I could do with a decent high lift jack. My bottle jack is pants on lift height and have to jack it up, rest car on the axle stand, then jack it up again and still the wheels are only just off the ground - it's a big pain. Was planning a trip to machine mart anyway for a brake pipe flaring kit.

The Mondeo looks like a good buy. Would love to get a car something like your fully loaded mondeo or an old luxo barge like a Granada, or even BMW or Merc, but unfortunately insurance is bad enough on an old 1.3 Skoda.

If only every car could have as much engine bay space as a Favorit or Felicia. I personally think them making the cars impossible to work on had got to be a ploy to try make the Ford garages more money or something.

My old man (A fitter for the last 30 odd years) aquired a nearly new Fiesta 1.4 tdci recently. Being the cynical type, when it came to get some warranty work done for an oil leak and the service he marked the bits to make sure they changed them. When it came back they hadn't touched them. He then looked at changing it himself (Not one for making a fuss more just getting on with it my Dad) he just said "Sod that" as the job was so bad. This is a bloke who once stripped a Austin Metro auto box and managed to put it back together working.... (As some of you will know that's job requires balls of solid Tungsten, the patience of a saint, the knowledge of the Sages and experiance of the "Dark Arts")

He just went and sold the car and bought a 1972 MGB roadster.

Someone tried that trick on one of my mates. He noticed, and carefully put paint spots on the new bits.

They looked under the bonnet, then came in and "went ballistic", made worse when they were shown a box of painted and well used bits and a billing item "To painting parts as per originals 0.5 hr..."

Someone tried that trick on one of my mates. He noticed, and carefully put paint spots on the new bits.

They looked under the bonnet, then came in and "went ballistic", made worse when they were shown a box of painted and well used bits and a billing item "To painting parts as per originals 0.5 hr..."

Thats hilarious!!!

Yep, I definitely think the new Jack is worth every penny of £40. Will lift 3 wheels off the floor at the same time!!! You could definitely roll the car over with it on full height!!!

The Mondeo is a nice car, but feels a little bit small imho. I think I'd consider something like a V6 Elite Omega as per the one my neighbours have. So cheap to buy, seems reliable enough, but feels very nice to drive, and has all the toys also.

I thought you'd like that one. Same mate's dad had a Mondeo V6 (when they were new). It needed a new aux drive belt, which took 4 hours to fit. Bottom line; those Mondeos' engine bays aren't big enough for the V6!

The aux belt is a doddle to swap if you have the correct tool. Its a 3/8" ratchet to turn the tensioner, but theres not enough space to get a ratchet in there. Also it really needs to be accessed from underneath, so wheel & arch liners off. Still no more than an hour though once you've ground down a ratchet to fit in the gap

Errr, so £120 in repairs is more expensive than a £200+ monthly repayment how? :P

Because thats the first thing to pay out and there will be many more after this frequently.

Just joking Tom as iam a serious Anti-Ford person.Good luck with car:thumbup:

Ever wonder why you got it so cheap Tom?

Hope you get it sorted soon

Nah, the previous owner wouldn't have known the alternator was on its way out. Indeed I could probably put another 10k on it without it actually failing.

But me being me, want to fix it before it breaks.

The Mondeo is a nice car, but feels a little bit small imho. I think I'd consider something like a V6 Elite Omega as per the one my neighbours have. So cheap to buy, seems reliable enough, but feels very nice to drive, and has all the toys also.

:rofl: How long have you had the Mondeo?

Don't by an Omega if you want something that is actually worth anything.

The mondy isn't small, it's just that the omega is huge and has fuel and repair bills to match.

Was only recommending a luxo barge. I do like the Omega, but don't really want to own one.

the mondeo is a decent car.. but the 2.5s do have a habit of being uneconomic to repair - usually top end related.

they are a good drive.. remember cracking 150 4 up with luggage on the way back from an airport 10 years ago...

Not heard of top end failure Paul, apart from the headgaskets failing when the water pump is neglected.

I do understand the bottom end can fail (No.1 bearing shell) as the sump isn't baffled very well and can starve that area under hard cornering... :(

Luckily for me I'm fairly handy with a spanner, and also have a spare car sat around with a peach of an engine in it

headgaskets can fail on the front , sounds like an exhaust manifold blow

You bought two of them tom?

Why not do the bearings as a preventative measure when you have a lot of time and don't need the car

Other option I'd guess is to not corner too hard and make sure you keep the oil level near the top of the dipstick. That or better still fit a modified sump that is properly baffled.

The sump from the 3.0 is a straight swap and has more comprehensive baffles. I will be keeping the level near the top, and if I can find a sump cheap enough MAY consider fitting one.

The headgaskets go due to failed water pumps as I understand it, hence me chaning mine for a metal one before the old one failed

I haven't decided if I'm keeping the estate or not. My friends are hooning round Europe in it for the next few weeks, and it is a real rot box. May try and flog it when they return, or break it for spares which could be handy as my best mate has a Mondeo ghia x too.

Its been a couple of weeks, isnt it time for a new car anyway?? :P

Gotta love Tom and his budget motoring

I'd just sell the other ford swapping any bits that are better on it than yours and then put a new/second hand more baffled sump on your car with the proceeds.

Then I'd just let it run and give the underside a good clean and get any rust that might be rearing it's head.

Well what a complete ball ache.

The alternator top bolt is a bolt you cannot see, you cannot touch, and when you do finally get 1.5m of extension, wobble bars and universal joints on it, you won't be able to get enough torque on it to undo it. Oh and you definitely won't be able to get a blow lamp or even a WD40 straw up there!

After rounding it off, I had to remove the driveshaft, intermediate shaft, track rod end, wishbone, driveshaft support bracket and exhaust "Y" pipe to get even a remote chance of being able to undo it.

Oh, and I stripped 2 studs on the Y pipe, and they are not drill out able. Luckily I've sourced a replacement pipe for just £15.

So I'm changing the wishbones and track rod ends anyway (under £100 all in), and waiting for the exhaust to arrive. Finally got the new alternator on though which is a big relief.

The car will be faultless when all this is done, just need to get the tracking done and hopefully it will be reliable, as well as flying through the next MOT... heres hoping.

WTF....

Glad you're not paying somebody to do this.

WTF....

Glad you're not paying somebody to do this.

So am I! :eek: :eek:

Got the track rod ends and wishbones today, so tonight I will get those fitted, reassemble the brakes, fill the gearbox up with fresh oil, and botch the old exhaust on best I can so I can use the car (albeit with it being a bit noisy! ). Then I can get the tracking done tomorrow, and get the exhaust fitted by my friendly exhaust place when it arrives later this week.

Nice to see a light at the end of the tunnel at last!!!

So am I! :eek: :eek:

Got the track rod ends and wishbones today, so tonight I will get those fitted, reassemble the brakes, fill the gearbox up with fresh oil, and botch the old exhaust on best I can so I can use the car (albeit with it being a bit noisy! ). Then I can get the tracking done tomorrow, and get the exhaust fitted by my friendly exhaust place when it arrives later this week.

Nice to see a light at the end of the tunnel at last!!!

So what is the total bill including buying the car so far?

I'll put it all in my Spritmonitor a/c mate so you can have a nosey. About £1200 including things like the Haynes, mats etc.

As they say, the name FORD is only an acronym for Fix Or Repair Daily.

Mac