Ford Mondeo 2.3 Auto

Ford Mondeo 2.3 Auto

Not really your typical Mondeo, the 2.3 petrol auto is a unicorn spec in the UK but it was one of the very few cars to fit our narrow buying brief: We didn’t want the complexity of a modern diesel and we wanted an automatic. A conventional, reliable torque converter automatic. And we wanted an estate. Ten years previously there'd have been any number of Volvos, Mercs & Beemers in that category but in diesel-obsessed 2013 that list of wants left us fishing in a very small pool.

Under Construction

Truth be told, I’ve never been a Ford fan but this 3 year old, mint condtion ex-motability car with just 4,000 miles on the clock had to be looked at: It was practically a new car for about a third of the list price. It was also considerably larger than the available alternatives and had 16” wheels for better ride quality and a conventional handbrake for less to go wrong. We’d have been daft not to.

And it’s not at all bad. Quiet and refined with class-leading ride & handling and nicely weighted, accurate steering. It’s surprisingly agile for a large estate. It's also huge. I'm a long-legged 6'1" and have the seat all the way back in most cars. If I do that in the Mondeo I can barely reach the pedals! With the driver's seat in my normal position, I can happily sit in the back with leg-room to spare. And the boot is massive. So very impressive interior space.

The engine is a Duratec, a rebadged Mazda L Series and typical of Japanese engines of the era: An all alloy 2.3 litre naturally aspirated petrol with chain-driven DOHCs, 16 valves and Variable Valve Timing. It develops 160bhp @ 6000rpm. The automatic gearbox is a six-speed Aisin-Warner TF-80SC as used in various Volvos, Saabs, Toyotas etc. It has a sport mode and tiptronic style manual selection facility. Although relatively rare in the UK, this drive train is pretty much the default fitment on Fords in less diesel-centric markets.

January 2014: I intend to service this car myself as far as possible and aim to update this page periodically as a maintenance blog. Owing to our relatively low annual mileage, I’ve tweaked Ford’s service schedule and adjusted the intervals for certain items. Some stuff I’ll be doing on a time basis and other stuff by mileage. At the time of writing, the car has only covered 1000 miles since the last dealer service with the next being due in September 2014.

April 2014: Well, the Mondy didn't take long to blot it's copy book. The starter motor failed at just 6,500 miles. On removal, it was found to have broken inside - an obvious manufacturing defect. The starter cable had also burnt out, probably as a result of my repeated attempts to start the car with a borked starter, Doh! On many cars, there’s a fuse on the starter cable, but on the Mondeo the cable is the fuse - or rather, it contains a thinner, fusible section. And if that blows you need a new cable. Fortunately, Ford parts are cheap and an exchange starter and cable was just under £200 fitted by a local indy mechanic. The episode did highlight a potential pitfall when buying low mileage cars: You can end up paying for stuff that would otherwise have been picked up under the manufacturers warranty.

September 2014: Just returned from a 3,000 mile Euro road trip to the South of France with no issues. The Mondeo was comfortable enough for 500 mile days, cruised effortlessly at 80mph, used no oil and returned a trip average of 34mpg while fully loaded. All very satisfactory. We’ve now covered 7,000 miles in this car and total mileage is 11,000. I’ve just done the first service of our ownership using Ford’s own-brand synthetic oil and a genuine Ford filter at a total cost of £32 delivered. Can’t argue with that!

June 2015: 14,000 miles, MOT passed with no advisories.

June 2016: 20,000 miles, cabin filter changed, oil & filter changed & MOT passed with no advisories.

January 2017: 22,000 miles, new tyres. The old tyres still had a fair bit of tread left but they were the original tyres and two of them had started to lose pressure. I had planned to run them for another few thousand miles but a puncture put paid to that: It wasn't worth fixing an old tyre so I just replaced the lot. I had intended to fit mid-range name brand tyres but the shop that I limped into only had budget ones in stock so I didn't have much choice. On the flip-side, we've driven through some pretty atrocious weather since and not noticed any obvious shortcomings.

June 2017: 24,000 miles, oil & filter changed & MOT passed with no advisories.

August 2017: 27,000 miles and just back from another Euro Road Trip, this time to the Dordogne (highly recommended). 2,000 miles at an average fuel consumption of 33mpg while towing.

June 2018: 30,000 miles, oil & filter, spark plugs and air filter changed. I got lucky with this service: Tesco were selling off Castrol Magnatec (Ford spec) at £4.50 for 2 litres. An oil change for £9! A genuine Ford oil filter, air filter & plugs brought the cost of the full service up to just £44. I realise I'm changing the spark plugs and air filter slightly early (due at 36,000 miles) but at these prices who cares? I also changed the discs and pads. Oh yes, and MOT passed with no advisories.

August 2018: 32,000 miles up and back from another Euro Road Trip. 1,500 miles and again 33mpg while towing. Happy with that.

June 2019: 36,000 miles, oil changed and MOT passed with no advisories. The Mondeo is now 9 years old and with another Euro road trip looming I also opted to replace the auxiliary drive belt (recommended interval 10 years or 120,000 miles).

March 2020: 41,000 miles and cabin filter changed again. An oil change is also due in 1,000 miles which would have been next month as we were due a UK road trip. However, now we're in Covid lockdown that won't be happening and I guess it's going to take us a fair while to do another 1,000 miles. Strange times.

September 2020: 42,000 miles, oil & filter change. Yes, it's taken us six months to do 1,000 miles. Not surprising I suppose, with the wife furloughed, the kids off school and every non-essential trip cancelled. Let's hope for some kind of return to normality in 2021.

June 2021: 43,000 miles and MOT passed with no advisories.

August 2021: 44,000 miles and new tyres. Based on our previous experience, this time around we went with BlackCircles "Budget" brand fitted at our local Halfords Autocentre. Cheap, quick & convenient.

November 2021: 45,000 miles, oil changed. I know that the oil has only done 3,000 miles but it's been in the engine for over a year. I didn't bother with the filter since I intend changing both in another 3,000 miles.

June 2022: 46,000 miles and MOT passed with no advisories. This car is now 12 years old, there's no rust and everything works like it should. The Mk4 Mondeo was never cutting edge but it was made at a time when Ford were prioritising build quality and driver engagement. It's not the best at anything but every time I get in this car I'm still impressed by just how nice it is to drive.

February 2023: 48,000 miles, oil & filter changed.

June 2023: 49,000 miles and MOT passed with no advisories.

February 2024: 51,000 miles and fuel pump failure. The car was running fine when it was parked and the next day it wouldn't start. It would crank perfectly but didn't even try to fire. No stored fault codes, no smell of fuel from the exhaust, no pressure in the fuel lines and no sound of the pump priming. I changed the fuel pump fuse on the off-chance but it made no difference. Apparently fuel pump failure is increasingly common due to E10 petrol and I ended up getting the car recovered to a local garage for repair.

Under Construction

March 2024: While investigating the fuel pump I noticed that the exhaust hangers were rusting through. It was like this on both sides and since the exhaust is otherwise sound I felt that it was worth a repair. So I made new brackets and welded them to the old brackets, bridging the rusty section. It's not the prettiest welding ever but after a coat of rust resistant paint it should hopefully get us another few years out of the exhaust.

Home