Ford Mondeo Mk3 Tdci Reliability Nightmare

[james125]

Earlier this year my father purchased a 2004 MK3 Ford Mondeo Estate Ghia with the Duratorq 2.0 TDCi 115hp engine. The car had done 110,000 when he bought it and had a full Ford service history. Seemed like a good buy and I recommended it to him and even lent him some cash for it. But it's been a heap of trouble, it's had the following problems;

Front wheel bearings

Turbo hose leak

Injector failure (the garage replaced all 4 which was quite pricy)

Then at 125,000 miles the timing chain slipped so it had a replacement engine (used).

Then with this new engine;

starter motor gear disintegrated

dual-mass flywheel and clutch on their way out too.

Then at 145,000 miles the timing belt slipped again & the engine is a write off.

I wanted to ask if this is just a bad engine or car? It seems very unreliable, or has my dad just been unlucky? You guys wouldn't recommend another estate by any chance?

Thanks

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

I think the age of the car & it's considerable mileage are playing their part here

[pragmatix]

Normally a very reliable car if my own experience is anything to go by, very unusual for timing chain issues, wheel bearings can go normally the rear n/s, turbo hose can split cheap to replace.

Whilst the engine was being changed I would have done the clutch, then you say timing belt slipped, surely the replacement engine was chain also, yes the tensioner can go but it's not normal, my last 2 mk3's did over 170k my current mk4 is on 160k

[jeebowhite]

I think you had a bad second engine to be honest. I would be wondering if the mileage it was sold with was indeed accurate...

They are pretty reliable work horses, and whilst the injectors are a known issue on the MK3, the rest would be general wear and tear for the age of the motor, except killing two engines of course.

[james125]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I can accept the turbo hose and the wheel bearings as wear items. The dual-mass flywheel, injectors & timing chain tensioning system are disappointing though. Is there some service needed on the tensioner or is it maintenance free? Both engines had a intermittent horrible idle sound before they broke. The car is likely to be eBayed now, shame as it was a nice car & a second hand engine is only £200 or so.

[pragmatix]

Chain and tensioner are maintence free, injectors I've never had a problem, DMF's are normall OK as long as you don't let the engine labour

[james125]

Thanks pragmatix.

The DMF problems didn't actually appear until my mother started driving it. She's a fan of slamming the clutch in with each gear change. <_<

[pragmatix]

Clutch abuse would do it

[james125]

My dad's got back to me about the car turns out it's just a slipped chain. It does run with a bit of easy start but it is very rough. Is it a big job to re-position the chain?