Dave May

The DMF is fitted on manual cars to protect the gearbox from the stress of boy racers doing wheel spins away from the lights. Obviously if you are a normal careful driver who gently slips the clutch to move off then the fixed flywheel from a transit van would be an excellent replacement that should result in no more clutch problems. Dave

Look at picture 18, I just roughed up the contacts with a nail file. You can also bend the contacts to give a heavier contact, it doesn’t have to look good. Don’t forget to switch on the ignition and press the brake pedal to check it works before reassembling. I now always carry a 4 inch nail with the point ground off and keep it in the door pocket, this is the best tool to insert into the hole near the P ( see last photo ). Just press the nail down to unlock the lever. I have never used the nail since repairing the contacts, but good to have just in case. Dave

Hi Nasan. A powershift gearbox is NOT A RELIABLE GEARBOX. It is NOT a genuine TORQUE CONVERTER auto but is a MANUAL GEARBOX WITH TWO CLUTCHES ( DCT ) which have plenty of expensive problems. Type on Google. “ AUTOMATIC gearbox or POWERSHIFT you should understand the difference before buying “. This will help you save the £4K cost of a new gearbox. Dave

Had a message from Alison, she decided to sell her car for £1800 to a salvage company as a non runner. She did not bother to get the main dealer to obtain and install new software as there was no guarantee it would fix the gearbox and the cost of that and to find broken wires etc would be too expensive. I think she has done the right thing. I have always said POWERSHIFT is computer operated WHO NEEDS THAT ? and now we have a definite LOSS OF SOFTWARE. This could cause loss of drive and a big accident on a smart motorway. All I have tried to do is to let car buyers know the difference between POWERSHIFT and TORQUE CONVERTER gearboxes. There should be enough info on this post now for car buyers to make the right decision. If Sadiq Khan gets his way and bans all ICE cars inside the M25 at the end of next year I will expect a scrap value on my old Mondeo and be able to buy the New Electric Mondeo from China hopefully an estate version would be available by then. Best Regards Dave

Message for DaveT70 Your post on 13th March states Alison’s 2.0L diesel has a DRY CLUTCH and you have advised her to change the battery and get software installed at her expense. Not sure if this is necessary as Trevor states it is a WET CLUTCH. Please confirm that you still advise to change the battery and renew software as if it is not required it should save her a few quid. Dave

Hi Paul Your test results in last photo shows PO251. That was the fault that I had when driving FAST, it was FUEL STARVATION and in my case was leaking leak back valves inside the injectors, but could also be blocked fuel filter. Have you tried a leak back test using 4 plastic bottles as stated in my topic at top of Mondeo forum. “ Mondeo Tdci 2004 Flashing Glowplug and cutting out when overtaking, Fixed now.” It seems to me that you need your injectors repaired by replacing the leak back valves. My car is a TDCI with injectors that MUST BE fitted in SAME cylinder, some Mondeo’s have a different type of injector but all have leak back valves. I would also get the EGR blanking plate fitted and find the Crankshaft Sensor to prove your DMF is OK. Dave

I had thick black smoke from the back of my 2004 Mondeo Estate 2.0L TDCI a few years ago. The fault was a 4 inch split in the 3 inch diameter rubber hose that connects to the underneath side of the EGR valve, it’s about 14 inches long. This split was difficult to see but was fixed temporarily using duck tape. Not sure if this is the pipe that you have checked. Dave

Paul Good to know you have fixed it. You have now proved that fitting a BLANKING PLATE for only £3.00 was the quickest and cheapest cure for this fault and car still passes the emission test for the MOT. Regarding finding the crankshaft sensor you should have followed the info below, it is written in the paragraph right at the top of this topic. Copy below. You might not have removed the Air Cleaner box Dave Note: These Crankshaft Position Sensors are difficult to find if you don’t know where to look. Take out the battery and battery box also take out the air cleaner box complete ( 2 minute jobs ). You will find the cable to the sensor behind the silver EGR pipe and the sensor is very easy to change from the top ( not under the car ). See

Paul Why did you bother to buy an EGR valve, an EGR blanking plate was only £3.00 then you could have eliminated any EGR problems. Dave

Some manual cars have the flywheel fitted to the engine using springs its called a DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL ( DMF ). These flywheels get very loose with age and will damage the Crankshaft Sensor. A new sensor will not last long as it also gets damaged. Cost of replacing DMF is about £1000 now. TORQUE CONVERTER automatic gearboxes are EASILY the best and reliable. A solid flywheel is bolted directly to the engine.I purchased a new 2004 Mondeo 2.0L TDCI Estate Auto and driven 200,000 miles and have never had any automatic gearbox problems at all and I tow a 1.5 ton boat. The gearbox oil HAS NEVER BEEN CHANGED POWERSHIFT is NOT an automatic, it’s a manual gearbox with TWO clutches called DCT ( Dual Clutch Transmission ) and is the most UNRELIABLE automatic CLUTCH you can buy. Gearbox oil has to be replaced at 35000 miles as dirty oil that contain metal particles stick to magnets that operate sensors that control the gear changes. Also many clutch plates get broken. It’s a NIGHTMARE GEARBOX . I wouldn’t touch one with a barge pole. Type on Google or FOC “ Automatic Gearbox or Powershift you should understand the difference before buying “ you will see many reports. Dave

Just to be clear. UK use 415v 3 phase to get 240v Europe use 400v 3 phase to get 230v Be aware if you use a French light bulb in England it will glow brighter, get hotter and not last long with 240v on it.

Trev I know she has the wet clutch type but this gearbox is still liable to have broken clutch plates and dirty oil with metal particles in that stick to the magnets to then stop the sensors operating the gearbox control. You are probably right as usual and hopefully the gearbox is now in perfect working order with just the battery and software as the cause of the problem. Let’s hope Alison gets back on and tells us all the result. Dave

1). Anyone know if Alisons powershift gearbox is working again. I know she was advised to buy a new battery and clean all battery ground connections, also somehow to get new gearbox software updated etc. Hopefully it’s all fixed now. If unfortunately it’s not fixed I would have asked Ford head office to trade in this car cost FREE, for any Ford AUTOMATIC car with a TORQUE CONVERTER gearbox to save Ford being subjected to the embarrissment of BBC WATCHDOG telling the world exactly what this gearbox is like. 2) Looks like I was right after all as the MONDEO has NOT disappeared. The new Mondeo for 2022 is definitely being built in China and at present time will be only be sold to the Chinese people, but will soon be available in Europe. There are no diesel versions or Estates at present time just petrol and electric saloons. 3) The battery on this Mondeo will be a BLADE battery which are cells 3 feet long and stacked on edges. This gives a very compact and fire safe battery, even Tesla are now using them. The battery is made by Chinese company BYD ( Build your Dreams) and go up to a 200 kwatt which gives a 600mile range. English 240volt single phase mains can only give max 7 kwatts charging per hour that’s nearly 30 hours to fully charge. Special 30kwatt chargers can be obtained but thats getting expensive. I can see all English mains voltage being changed to the American 3 phase 440volt system, that 3 phases with 220volts on each and will easily fully charge a 200kwatt battery quickly. Dave

Paul Just realised you said your car has 400,000 Kms on it , that’s about 240,000 miles and more than my old car. Your car is a manual and must have had a new DMF that’s a Dual Mass Flywheel by now. This is what I call a rubber mounted flywheel but has expensive springing. Crankshaft sensor gets damaged when DMF is loose. Check condition of Crankshaft sensor and if you replace it and get same fault after a few months you know it’s the DMF that needs replacing. You can get a fixed flywheel but it might not be good for the engine and transmission if you try wheel spins away from the lights as the DMF gives spring protection. Dave

Paul All injectors have leak back valves, the fuel goes back to the tank, so cars have 2 fuel pipes one to suck up the fuel and one to drain excessive fuel back to the tank. Think of normal fuel pressure of 20,000 pounds pressure, this is when the leak back valve opens normally to keep 20,000 pressure in the common fuel rail as it must NOT go over 20,000 pounds pressure. If just ONE leak back valve opens at say 15,000 pressure, the common fuel rail then has only 15,000 pressure and car has fuel starvation and cuts out at high speed. Regarding Forscan and laptops. Why purchase a laptop, most people use iPads and iPhones these days, can Forscan connect to an iPad. I dumped my laptop years ago. My AL301 is available instantly and plugs into the D type plug under the steering wheel and can clear any dash warning lights and give fault codes that can be typed into google to tell you where fault is, everything very easy. Dave