawBags!
Consider looking in to the intermittent rev counter.
Continue to take junk to the tip in it, it was a resounding success transporting the old subframe in, which I had to dismantle to get to a point I could lift it in to the car.
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