Mondeo Mk4 1.8 TDCI Sport. *Mundane diesel ford content*
Discussion
This is likely to be a boring load of waffle but I like sticking a owners thread up on here despite the comparatively dull car, helps me keep track of things 
For the last three years I have owned a Mk4 Estate, Tez.
Tez has been a bit parts hungry in this time, pretty much every common job on a Mk4 had been done, some pretty expensive (DMF and steering rack) and some just tedious ( wet timing belt). Very dull thread on here showing all the jobs.
18 months ago I had a split and a solo house purchase having a workhorse to move stuff about in was brilliant, the Mk4 estate really has enormous capacity to lug stuff about. Was a life saver!
Came up to its most recent MOT and I felt that it was the time to have a change, got a new lower arm and some new tyres on the back and it sailed through a MOT again. Actually drove about as well as it has in my ownership.
So why sell it? Well my old man has a identical spec hatch and it drives so much better than Tez does, I suspect Tez has had a prang at one side as the steering never felt perfect, reasonable but always a bit vague and unbalanced despite a few 4 wheel alignments and suspension refresh.
First person viewed bought it, no doubt now to give years of faultless service at my expense
So what to replace it with?
Another Mk4 obviously!
Had a very brief fling with a super high mileage 07 plate 2.0 TDCI but decided while it drove nicely it was a bit tired and not really what I wanted.Totted up what it would cost to get it to be nice and had a rethink. Got that through a fresh MOT and sold it on.
Went to see one or two cars which were a bit tatty then a very low mileage 1.8 TDCI hatch came up about two hours away.
Called the seller and arranged a time.
Seller was selling on behalf of a older neighbour, had a fishy smell of a trader but seemed ok.
Car was mint inside but typical marks outsde for a ten year old car owned by a older owner, was straight enough so not put off.
Bit of a odd "Sport" spec, like a Zetec with tints and larger wheels.
New budget rubber on front and some old budgets on the back.
AC does not work.
Parking sensors do not work.
Wet belt is due to be done.
Advisory on one rear arm bush, one already done.
Has quite rare factory pre-facelift Sat Nav with upgraded speakers so don't have to retro fit those again.
Full service history every 6K at same local garage, just been serviced.
2 Keys but only one with the seller
Will post it on as its at "the garage" 
2 and a half bags and I was on my way back home with it.
Only observations driving back was the trip computer was reading 61MPG by the time I was back which was impossible on the estate and the front wheels badly needed to be balanced.
Quite happy now but there was still some stuff to do before I could put it on the road as a daily, so it sat for a few weeks... while I amassed the parts..
For the last three years I have owned a Mk4 Estate, Tez.
Tez has been a bit parts hungry in this time, pretty much every common job on a Mk4 had been done, some pretty expensive (DMF and steering rack) and some just tedious ( wet timing belt). Very dull thread on here showing all the jobs.
18 months ago I had a split and a solo house purchase having a workhorse to move stuff about in was brilliant, the Mk4 estate really has enormous capacity to lug stuff about. Was a life saver!
Came up to its most recent MOT and I felt that it was the time to have a change, got a new lower arm and some new tyres on the back and it sailed through a MOT again. Actually drove about as well as it has in my ownership.
So why sell it? Well my old man has a identical spec hatch and it drives so much better than Tez does, I suspect Tez has had a prang at one side as the steering never felt perfect, reasonable but always a bit vague and unbalanced despite a few 4 wheel alignments and suspension refresh.
First person viewed bought it, no doubt now to give years of faultless service at my expense
So what to replace it with?
Another Mk4 obviously!
Had a very brief fling with a super high mileage 07 plate 2.0 TDCI but decided while it drove nicely it was a bit tired and not really what I wanted.Totted up what it would cost to get it to be nice and had a rethink. Got that through a fresh MOT and sold it on.
Went to see one or two cars which were a bit tatty then a very low mileage 1.8 TDCI hatch came up about two hours away.
Called the seller and arranged a time.
Seller was selling on behalf of a older neighbour, had a fishy smell of a trader but seemed ok.
Car was mint inside but typical marks outsde for a ten year old car owned by a older owner, was straight enough so not put off.
Bit of a odd "Sport" spec, like a Zetec with tints and larger wheels.
New budget rubber on front and some old budgets on the back.
AC does not work.
Parking sensors do not work.
Wet belt is due to be done.
Advisory on one rear arm bush, one already done.
Has quite rare factory pre-facelift Sat Nav with upgraded speakers so don't have to retro fit those again.
Full service history every 6K at same local garage, just been serviced.
2 Keys but only one with the seller
Will post it on as its at "the garage" 2 and a half bags and I was on my way back home with it.
Only observations driving back was the trip computer was reading 61MPG by the time I was back which was impossible on the estate and the front wheels badly needed to be balanced.
Quite happy now but there was still some stuff to do before I could put it on the road as a daily, so it sat for a few weeks... while I amassed the parts..
First job was to try sort out the constantly beeping parking sensors, these are cheap enough for copies on ebay.
Did the listen for clicks trick and while all were clicking, the middle two sounded weaker and they had rust under them.
Super easy car to change them on they just unclip.
Still semi reasonable weather at this point and knowing how the wet belt cassettes fair in these I didn't want to use it over the winter without getting it changed.
Had to make the decision whether to keep it a belt or do the wet belt conversion having done a chain conversion on my dads car. Cost wise it wasn't going to make much difference so went with the chain.
I have a fair bit on at the moment with doing up a old house so finding the enthusiasm to spend a few days messing with this was quite hard, glad I did it but think it will be the last one I do its a bit of a pain / stress.
Large box soon made its way to me.
Old belt in situ
Chain made up.
Bonus leaking cam seal
New tensioner and belt after building everything back up.
Fired up first time, left it running for a hour to test for leaks of the lower timing cover, seemed fine which was a relief as it would be another days work to strip it all back again.
https://youtu.be/G_AOJNEwfS4
State of the belt there, not far off sending this car to its grave.
Did the listen for clicks trick and while all were clicking, the middle two sounded weaker and they had rust under them.
Super easy car to change them on they just unclip.
Still semi reasonable weather at this point and knowing how the wet belt cassettes fair in these I didn't want to use it over the winter without getting it changed.
Had to make the decision whether to keep it a belt or do the wet belt conversion having done a chain conversion on my dads car. Cost wise it wasn't going to make much difference so went with the chain.
I have a fair bit on at the moment with doing up a old house so finding the enthusiasm to spend a few days messing with this was quite hard, glad I did it but think it will be the last one I do its a bit of a pain / stress.
Large box soon made its way to me.
Old belt in situ
Chain made up.
Bonus leaking cam seal
New tensioner and belt after building everything back up.
Fired up first time, left it running for a hour to test for leaks of the lower timing cover, seemed fine which was a relief as it would be another days work to strip it all back again.
https://youtu.be/G_AOJNEwfS4
State of the belt there, not far off sending this car to its grave.
I love a Mk4 TDCI, posted a few times on the Shed thread. Got rid somewhere well north of 200k miles as the turbo was ****ed and leaking oil and clutch was on its way out. Only paid £900, sold for £750 2 years and 35k miles later. It ate a set of lower arms in my time, a couple of oil changes and that was the lot. Chap who bought it DIY'd the above and no doubt will do another 100k miles, fair play to him. I pay someone for spannerage these days. Miss it.
My Mk3 is coming towards the end of its time with me, I want something newer and automatic, I keep getting tempted by E61's and E Class estates but part of me thinks a Mk4 will do, however it would need to be the 2.2 to avoid the powershift box.
Nice work on the wet belt, we occasionally get to quote against others and some people ask why we are more expensive - probably because we change both belts, include the crank seal and other gaskets.
Are you sure you are not going to regret not getting another estate ?
Nice work on the wet belt, we occasionally get to quote against others and some people ask why we are more expensive - probably because we change both belts, include the crank seal and other gaskets.
Are you sure you are not going to regret not getting another estate ?
dgswk said:
I love a Mk4 TDCI, posted a few times on the Shed thread. Got rid somewhere well north of 200k miles as the turbo was ****ed and leaking oil and clutch was on its way out. Only paid £900, sold for £750 2 years and 35k miles later. It ate a set of lower arms in my time, a couple of oil changes and that was the lot. Chap who bought it DIY'd the above and no doubt will do another 100k miles, fair play to him. I pay someone for spannerage these days. Miss it.
Good cars but get expensive when you start messing with turbos and clutches, not a job id attempt on the driveway either though it can be done.Plenty around just have to find the good ones!
Eyersey1234 said:
Nice Mondeo Bungz. I didn't realise the 1.8tdci was still made in 2010 to be honest, yours must be a late one.
Is fairly late yes, there are a few facelifts about I think but when Euro 5 kicked in that was it for it, they didn't fit a dpf to it they just dropped it from the range.Not as keen on the facelifts so this is the best bet for me without paying a huge premium for a Titanium X / Estate
stevemcs said:
My Mk3 is coming towards the end of its time with me, I want something newer and automatic, I keep getting tempted by E61's and E Class estates but part of me thinks a Mk4 will do, however it would need to be the 2.2 to avoid the powershift box.
Nice work on the wet belt, we occasionally get to quote against others and some people ask why we are more expensive - probably because we change both belts, include the crank seal and other gaskets.
Are you sure you are not going to regret not getting another estate ?
Would have gone for a 2.2 if I could have found one but not that common.Nice work on the wet belt, we occasionally get to quote against others and some people ask why we are more expensive - probably because we change both belts, include the crank seal and other gaskets.
Are you sure you are not going to regret not getting another estate ?
Yeah a cheap quote means its not getting done properly, lots of seals and faff. They all start leaking behind the top belt through the pump and this had a crank seal weeping but the covers hide it all well.
Would have loved an estate (much cooler!) again but they carry a fair premium over the saloon and hatch. Also finding a low mileage one would be hard so I would say even if I could have found one it would have been closer to 4 grand with the mileage this has rather than the 2 and a half this cost.
The hatch is still rather cavernous though so still handy.
For the first time, today came across a facelift 1.8. Registered 2011 but presume it was built in 2010, same as my 2.0. Still 5 grand though!
Had to do some checking as assumed they had dropped the 1.8 at facelift, but obviously, there was a crossover from September to December 2010.
Had to do some checking as assumed they had dropped the 1.8 at facelift, but obviously, there was a crossover from September to December 2010.
A rare thing but yes they do exist.
And as its rare dealers seem to think they are worth a fortune because they think the 1.8 is bomb proof.
Which it isn't in the Mondeo "as is".
Have had a few ups and downs in the New Steed, sadly one of them involved a box van and a belligerent driver stoving my boot lid and crash bar in.
To be fair to the chap he was very apologetic. Had no choice really as a local rozzer saw the accident.
That evening the bloke kept calling me to not go through the insurance and use "his mate".
Declined that, went through insurance and the car was written off as a cat N and I ended up with 80% of what the car owed me whilst allowing me to keep the car. I think thats some sort of bangernomics fantasy there.
So I now have a scrap yard bootlid in the garage awaiting to be transplanted over but cant do that till I can get some help and due to covid that isn't happening just yet.
And as its rare dealers seem to think they are worth a fortune because they think the 1.8 is bomb proof.
Which it isn't in the Mondeo "as is".
Have had a few ups and downs in the New Steed, sadly one of them involved a box van and a belligerent driver stoving my boot lid and crash bar in.
To be fair to the chap he was very apologetic. Had no choice really as a local rozzer saw the accident.
That evening the bloke kept calling me to not go through the insurance and use "his mate".
Declined that, went through insurance and the car was written off as a cat N and I ended up with 80% of what the car owed me whilst allowing me to keep the car. I think thats some sort of bangernomics fantasy there.
So I now have a scrap yard bootlid in the garage awaiting to be transplanted over but cant do that till I can get some help and due to covid that isn't happening just yet.
Think the 1.8 has 125BHP in the Mondeo.
Always felt it went quite well but I guess that depends what you are used to.
Loads of cheap early ones if you are brave and like using your spanners!
The one I briefly bought had near 170K on it and it drove wonderfully apart from a suspect gearbox input bearing.
Always felt it went quite well but I guess that depends what you are used to.
Loads of cheap early ones if you are brave and like using your spanners!
The one I briefly bought had near 170K on it and it drove wonderfully apart from a suspect gearbox input bearing.
bungz said:
Think the 1.8 has 125BHP in the Mondeo.
Always felt it went quite well but I guess that depends what you are used to.
Loads of cheap early ones if you are brave and like using your spanners!
The one I briefly bought had near 170K on it and it drove wonderfully apart from a suspect gearbox input bearing.
I was pleased to stumble on your readers car thread after updating my own one on my shed Focus Mk1.... I've been wondering about one of these for the summer as a family run around. They seem generally to be less troublesome than the Passat B6 of the same period (and better to drive I suspect). The 1.8 I believe only had a fraction less torque than the 2 litre, which i think is why they still felt quite sprightly given the fairly lowly BHP/ton figure (my 1.6 Focus is higher on that score). However I believe the 1.8 is a Ford diesel engine whereas the 2 litre is derived from the PSA unit which I understand is more reliable. I might be wrong about that however! Always felt it went quite well but I guess that depends what you are used to.
Loads of cheap early ones if you are brave and like using your spanners!
The one I briefly bought had near 170K on it and it drove wonderfully apart from a suspect gearbox input bearing.
So you wouldn't be put off by a high mileage one then. I say that because the one I was eyeing on Facebay yesterday had 167K miles on it.
No wouldn't put me off, loads about though so be picky.
The downfalls of the 1.8 is the wet cassette timing belt b
ks, but that would have been done on a higher mileage car.....
And clutches/DMF do not last that long lugging a Mondeo about.
Other than that they are very easy engines to work on.
The downfalls of the 1.8 is the wet cassette timing belt b
ks, but that would have been done on a higher mileage car.....And clutches/DMF do not last that long lugging a Mondeo about.
Other than that they are very easy engines to work on.
Edited by bungz on Monday 8th February 10:30
Supposedly you could get the 18 with 100bhp too. I can only imagine how it feels, a buddy of mine runs not one, but two! identical 2007 Galaxy (same colour even!) with the 100bhp 5-speed. Average economy the late thirties as they weigh a ton and drag around seven seats for their one baby
mercedeslimos said:
Supposedly you could get the 18 with 100bhp too. I can only imagine how it feels, a buddy of mine runs not one, but two! identical 2007 Galaxy (same colour even!) with the 100bhp 5-speed. Average economy the late thirties as they weigh a ton and drag around seven seats for their one baby
.I think the 100BHP model was the 1.6 econetic, which became available with the facelift. A mate had one and it was ok tbh, thanks to the torque output but obviously not outright very fast! 100BHP in 1.6 ton car does not a fast car make!!
I think your right the econetic was 1.6.
The 1.8 tdci came in 115bhp, usually found in the focus platform cars. It had a siemens ecu.
The 125bhp version came in the Mondeo and bigger stuff, it has a bosch ecu.
The parts numbers for all the major components are the same, it's the ecu difference giving a hike in power.
It's also the last diesel engine that could be bought without a dpf fitted.
The other was the 2.2 engine found in the civic, although they had the dpf fitted from around 07 onward.
The 1.8 tdci came in 115bhp, usually found in the focus platform cars. It had a siemens ecu.
The 125bhp version came in the Mondeo and bigger stuff, it has a bosch ecu.
The parts numbers for all the major components are the same, it's the ecu difference giving a hike in power.
It's also the last diesel engine that could be bought without a dpf fitted.
The other was the 2.2 engine found in the civic, although they had the dpf fitted from around 07 onward.
Bloody hell getting beardy in here 
The "econetic" badge I think was found on
1.8 TDCI in poverty 100bhp tune over the 125 it had in standard mk4 mondeo form.
2.0 TDCI pug lump was detuned to 115
Both rather pointless and didn't reduced the tax that much either? Maybe it was more related to some form of BIK tax for fleets?
The 1.6 PSA lump I don't think was detuned as it only had 115 and was already the most eco friendly emissions wise anyway ( only £30 tax on a Mk4)
Late run MK4's are the lowest to tax, full fat 2.0 163bhp ones can be as low as £30 a year also.
The "econetic" badge I think was found on
1.8 TDCI in poverty 100bhp tune over the 125 it had in standard mk4 mondeo form.
2.0 TDCI pug lump was detuned to 115
Both rather pointless and didn't reduced the tax that much either? Maybe it was more related to some form of BIK tax for fleets?
The 1.6 PSA lump I don't think was detuned as it only had 115 and was already the most eco friendly emissions wise anyway ( only £30 tax on a Mk4)
Late run MK4's are the lowest to tax, full fat 2.0 163bhp ones can be as low as £30 a year also.
Edited by bungz on Tuesday 9th February 19:10
bungz said:
Bloody hell getting beardy in here
The "econetic" badge I think was found on
1.8 TDCI in poverty 100bhp tune over the 125 it had in standard mk4 mondeo form.
2.0 TDCI pug lump was detuned to 115
Both rather pointless and didn't reduced the tax that much either? Maybe it was more related to some form of BIK tax for fleets?
The 1.6 PSA lump I don't think was detuned as it only had 115 and was already the most eco friendly emissions wise anyway ( only £30 tax on a Mk4)
Late run MK4's are the lowest to tax, full fat 2.0 163bhp ones can be as low as £30 a year also.
My 2.0 is €280 to tax, the 1.6 was €270, and why do I get the feeling that there's little in it economy-wise? Given that the DV and DW are related.The "econetic" badge I think was found on
1.8 TDCI in poverty 100bhp tune over the 125 it had in standard mk4 mondeo form.
2.0 TDCI pug lump was detuned to 115
Both rather pointless and didn't reduced the tax that much either? Maybe it was more related to some form of BIK tax for fleets?
The 1.6 PSA lump I don't think was detuned as it only had 115 and was already the most eco friendly emissions wise anyway ( only £30 tax on a Mk4)
Late run MK4's are the lowest to tax, full fat 2.0 163bhp ones can be as low as £30 a year also.
Edited by bungz on Tuesday 9th February 19:10
Ah the later facelifts taxation is different, think it was around the time when there was a big push for low tax eco friendly oil burners? Unless Taxation is different outside the UK which would also explain it.
The 1.6 wouldn't be my choice for a Mondeo but I have had one in a DS3 before and it was absolutely faultless and pretty refined. Decent mileage too but not sure it would hauling a Mk4 about.
May try swapping the boot lids this weekend. Should be fun!
The 1.6 wouldn't be my choice for a Mondeo but I have had one in a DS3 before and it was absolutely faultless and pretty refined. Decent mileage too but not sure it would hauling a Mk4 about.
May try swapping the boot lids this weekend. Should be fun!
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