mjt

The problem definitely sounds like it's related to the switch. It could be a broken wire (due to engine movement) or corrosion in the connector so it's worth checking before investing in a new switch.

No harm in trying

No, the car doesn't have TPMS.

I used to have this problem on our old MK1.5 Ghia estate. It was basically caused by the trim flexing and rubbing the paint away when pulling the tailgate open because the foam seal between the trim and the tailgate was too thin to maintain a gap. Yours could be a similar problem but hopefully one of the experts will be along shortly to confirm or shoot me down.

I had a pair of tyres replaced on our Mk3 3 years ago and this year the MOT threw up an advisory on cracked/perished valve stems. It's quite evident, when I push the stem sideways a series of cracks open up near the base. This seems to me a very short time but before I go back and get fed a load of B/S I'd be grateful if anyone can give me an idea of how long valve stems should last. Is it possible they would have fitted the tyres without replacing the valves? The tyres were replaced as part of a full service by my local Ford franchise and new valves are not itemised on the invoice.

That sounds plausible. I was planning on getting the system regassed next week as part of its service & MOT. The A/C is still working but not as well as I think it should. The question is whether the new lubricant that will go in as part of the re-gas will make any difference, or is that just for the seals?

On our 2010 Mk2.5 1.8HE petrol I've recently noticed a whining noise that varies with engine speed. Yesterday I discovered that this goes away if I turn the A/C off. Can anyone suggest what, in the A/C system, might make such a noise. The sound is similar to a gearbox or diff whine.

I purchased our 2012 Mk3 in January 2016, have never had it re-gassed and in the current hot weather it's working fine. I've no idea when or if it's ever been done. I'm going to leave well alone - 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' 😀 Conversely I am thinking of getting the 2010 Mk2.5 done as it's not performing as well as the Mk3 . . . . . . Also the Mk2 aircon has started making an unusual noise, see separate post.

I think you'll find there is a button in the tailgate trim between the number plate lights. Unfortunately early versions of this arrangement were prone to water ingress. Personally I deplore the 'penny-pinching' that involved the removal of the key barrel in the tailgate, meaning it can only be opened electrically.

I passed mine around 1965 (I'm so old I cant remember exactly 😄). Everything was so much simpler then . . . . . 🤔

If that is so this effect must be happening while it's still operating open-loop as I very much doubt the coolant temperature would have moved much in the first two or three minutes. As far as I can tell ambient temperature doesn't seem to make much, if any, difference.

Thank you Peter, that makes a lot of sense. I'm seriously thinking of trying to get some live data but it may take me some time to get to grips with Forscan. If & when I've got something I'll report back. I'm guessing the PCM has no way of detecting when the HOS has reached working temperature and simply relies on a time delay. If so it might be switching to the HOS before it's working properly. If I lived on a road where I could drive straight off at 30mph from cold I suspect I probably wouldn't notice the jerkiness. It's just apparent when running on a small throttle opening and lightly loaded and occurs when I slow for some bends a short distance from my house.

As I said, that was my thought but I get the impression it's been getting worse recently. I'm thinking of trying to get some live data if I can work out how to do it and which PIDs I need to observe. I've only just started using FORScan so on a bit of a learning curve and at my age learning new things becomes more difficult.

Wow! 40 views but no responses. I'm just bumping this in the hope that someone might have an insight.

Ever since we bought our Mk2.5 in 2014 it's had a tendency to go through a jerky phase a few minutes after starting off from cold. It only lasts for a short time, as little as 30 seconds or less, then it's fine and doesn't miss a beat. I've always put it down to a glitch in the mapping and have lived with it but in the last few weeks it seems to have developed a tendency to stall if the clutch is dipped at the crucial moment. The engine is a 1.8HE petrol as listed below my sig. It's done just shy of 50K and been serviced every year, having only done 5K - 6K per year. I use an independant as I'm of an age where getting up off the ground is becoming a challenge. One thing I have done, rather than entrust it to the garage, is change the plugs at 34K. I decided to get Ford plugs and was supplied with FoMoCo rather than Motorcraft. The gaps are correctly set at 1.3mm exactly the same as the ones that came out. Having bought a Tunnelrat ELM327 cable a few months ago I decided it was time to try it out. FORScan reported there were no codes stored other than a spurious IC one. I know about the cluster problem but other than this issue have not had any problems with the car. As it's a 60-plate I think it might be clear of the date range of the affected clusters. Anyway after clearing that one it didn't come back. I'm just wondering what could possibly cause the jerkiness for such a short period. It seems as though it briefly misfuels as the engine gets to a particular critical temperature. Could it be a HOS? If so it's obviously still working within the acceptable range. I'd be interested to have the thoughts of the experts on here.