launcelot

Ooooo........ Richard and they said that the art of being witty had died out!

Blimey this is spooky...... I've just ordered today 2 new tyres for the front wheels. The Original Goodyears have just about had it at 16,000 mls. Not over impressed! I got nearly 40,000 mls out of Michelins on my last car - a Scenic 1.9 Diesel. I'm trying Vredestein Hi Trac XL's - fingers crossed they will last a bit further than the bottom of the road!

VWDRIVER Where can you get Ultraseal from? I've looked on the net and one supplier in Kent says that it is not currently being imported in to the UK due to some sort of trade dispute. There doesn't seem to be many places to get it - unless i'm not looking properly. Danny

David I can't actually advise you what the remedy for the problem is but I can advise you about removing an agravating factor.....................don't take it back to Dagenham Motors at Epsom if you can help it! I bought mine from them, they lied about the delivery date and I caught them out and they payed for the 1st service as a result. I had problems with the car and it was hard getting them to take it back and sort it out. When it had its 1st service there they couldn't even be bothered to put a stamp in the service book or give me a breakdown of what work done / parts replaced in the service despite more than one request. If I were you I'd take it elsewhere such as Dees (Purley). When I took mine in for a recall they were quite efficient and did what they said they would in the timeframe they gave. Danny

Bob What gear are you in when your using light acceleration at 50 - 70mph? If you're in 6th then I would expect it as 4th and 5th gears are more appropriate for that road speed. If you're in too high a gear for the road speed with insufficent revs coming off the gas and going back on in the way you describe will produce hesitation in any vehicle. Danny

Does anyone know if the 2.0 ltr diesel on the mk 111 is a Cam chain or a Cam belt affair? I would ask my local Ford dealer but I hate embarrasing people with questions on topics that they know very little about (The bloody cars they sell!) Danny D

Good or Bad? I've got a MkIII 2.0TDCi Zetec. I had the window faults (would open again straight away when you tried to shut them) and got that fixed. I had the engine stuttering and showing up an "engine malfunction" error on the dashboard computer display. Ford (Dagenham Motors Epsom did not have any idea what the problem was) I wrote to Honest John who said that the engine was prone to such problems when driven a lot in urban stop / start conditions. I am very confident now that I have worked out what the problem was....... If you look in the handbook it talks about an EPF - Emission Particulate Filter - that is the bit that stops you sending out a black clouad begind you when you put your foot down on the diesel. It states that if you drive in urban stop / start conditions you have to 'Recharge' the filter about every 300-400 miles by driving for several miles in a much lower gear than you would normally, this gets the filter very hot anhd that burns off the crap in the filter and cleans it. You can get around this by avoiding the use of 6th gear completely and 5th gear frequently when driving around town. I have just come back from camping in Croatia. I did about 2,500 miles (much of it at sustained high motorway speed) and I didn't have any problems from the engine, in fact the whole car performed very well, and I think that this kept the filter clean. Since getting back a couple of weeks ago I changed our driving style in line with the above para and the problem has gone away. On balance I think the car is good but that Ford are really bad when it comes to after service. Fingers, arms, legs (all three of them) and anything else crossed.

NikpV Thanks for the tip re the lights, we will wait and see. As for the solution to the problems i'll let you know when Marks & Spencers tell me.......Marks & Spencers you ask! Yes I say....unlike Ford they don't make cars but they do give after care and customer service! (Next time a Renault!)

I have an 07 plate 2.0 TDCI (4 mths old). I am getting the 'Engine Management' warning comming up on the dashboard computer, the writing is amber coloured and not red. When we get this we notice a drop in the engine power. We have to stop the car, turn the ignition off and back on again. We also get problems with the windows refusing to close (they open themselves again) and last week they even refused to close at all. The car has just been back to Dagenham Motors of Epsom for the second time. They say they cannot find the fault and offered to put the car on an "extended over-night test", when I asked what that was they said it means the mechanic driving my car home after work and then driving it back to the garage in the morning.................! Apparently the Americans have put a man on the moon (the rocket was probably built by the French rather than by Ford). Has anyone got an idea what is going wrong with this car?

Help.....! Have tried to find a set of spare bulbs for a new mkIII Galaxy but Halfords don't seem to do them yet and I know I'd get more sense from the RSPCA than asking my Ford dealer. Can anyone help? Am taking the car abroad in a few weeks and some european countries specify a spare bulb kit as required Danny

Don't know if this is stating the obvious but re the daft lack of a spare on the new Galaxy the only way to avoid using the emergency tyre kit is to carry compressor / inflator (about