Hello , I have joined this club to ask for some help to find out what's wrong with my car .

I bought a 55 plate 2.0l tdci 130 Mondeo about 7 months ago . It's a brilliant car but has caused me endless expense since owning it . I've now got to the point where no mechanic I talk to can figure out what's wrong with it .

Within 3 weeks of having it the dmfw went , so I booked it in to be replaced , while it was there the changed the fly wheel , clutch , and some tensioner that was knackered too .

When I collected the car I was pleasantly surprised that the engine was slightly quieter now.

However it still does sound quite ropey .

My main issue at the moment is when i start the car - cold or hot - it's takes 2 or 3 attempts to start , and when it eventually goes , it runs on 3 cylinders with the engine management light on , for about 10 seconds , then the light goes out , and the 4th cylinder comes into play !! Along with a nice plume of white smoke out the back . Also while driving it makes a horrible "pinking "sound occasionally .

I've had the injectors reprogrammed to the ecu , and I've had it code read - there are no fault codes at all.

I'm literally at my wits end and would really appreciate some advice.. Thank you

it could be a dodgy injector, i would get a leak off test done to show up any problems with the injectors.

Ok thank you - i will look in to that .

agreed, sounds like a bad injector, could be it is choked, and the back pressure of fuel buildup over the first few seconds just bursts the blockage through, likewise it could have a dodgy valve within.

Leak off test is definitly a good starting point, but I must admit, the MK3 Mondy' and their injectors are a quite commonly known issue. I was budgeting when I was looking around for a mondy that if I wanted one, I would need to have them replaced...

Basically the injectors provided are not well built for the low sulphur fuel we use, so it can backlog, break down and crack up on you when you least expect it, depending on the mileage it was somewhere around 50-70k these often would exhibit symptoms, but, if you do get it replaced, its best to add some additives to the fuel, I think it was sulphur but it could be lead! so if you add a bottle to a tank once a month, that should help to keep it running at its best!