Hi,

I've recently purchased a Mondeo 1.8 Tdci Mk4 from a private sale, its done 120k miles but was a motor monster and serviced by ford throughout its life.

I've noticed that when moving off at low revs the engine sometimes sounds quite rough, like a gravely hollow sound, a bit harsh and unsmooth, but only for a few moments and tends to go when you change gear or give it more power as you move up the rev range. Its more apparent in the 1st, 2nd moving away slowing, but its a bit intermittent and hard to tell exactly what conditions it occurs but i'd say its occuring in the lower rev range 1000 - 2000 rpm.

I am driving it normally and the cars not shuddering, its just the engine not sounding quite right at certain points.

Any ideas what it could be?

Just had a bit of a further thought about the way its sounds, and its a bit clattery, a bit of a clatter box type noise, but only momentarily.

We'll I took the car to get the flywheel / clutch done to address my car vibration issues. The clutch centre confirmed the flywheel was worn and out of tolerance so needed replacing and they carried out the job. When I came to collect the car, the mechanic took it for a test drive and came back saying it was all fine, so I paid up the bill of £550 and drove off.

As soon as I drove away, I noticed the vibration was still there. I took it straight back to the clutch centre and showed them it vibrating at around 1300 rpm. They agreed it was but stated the vibration wasn't coming from the flywheel, it was the engine that was shuddering. They guy put his had on the engine. He didn't know what was causing the vibration, he suggested it could be a worn engine mount but that was just a guess. On tick over the vibration is not there, its only on acceleration or on revving. The vibration peaks at about 1300 rpm and mellows out the higher up the rev range. Its very noticeable when cruising on the motorway between 60 - 80 mph.

What I can say is that the engine is sounding ropey, its making a gravely sound on acceleration when moving off in 1st and 2nd and I've felt it hold back a couple of times as if it was congested.

Well I've no money left now, blown it all on the dmf / clutch which probably never needed doing in the first place. I just wish I new what to do or at least where to look, I've lost all confidence in garages, I even took it to a specialist who said it was the dmf, but its now got a brand new one and the engine is still vibrating and sounding rough.

Don't know where to go from here.

Known Facts

. The car sounds normal on tick over.

. The car sounds rough and gravelly on normal acceleration in lower gears. If you give it hard acceleration the roughness is not so noticeable.

. The car vibrates the most if held in neutral then slowly brought up to around 1300 rpm. It smooths out the higher the revs go beyond this.

. The vibration is present in all gears, but more noticeable in lower rpm range between 1000 - 2000 rpm. It is still apparent at over 2000 rpm but less so.

. When the vibration occurs, the engine physically shakes and if the bonnet is popped you can see it vibrate.

. When switching off the engine, the car gives a sudden shudder as the engine switches off which vibrates the whole engine / front end.

Other considerations

. Touching the fuel lead to the injectors when the engine running, feels like it is harshly pulsating. Not sure if this is normal.

. The last owner confirmed he replaced 4 injectors.

. The clutch and DMF has just been replaced and the vibration is coming from the engine so this can now be ruled out.

. I've had it on an IDS machine which showed no faults and I updated all the software to latest version but no improvement.

Lists of suggestions from forum

. Split Hose from the turbo causing abnormal air mixture.

. Faulty Injector or Injectors.

. Engine mount. Loose, worn or unbalanced.

. Fuel Problem / misfire. Fuel Filter possibly needs replacing or connected incorrectly.

. Clogged EGR Valve (clogged with soot.)

. Crankshaft pulley. Rubber inside them to stop vibration, perishes over time.

. Loose air box intake pipe (runs between engine and bulk head.

Given the above information are there any checks I can do myself having the bonnet up on the drive way. I like to do the following if its possible myself:

. I'd like to clean the EGR valve but I don't know where it is and if I can get at it from the front of the car. I knew how to do this on my last car but the EGR valve does not seem accessible.

. I'd like to check the injectors if there's a way of establishing if any are faulty.

Feel for you mate,mine is doing a similar thing (posted last week) and finally got so peed off with it that yesterday I took it back to the garage I bought it from and asked for money back unless they fix it. I've taken it to several garages and every one has a different dignosis ranging from DMF to wheel bearing to CV joint. They have the car and are getting mechanics on it tomorrow so fingers crossed it will be sorted. I hope so as I've been really impressed with the car and would like to keep it. Hope you get to the bottom of it - will post back with findings from the garage to see if it helps.