Finally got around to taking my car to the garage today to find out why this rattling noise in the engine has suddenly become so apparent over the last couple of weeks.

He told me before even listening to it that it will be the dual mass flywheel but had a listen anyway and confirmed again that he maintains his diagnosis and quoted me £660 to fix it.

I simply can't afford to pay that. I only paid £1000 for the car and have already paid out £400 in repairs since buying it so I have to draw a line somewhere and this is absolutely the last Ford Mondeo I will ever own. Never before have I owned a car that has shown so many common faults, so lesson learned.

Thing is, when looking online, a lot of people are suggesting that it isn't always the flywheel and sometimes it can be a tensioner problem. Somebody also mentioned the tensioner causing problems with the starter motor too, and something I've been meaning to ask about for ages but keep forgetting is a problem I have now and again with the starter motor.

Sometimes I turn the key and it just makes a noise like I was trying to put it into gear with no clutch while stationary or even sometimes just a loud whirr like a motor has spun but doesn't have a tooth hold on anything. It is always the case that if I turn the ignition off again and try it again it fires up no problem.

The mention of the starter motor has got me wondering what the hell is going on and could this possibly mean it is a problem with the tensioner and not actually the flywheel? (I hope!)

if its crunching when starting sometimes then its likely your starter motor isnt meshing with teeth on the flywheel (coz the flywheel teeth are damaged so badly or missing). when you try to start again the starter motor hinges back onto the flywheel and finds a better mashing position and so less noise.

to be absolutely sure its your flywheel there is an inspection port on the bell housing somewhere, your mechanic will know. also the starter motor will have metal filings on it (these have fallen down from the flywheel and stuck to the magnetic starter motor).

hope this helps !

My tensioner was replaced in july but was not a genuine ford part... One garage said dmf but my mates a mechanic and replaced the tensioner pulley with a genuine ford part and its a dream now