numskull

You could try this…; that worked for me.

Thanks for clarifying, MartiniB! 👍🏻

Thanks MartiniB. Can you clarify what the diagram shows? Is the black line the area under the switch assembly, or is it the gap under this, where the original cable appears? The problem I found was, the large PCB in the shrink sleeving is too thick to stay in the area where switch assembly fits - if it’s there, the switch assembly won’t slot into place - and it’s also too large to go through the hole where the original cable appears.

We drive on the “right” side of the road too, JR. 👍🏻 OK, I’ll give it another go.

This is a dumb question; you did measure it with a warm engine and let it sit on a level service for 20mins before checking? I only asked because I completely forgot and didn’t and thought it was empty! 🙄

Thanks guys. I finally got the switch unit out and plugged in the gizmo, but I could not get the switch unit back in. I tried pushing the block connector at the car end, which was now connected to the gizmo, back into the hole into which the switch unit sits, but it wasn’t having any of it so, not wishing to break anything, I gave up and removed the unit, so Martini and JR, can you tell me how you guys succeeded where I abysmally failed? 😢

What year is your 280? What was the cost of the pump and thermostat?

Nice one and we’ll done for persisting too. 👍🏻 When you say “turning itself very slightly to the left” did that mean you had to constantly apply pressure to the wheel to correct it to the right? I have an annoyance with the steering wheel, in that it’s aligned to the left and it’d have to be set “between splines” to correct it. The tracking is spot-on so I’m loathed to get it fiddled with and “tracked out”, cos as sure as eggs are eggs, they’ll fe*k it up and I’ll have shredded fronts in 1000 miles. 🙄

Cheers JR. Which tool did you use to pry and lever the switch unit out? Also, did you move the stop/start button to position 3 too? I ask as it looks like the cancellation module is connected to the centre switch?

Cheaper than a cooked engine, Colin. It cost over a grand last year to get the fluids changed all round, like you, at a well respected indy.

Bloody heck… think I’ll get the water pump changed, given its going to booger-up anyway!

It’s a mistake, end of. Get evidence and send it to those idiots at TfL. Every single car they can fine, they will; they don’t care.

Jesus, mate?? Yeah, that’s really not good for you.

Our 2016 280 has just passed 40k and my experience in terms of MPG is pretty much identical to those Colin gets. Reliability is a little better than his. The only actual failure we’ve had was a rear wheel speed sensor, which made the dash go nuts. We have it serviced at a brilliant independent. Having seen the number of failures, I’d be surprised if the water pump doesn’t go west at some point. As for performance, it’s amazing. This is a very fast and rare Q car and now I have a Racechip GTS black, which ups it to around 330bhp, performance is spectacular. With a Stage 1 remap, it would be 350+ish. In my opinion, a 280 with a FSH should be absolutely fine.

So did you just pull up on the gear lever gator to remove the cover?

Thanks MartiniB. So that doesn’t damage or mark the plastic when levering the switch unit out?

OK so I’m FINALLY getting round to fitting this. Anyone got some advise/pics on getting the switch module out without damaging the trim?

I love the Trinity’s; they look fab when they’re clean. One of them has worm just starting so that’ll have to be fixed.

Well weirdly, I noticed our 280 has an open grill on the NS and a closed one on the OS! 🤷🏻🙃

Never going to envy you cleaning those boogers. 😳

Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant. If your phone is too big, then the loop won’t connect anyway. If it fits but it’s also got a case on it, that will also degrade the signal and in any event, I’ve never noticed an improvement in signal with the handset housed in the phone box or when it’s outside the phone box and using CarPlay etc.. Our 280 does not have a SIM card slot; not sure if this is standard in the U.K. or if it could be specified at build.

Get a long USB lead and problem solved. However, in my experience, the signal isn’t improved that much. There’s a weak area in a couple of places on a road locally and having the phone connected to the car makes no difference to the dropouts whatsoever.

I’m guessing they’re the oil and transmission rads. Probably due to the warmer climate down under. Mind you we’ll probably have the same climate in 5 years…

Really? SWMBO 2003 MKI Facelift Ford Focus has just had the AC regassed for the first time since we bought it at 9 months old. It was at 20%. We never regassed our MKI Superb in 12 years and it was as cold as ice. On the other hand, I had the 280 regassed at 7 years old as it was making some weird sounds. And it’s now doing the same again, so it’s back to the specialist again….🙄

Thanks MatriniB. 👍🏻