marky_g

Looking to change the focus for a mondeo......again lol

But this time I'm thinking a late mk3 st tdci/ghia x etc OR an early mk4 prob be more basic for my budget

I want all the toys I can get and full leather I'm rely struggling to find a mk4 with full leather (leathers ideal as I car share to work and we call get dirty with mastic and grease)

Wondering what people though about them I like the look of both is the mk4 a much superior car? I know mk3s are build pretty well

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Im sure full leather in a mk4 was an option.

thebigmacmoomin

ST TDCi only had half leather as standard

3i Jim

I recently bought an st tdci and love it great car, getting a remap and intercooler soon. Midrange pulls really well.

Carlos-Titx

Read on here mk 4 is a better and more reliable car.

Full leather doesn't seem to be readily available for some reason. The half leather and alacantra are nice enough. Just get some cheap seat covers.

What's your budget? Titanium X on eBay for Ł4 k

marky_g

2.5 to 5k but depends on the car rely I know the money falls right out if them so reluctant to make a big invest ment but if a speced up ghia or titanium x came along is part with more

Yer looking at parkers it was never standard equipment abs it seems only ghia buyers speced it and usually in baige I was thinking it might be a case of seat covers very tempted by st tdcis but I would like a mk4 lol

DangerousBryan

Mk4 2.0 tdci all the way. A lot better car. A lot less injector/egr issues than the mk3's and the drive train I'd a lot quieter and smoother. Most have got climate and cruise as standard.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

Definitely get a Mk4 - A much better all round car than the Mk3. Much more reliable too (especially if you want a diesel)

The Titanium X models came with leather/Alcantara seats. It's rare to find non Tit X ones with anything other than cloth. All the toys, lovely car.

dojj

iTrader: (3)

Look for a late spec titanium mk3 as they had the St stuff but not the badge

marky_g

Looks likes it's got to be a mk4 then was hoping you'd have something to say on this DAN as you'd had both Diesel engines lol

How hard is it to find a 160ps diesel? How do you tell it's it 140 or 160?

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

The earlier ones (and the ones in your price range) will more than likely be 140s. The Tit X Sports were 2.2 and 173bhp. They dropped the 2.2 for the facelift, and all were 2.0s either 140 or 163s.

To be fair the 140s are plenty pokey enough.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Don't forget the 2.0 and 2.2 mk4 have DPF's whereas the 1.8 doesn't. I quite like my 1.8tdci, it certainly isn't fast but plenty good enough for the daily commute, with the 1.8 you can blank the egr off if you wish which gives it slighty better economy, according to the gauge mine does 50.5mpg all day long, 55mpg average is pretty easy too if you try!

Carlos-Titx

DPF won't be an issue if you get it on a run now and then.

Dan has said several times though that the engines to have are the 2.0 or 2.2 for reliability.
Is it a diesel you're after? The 2.5 turbo I'd imagine will be going cheap these days.

marky_g

Yep defo diesel

I have a 2005 focus with the 1.8 tdci in it the torque is brilliant I'm well impressed with the engine

But defo fancy the 2.0 or 2.2 can you not get a DPF delete? As I woulnt do thank much driving maybe 150 250 miles a week max?

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

I had a 2litre Mk3 TDCi Mondeo and it was a pain in the arse. Injectors went and I had a plethora of other troubles with it. It wasn't a bad car per se, but it was the most troublesome car I've ever owned. More niggles and easily repairable stuff than anything else (bar the injectors which were Ł500) and eventually I'd had enough and got shot of it before the DMF went as well !

Carlos-Titx

Yeah you can get rid of the DPF on them no problems.

Just have to cut the insides out of it rather than bypass it with the new mot rules on having a visual enspection that it's there.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

The DPF is only an issue if you drive like a fanny!

Carlos-Titx

The mk 4 does have an issue with the power steering though. You will hear a loud whining noise when accelerating and steering.

Seems to be the gauze in the reservoir bottle getting blocked.

New reservoir and fluid flush will eliminate this.

Something I soon need to do on my mk 4.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

A couple of decades old engine with years of tried and tested reliability, or an engine designed by garlic eating surrender monkeys. I know where my money is lol. All down to opinion though, speak to Gary (gvk) on here who works on these day in day out, he says the 1.8 is by far the best for reliability. I just chose the one that gives the best economy, has no dpf, an egr valve you can blank and no coded injectors that are going to cost big bucks to fix. The 1.8 with 6spd box on paper also performs nearly the same as a 2.0, less than a second in it to 60. Good enough for me!

Carlos-Titx

I'm just going off of what Dans said on here many times over and others.

The frog unit can't be that bad. My uncles did 200k without a service and ran fine

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

There do seem to be a more issues with the 1.8 than the 2.0 on Talkford - Not big issues, but lots of niggly running problems - rough idle, lack of power, difficulty starting. Mostly down to sensors and sttuff. My 140K 2.0 engine has been mint (touch wood) and compared to the Mk3, both the 1.8 and 2.0 are massive improvements!

Carlos-Titx

Mines been great as well. Apart from mines now starting the power steering whining problem at the moment. About 98k.

Awaiting a quote from MikeyRobbo off of here for it to be fixed and about to add my name to the list over on Talk Ford for it

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

Is there swarf in the fluid? If not, a fluid change may fix it.

marky_g

I'm going to look for a tit x or full leathered ghia I think my preference is a 2.2 but I'll just buy on spec abs condition as I'll more Likly try tit x sport upgrade it anyway lol

Dose the tit x have aircon sears?

Carlos-Titx

Air con seats were an option mate so some do most don't. Come heated as standard on the Titanium X.


Dan, not that I can see. It's going in early next month for a new reservoir and fluid flush.

Bailes1992

The MK4 is a great car! My 1.8TDCi is now on 141,000miles and has been 100% reliable.

You will struggle to find full leather unless you get a Ghia and even then they are pretty rare.

Engine wise... Although there is nothing wrong with the 2.0 in both 140 and 163 format they don't seem to perform half as well as they do in the french cars.
Actually the 163 in the Peugeot 508 has a wide power band, buckets of torque and will return 55mpg+. The same engine in the Mondeo is flat as a pancake and won't do 40mpg. The 140 isn't as bad but it's still not the engine it should be!

The 1.8TDCi is a bit lazy in standard form, expecially at low revs. In the real world they won't return more than 40-45mpg (the trip computer in these MK4's are VERY optimistic). What they do have though is chunk a mid range punch! Even as standard you get 320nm's of torque (the same as the 2.0's ) at ~2200rpm and from 2000rpm to around 3000rpm they do make decent progress.
I've fettled with mine a little, I've blanked off the EGR, gutted the CAT, had a full stainless exhaust fitted and had a stage one remap and it's running 146bhp/395nms and it's not fast but it's very punchy and means you can make excellent progress without having to thrash the bullocks off it. Day to day I rarely exceed 3000rpm.
There are a few issues with the 1.8TDCi, turbo lag can be a pain in the arse but if you drive it properly and keep it above 2000rpm at all times it's never an issue. They suffer with small end bearing failure if you drive everywhere at 1500rpm, neglect service intervals and do mainly town driving. They have two timing belts, they have a belt between the crank and the fuel pump and another belt between the fuel pump and the cam. Most garages will actually tell you it's a belt and a chain but it is NOT! It is two belts and expect a bill for around Ł700 to have them replaced. The belt intervals are 125k/10years but I would recommend you have them done closer to 100k, there have been a few premature failures of the fuel pump timing belt.
Regular oil changes are a must in my opinion, I change mine every 6,000miles/6months. Winter I tend to use a 0w30 A5/B5 oil and if I'm due an oil change prior to summer I use a 5w40 fully synthetic A5/B5 oil. Other than that I put the recommended 5w30 Ford oil in.

The MK4 itself does tend to have a few electrical glitches from time to time. My radio freezes on a regular basis and sometimes it looses sync with the convers+ instrument cluster.
I have a rattle behind my dash that I cannot trace, it only rattles on overun around 2500rpm. My doors also rattle quite badly when listening to bassy songs of people with deep voices on the radio, something I hope to rectify with some dynamat when I have the time.
Then there is the steering rack issue which plauges the MK4. The rubber seals in the rack degrade and block the filter in the reseviour starving the pump and the rack. When this happens usually the only solution is a new rack, pump and reseviour. If caught early sometimes replacing the reseviour and flushing the fluid can give you some time but it will come back eventually.

Other than that they are a great car and I'm struggling to find anything else I like to replace mine with!

marky_g

I'm well versed in the 1.8tdci engine as I have had one in the last 3 cars I've had, all I'm goin on it my mates 2.0 in his mk3 feel like such a better engine tbh but what ever comes up like a day a 2.2 or 163 2.0 would be favourable

Yep Seems to be a ghia thing all baige tho 😭😭😭

Good to hear the faults about the rack and brakes I'll make sure I get them changed