Hey all,

I'm a Mondeo newbie (as the name suggests!) and I have just bought a 52 reg TDCI 130.

It has a few problems, and these are the ones I need some assistance with.

The boot will not open either with the keyfob or the button on the dash, only with the key. Why is this?

Also, there is a slight diesel leak on one of the pipes I'm guessing goes to the diesel pump. Is this a common fault and can I just nip the union up with no issues?

Can a front wheel bearing be easily changed for a home mechanic?

I have also found that the airbag light is flashing then coming on constant. Is this to do with the fact I've moved the seat? Does this need resetting somehow and how?

Can I fit a stereo out of a later mk3 Mondeo as i have a Ford 6000 in there at the moment?

The car overall is lovely, it has 135k on the clock but does not smoke on hard acceleration.

Thanks everyone for any input.

John

Hi mate, as an ex-Mondeo owner I'll try answer a couple of your queries...

Boot release - common fault on the Mondeo. When mine played up I was able to replace the latch mechanism and the tailgate switch under warranty. It sounds like it's some sort of electrical short, and is normally related to the switch. Best thing I could suggest to confirm it is the switch is to remove the interior boot trim plastic and disconnect the boot switch. If the key and centre console button both work spot on after that, then you need to replace the switch. You might get away with taking it apart and cleaning it out and putting back together again. Or you may prefer to leave it disconnected if the interior and key switch both work fine.

The diesel leak - I'm not sure exactly which pipe you're referring to. Is it around the injectors?

Front wheel bearing - I've never done this myself, but I believe on the Mondeo the whole hub has to be replaced, so should be relatively straightforward for a competent home mechanic. Have you googled it or even maybe checked youtube for a tutorial video? If you're planning on doing your own DIY work I'd recommend a Haynes manual for these kind of things.

The airbag light - check the plugs under the front seats. It's possible that one of these is loose, perhaps the plug from one of the seatbelt pre-tensioners.

Ford 6000CD - Unfortunately it wouldn't be a straight swap to put in a facelift headunit. The current one you have in your pre-face Mk3 is a 1.5 DIN unit, whereas the facelift one is a full double DIN. The wiring plug/connector at the back are different also between the two units. You could install an aftermarket double DIN unit with the required ISO adapter, but the centre console fascia would still need trimmed for the unit to fit. I have seen quite a few people do this on the TalkFord forum, so again you might have more joy using Google.

Sorry I can't be of more help mate, but hopefully that'll give you a bit of food for thought.

Welcome to the forum by the way, hopefully you get plenty enjoyment both from the site and the car!

The front wheel bearing can be changed without having to change the whole hub out - its the rears that you need to do this with

it can be done by a home mechanic that is used to doing this type of work and has decent "heavy duty" tools - the old hubs can be a pain to get off, with rusty, siezed nuts etc rounged of nuts/ bolts and skinned knuckles are common

Leaking diesel is never a good sign on mk3 TDCIs probably best to nip up the leak and "cross your fingers"

The 6000CD is an exellent unit, the sound quality is very good, (i have £1400 speakers at home, along with "ultra" HI FI - i rate the stock sysetem in the Mondeo - not a lot of people know this, but a lot of effort was put into it sounding good) the steering wheel remote works. it may look really dated but this is an advantage as no-one is going to smash your window and rip your dash apart to get at it

Just use CDs (mp3s are garbage anyway - ruins the sound) and turn the treble up a little (and don't expect it to rip your ears off with the volume - another advantage IMO)

if the stereo is working ok i would just leave it in - you can get parrot bluetooth hands-free phone kits that work well with them (ive got one)

If you really must change it a double- din touch screen head unit with GPS and a dvd player/ reversing screen could be "coaxed" into the space i suppose

There is a switch in the seat that detects if there is an adult or a child on it, this stops the airbag deploying if there is a baby or toddler on the seat, it detects cases, boxes too,(or if it is too far forward?) if there is nothing on the seat it could be this sensor or wires/ connections

The weeping pipe is one of the ones that comes across from back to the front of the bay and into the pump, I'm guessing thats the low pressure side of the fuel system.

I'll be nipping it up probably tomorrow, and then having a look at the boot lock/switch.

Not really sure what to do re- wheel bearing, wether to get a salvage one and then re-furb the existing one and re-fitting it.

The airbag light issue seems intermittant, I've been out in the car twice and once it came on, the other time it stayed off.

And I have a Nokia CK-15w on its way to be fitted to the car and debating reversing sensors (for her indoors as she's 5ft 2!!)

Thanks for the welcome too, I'm already enjoying the car as its comfier than our other car, which happens to be a family wagon (Vaux Zafira)!