C-maxxer

The standard service schedule for the CVT only requires fluid replacement at six years - so other than a loss of fluid that went unnoticed I can't see that Fords would have done anything at the one service you missed at the main dealer. At just over three years and your mileage the car would only have had three services with Fords - so you've serviced it in excess of the manufacturers requirements in my view. It would be interesting to know if the fluid level was low when the gearbox went. I have heard that the oil can get too hot and then not work properly if you do a lot of towing or w

Robb, EGR stands for "Exhaust Gas Recirculation" and the EGR valve is part of the emissions control system. It is a valve in the exhaust flow that diverts exhaust back into the engine under certain load conditions, in order to reduce emissions and improve economy. It's in the extreme conditions of red hot exhaust - and early TDCI engines - especially the 2.0 litre ones were prone to sticking. This causes poor running and bad economy. It's a worry you've got this transmission failure - sounds to me like the steel drivebelt in the gearbox has snapped. I've heard rumours about other CVT

Robb, Sorry to hear of your problem. I have a July 2004CVT auto which I acquired in August 2007 - with less than 20,000 miles on it. Within 2 weeks I had your "stuck in park" problem, which was cured under the used car warranty. The problem was the solenoid that releases the gear selector. I'd be surprised if this cost £400 to put right. I've also had the EGR replaced under a seperate warranty claim. Your "transmission failure" problem does sound potentially very expensive. Let us know how you get on with it. Since the car is not that far out of warranty it would certainly be wort

If you've got a multimeter used as an ammeter with a 10A range, the "full scale deflection" - the needle fully to the right of the scale - is a current of 10A. The scale should be linear. A current of 37mA would be 37/10000 = 1/27th of the full scale deflection - not a very big movement of the needle. Using your test method the current may be higher than if left for a long time - the current consumption for alarms, central locking mechanism etc. may drop off if they go into "standby" A 45AH battery (small these days for most cars) could in theory supply 45A for an hour. At 37mA, it woul

I say take it back to the garage - quick. Something's not right and they ought to get it right.

Interesting.... Have you got a non-standard air filter? - I'm surprised you need to oil it. My car has only 18,000 miles, been main dealer serviced 4 times and just had a major service at which air filter should be replaced, so I'd be surprised if the filter itself was the problem. Still, I'll have a look. Insurance assessment was done on Monday - wheel arch dent needs pulling / filling and panel respraying. They're also going to respray the door "to get a better colour match" as well as checking rear wheel alignment. I hope they're better at spray painting than I am! :shock:

Got the "cluster firmware" reprogrammed - at a cost of £32 Low fuel warning seems to be cured - too early to tell on the slow running clock, but it does tell the right time at the moment. The odd slight hesitation still happening - but nothing that's a safety problem pulling away from a junction like it was before the EGR was done. I was a happy bunny then, until someone reversed into the side of me last night in a car park..........."the kids distracted her". VW TDI bumper vs nearside C-Max rear wheelarch = bent C-Max wheelarch. My first ever insurance claim went in this morning.

From the Ford Technical Information System (TIS) 2004 Pollen Filter — RHD 1. Remove the footwell side trim. 2. Remove the components in the order indicated in the following illustration(s) and table(s). Removal Details Detach the Central Junction Box (CJB) from the CJB bracket and secure to one side. Turn the CJB downwards. Remove the CJB. Detach the electric booster heater wiring harness from the CJB bracket (if fitted). Note: In the event of damage to a pollen filter housing cover threaded hole, the pollen filter housing cover can be attached by means of the additiona

Thanks for the info. rob-harb. My car is going in again tomorrow for both the Low fuel warning and clock losing time problems.........not holding out much hope for the clock problem being solved easily now. What's more worrying is the car had a big hesitation pulling away this morning when cold. If it only does it once when stone cold I can live with it. If it's more than that I won't be happy. If Ford main dealers are going to struggle with "concergence", how about your back street car repairer ?

I bought an '04 CVT auto (1.6 TDCI) with 18,000 miles on it in August. Very quickly I noticed a drop in power pulling away from a standing start - the engine power would suddenly drop when you really needed it - entering a busy roundabout for example. I read an account on Honest John of similar problems being experienced and that this was the result of a "mismatch between the gearbox and engine at around 1700rpm". This suggests a design fault with the gearbox. For the benefit of others - I had the car looked at by a Ford main dealer, who diagnosed.......EGR failure. A replacement EG

Hmm. Taking the dash to bits has to be a last resort. I'd try as a first step removing the trim above the pedals / passenger footwell to see if the wiring has dropped down there. I got a slightly dodgy Ford "TiS" workshop manual from Ebay, covering 2003 C-Max plus all other current models at that date. That manual should show you how to remove trim. Good luck ! :lol:

OK, I spent a lot of time working on my souped up mini and not much time demisting it - but oh what fun memories - like overtaking an s-class Merc up the Nant Ffrancon pass in Snowdonia - where I was living at the time. My XR2 (1988) was a fabulously reliable car - 170,000 miles when I sold it and the engine was as good as ever. 120,000 of those miles cost me £3k in depreciation in 10 years. A few tyres, brake pads, oil, spark plugs, one battery, one exhaust and a set of shock absorbers were the only things that it needed. My C- Max diesel auto got stuck in park (solenoid failure) thre

Using the air-con is the answer - I have the same issue on my Zetec. You don't have to have the car freezing cold with the air-con running - just turn up the heater control whilst the air-con is switched on. Admittedly, this doesn't do much for the fuel economy, but it does work. The Ford User-Guide recommends this for mild, humid conditions, so it's exected that the car will steam up in these conditions. Not sure why modern cars should mist up more - my old minis and XR2 didn't suffer the same way.