Hello all I am new to this form so I am just looking after some tips I got a mk4 mondeo  60 plate 1.8 tdci I am new to driving a diesel I have only had the car two week

before this I had two Ford Focus  one 1.8 petrol 

second 2.0 ghia petrol  both nice cars 

 

but I fancy  a change so I went for a mondeo diesel 

so if u have got ne tips it would be  much appreciated 

i was told with diesel u need to go for a long drive at least once a month to clear the air filters 

 

thx again

Welcome aboard! You don't do the long drives to clear the air filter you do it to keep the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) healthy, I say healthy because DPF's all fail in the end they're rubbish, it's not a Ford issue, what I've done to lessen the blow of having to fork out on a new DPF is putting £50 a month away I have £550 saved up now so when my DPF does fail I can get a replacement, I do a lot of motorway driving and I have a heavy foot which does help keep it in decent shape. I think for the Mondeo it's about £350 - £500 for a brand new genuine DPF from Ford it cost my mum on a 2.0 litre MK4 Mondeo £350 from Ford (Including diagnostics).

 

Using the correct grade oil and doing oil changes every 6k miles I've heard can also be good for the DPF, I do mine every 6k (cheaper to do yourself)

 

I hope I've been some help, some of the guys on here know a lot more about the DPF so will be able to elaborate. 

Welcome.

The good news for you is the 1.8 TDCI does NOT have a DPF so you don't have to worry about blocking it from making lots of short journeys.  That said you're unlikely to see the MPG benefits of having a diesel unless the bulk of your journeys allow the engine to get up to temperature fairly early in the journey.  Ignoring the potential MPG benefits, even just doing short journeys at least you enjoy the nice 'pushed in the back' feeling when you boot it and the turbo kicks in :D lol

I've got this engine in a MK2 Focus saloon on a 05 plate, 128K miles on the clock and all the engine bits (injectors, turbo, fuel pump) are all original, just make sure you change the oil, oil filter and fuel filter every year.  Diesels quite quickly dirty their oil and you don't want all that crap being circulated round your engine for 3 years (or however long between changes).  The engine block is cast iron rather than aluminium so although it makes the engine a bit heavier (bad) it also makes it rather 'sturdy/durable' (good)

Basically let the engine get up to temp before booting it, do the previously mentioned service items every 12 months and unless you're really unlucky you really shouldn't have any major issues with this engine (there was an issue in 2008-2009 when Siemens provided some crap injectors but that was issue with the parts not the engine design).

Oh and the people on the forum are a friendly lot so don't be afraid to ask questions mate.

 

Ok thank for the replies