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New MK4.5 Mondeo owner.

1K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  homer2themax 
#1 ·
Hello everybody.

Firstly a bit about me. I LOVE Granadas. My all time favourite is the MK2 pre-facelift which was actually my 2nd car purchase at 19yo. Unfortunately not actually having passed my test at the time most insurance companies wouldn't touch me and even those that would wanted in excess of £2K third party only. That was a lot of money in the mid 90's (Now you have an idea of how old I am lol)

I've owned several, pre and post facelifts plus a few MK3 grannies and even a frog eye and if I could find a decent one that didn't cost the same as a small Caribbean island I'd be in there like a shot. That's not the case any more. I only wish I'd held on to half the Granada's I've owned. I'd be rolling in it by now.

I generally prefer cars with more than 4 cylinders, auto gearboxes and petrol engines but sometimes you have to make sacrifices, even if only for a short while.

This is my first post on here although I have also had a Mk2 Mondeo as a company car years ago, a MK2 1.8 Zetec in the past and more recently 2x MK3 V6 Ghia X Auto's. Unfortunately the first one developed HGF and after a brief sojourn into the world of Volvo S80's, Renault Lagunas and Vauxhall Signums (bought a 2.0DTI (I know I know lol) my heart was still on the lookout for a replacement MK3. Thankyou Ebay for bringing me an 06 plate for just £540. I am still currently driving her and to be fair she has been a relative pleasure to own and I am not planning to get rid of her any time soon (don't tell the wife).

Long story short, a pending house move will mean my daily commute will increase to a 35 mile daily round trip (whereas currently it's 5 miles) and I'm afraid the 2.5L V6 is not exactly what you would call economical. Therefore I've bought a 2012 2.0L TDCI Manual with 209K at what I thought was an absolute bargain price of £750. (Doesn't fit any of my preferred criteria but hey ho, economy is the key word here)

Before you start thinking of the old adage "if it seems too god to be true it probably is" I know, I know. As luck would have it I was lucky enough to receive a windfall that very night which ultimately made the car cost £100. Can't refuse that right?

Description was as follows....

This car needs an engine mount, front brakes, and I think an axle bush or two, as it wallows on the behind.

Slightly different shade passenger wing and sill pushed in.

Short mot.

Where to start? Let's look at the positives.

Ok, wing and sill are not really a consideration. They won't affect the MOT (hopefully).

Car had only done around 2K since it's last MOT

Brakes are cheap and easy enough to replace.

On the down side.

Bushes can be a bugger, especially on the MK4 if it's the trailing arm bushes (and (t was)

MOT about to run out although not on an MOT extension due to the dreaded Rona.

Top engine mount is a hydro bearing and about £170 from Ford (although pattern parts are a a fraction of that price)

In any event I have bought literally thousands of things on ebay and I believe if you bid/buy it now you should pony up.

Seller was reasonable enough, accommodating on collection and explained that the car was actually going to be broken for spares but he felt it was too good for that and with a few quid spent on it could be back on the road which is where it should be.

That "few" quid turned out to be almost as much as the car again.

Please bear in mind a few things in the following list could have been bought more competitively had time not been a factor but when you're in the middle of a job and you find you need another part it sometimes calls for a less "Scrooge" attitude.

I have had to change the following...

Necessary for MOT

injector seals

rocker cover gasket

glow plugs

egr cooler gasket

brakes

top engine mount

top gearbox mount

lower gearbox mount

front drop links

tie rods

rear anti roll bar bushes

rear upper arms

rear link arms

rear lower arms

front wishbones

driveshafts

Total cost for all these parts was another £750 making the total spend £1500

I have spent another £500 on aesthetic/servicing/broke whilst removing parts as follows

fuel rail

egr bolt

door cards

steering wheel

wing

gearbox seal

gear knob

engine covers

oil and filters

2nd oil and filters

gearbox oil (x2)

Total spend so far is around the 2k mark for a 209K car.

I could have bought one for that but the only saving grace is that all those parts are new and therefore should not need replacing again in the near future. Also, I have polyflexed the trailing arm bushes so they should easily last the life of the car.

My time and muscle deterioration are obviously not included in the above and believe me after 7 weekends/early starts/late nights the only thing that keeps me going is the thought of how much I've saved in labour charges

She's booked in for an MOT on Tuesday (8/12/2020/ and I have everything crossed that all the money and effort will have been worth it.

I couldn't actually get the lower arms off on the floor and didn't even get the chance to try the uppers but the link arms (which were completely shot) have been. All 4 new arms are in the boot so if they do need to be changed at least I only have to pay for the labour to change them.

If you've managed to read this far then thank you for your interest. I will be making another post about a pipe I have managed to miss off so if you think you can be of help please feel free to look at that too.

Warmest regards,

Homer
 
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#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Made sure the rear bushes were new on my MK4.5. Mines not done 180k yet!! (close though)

so stil young at heart. (hopefully) :)

Have you sat in the back and find it a black hole? Had a couple of rear passengers comment

thats its still daylight when they get out. :)

Bought mine in 2018 and its had 2 oil changes and a pollen filter. Air filter is sitting here

waiting to be done. 1x Battery. Done nothing else to it.

Love the NAV unit in mine especially the way it warns me of a traffic holdup just as i reach it.
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
Made sure the rear bushes were new on my MK4.5. Mines not done 180k yet!! (close though)

so stil young at heart. (hopefully) :)

Have you sat in the back and find it a black hole? Had a couple of rear passengers comment

thats its still daylight when they get out. :)

Bought mine in 2018 and its had 2 oil changes and a pollen filter. Air filter is sitting here

waiting to be done. 1x Battery. Done nothing else to it.

Love the NAV unit in mine especially the way it warns me of a traffic holdup just as i reach it.
Bushes were completely shot. Rather than pay £140 for the tool plus the cost of the bushes I got powerflex ones for a measly £119. Old ones were never coming off with the arms on the car and without the tool. Fitting the new ones was relatively easy with a jig I made up out of some threaded bar, holed plates and nuts. Didn't even use the grease lol.

Yes, that privacy glass is pretty dark. I'm used to looking over my shoulder to check blind spot before changing lanes but can't see a thing past the pillars on this.

Don't have the nav but I have a Kenwood double din touchscreen unit that I bought for the wireless apple carplay in the other car. Plan is to move it over to this if I ever make the darn thing reliable.
 
#6 ·
Not happy with the way she sits on these wheels so got a set of Vogtland 30mm lowering springs ridiculously cheap to fit this weekend.

Doing front top mount bearings as well as she's developed a lovely twang when turning. Probably won't get round to the rears just yet as I have lower and upper arms that were bought but never fitted for the MOT so will do them at the same time. Bolts on the arms were done up by Lou Ferigno so need some heat, penoil the england rubgy team and a great big bar to get them off I reckon. Still, I don;t mind if she looks ready to pounce for a bit. Going to suss out the dpf while she's up on jacks as I suspect this may be the source of my other woes.
 
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