Tricky

Orei, Whats the RON for regular petrol in Norway? You're getting very good results!

1.8 petrol zetec manual: Driving like a granny on a long run - 42ish Ditto on normal mixed commuting - 37ish Ordinary driving on on mixed commuting - 33ish the thing that really kills the consumption is rapid acceleration from cold.

Aargh yes! That sounds horribly familiar. I have the same engine with the same problem. I've been caught out a few times recently with a big dead zone when trying to accelerate in slow moving traffic. I'm slightly worried that its not just "normal", 'cos I'm sure I saw somewhere on one of Mastertech's posts about an engine flat spot with air con on. I can't find tthe post now unfortunately. Can anyone (esp Mastertech) shed more light on this?

Hmm, a max predicted range of 435 miles; it could be that you're driving so much more carefully with petrol prices this high. :lol: Seriously though, this is one of my minor gripes with the C-max. I'm always gaining and losing ~25 miles of range over a tankful. I tend to gain within the 1st 1/4 of the tank and lose near the end of the tank. Just goes to show that the only reliable method of fuel consumption calculation is brim-to-brim. However its a bummer when you start the car in the morning and find that you've suddenly apparently lost 1/3 of your remaining range. (and no I haven't got

I've just had my peeling steering wheel replaced - completely FOC at the 2nd service. At first, the dealership said that I'd have to pay the full amount (because it was trim- only covered by 1 year warranty). After some protest it was decided that Ford UK would contribute 70% of the cost of a new wheel, but I pointed out that the steering wheel is a rather more integral part of the car than "trim"; and in more than 25 years of car ownership (including several French cars - with renowned crappy trim), I've never had a steering wheel disintegrating. The dealer said that they would try to persua

I'll give my 2 year old 1.8 Zetec 7/10 after 1 year of my ownership. Upsides: Ride, handling, space, power (so much better than my old Scenic) Downsides: Dealer indifference, far too many minor faults (radio, steering wheel, aircon, HFS), fuel economy, seat trim. Would have been a 9/10 if not for the faults... and the dealer.

I guess it would have been nice to have been told this by the garage the previous times rather than "its fixed" - when it wasn't. Nevertheless, whatever they've done this time seems to have sorted the clock out. They still think that they need to have the car back to fit "a module" thats on back order, which will "fix the clock and the fuel gauge" (I only get a range of 360miles/tank on gentle runs). When you never get to speak to the same person twice and only ever get conflicting information (if any) its easy to lose hope... :( :?

Yes, I've had the same response; but on my 1.8 petrol they appear to have managed to 'cure' the problem anyway (for the 1st time in a year) without apparently knowing it. Perhaps they actually did the job properly - third time lucky! I'm still going to let them fix the kit in case my luck runs out and the clock starts playing up again. Rick

Now this is odd... Last summer my 1.8zetec petrol used to claim I had a range of ~420-430 miles. Now I'm struggling to get 400 miles. So is it the cold weather, the extra use of lights or what? I'm sure I've read somewhere that there's a 600mile rolling average which is used to calculate the range at every fillup - after that the actual consumption modifies the range 'on the fly' (so to speak).

Oh well, a service job it is then. Service due soon! :roll:

Brilliant, Thanks Mastertech!!! My problem sounds exactly like SSM18356. I'll probably try the battery disconnect myself.

My radio clock has always been like this (04,1.8 zetec). I can set the time with the engine on but a few minutes after turning it off the clock resets to ~7 3/4 hrs ahead. It cheerfully keeps perfect time for this other time zone - but will never keep mine :? Does this sound like the voltage drop problem? I've requested that this be fixed by the dealer twice now. Maybe if I tell them exactly what to fix, they'll actually manage to do it.

Great, it sounds like I'm not alone with this then (and I don't use aftershave either - allergic to most types) :)

In the recent cold weather my steering wheel developed a large blister in the covering 'leatherette' layer at the 2 O'clock position (1.8 Zetec '04 spec). This has now burst/ripped leaving ragged edges which are spreading further and further from the original site. Has anyone else experienced this? I will be expecting a free replacement steering wheel due to faulty manufacturing, but I'm expecting a lot of wriggling from the dealer :(

Think about it - every time you stop the car (queues, junctions etc) you're getting zero mpg; and when you're driving about town you're probably getting 15-20mpg on average (including all that stopping). The very best you could get (coasting down hill with a following wind) might be 80mpg (we're talking petrol here). So, if you start out with an average of 30mpg and then stop in a queue for a minute - even if you only use 1/4 of the fuel you would have used in a minutes worth of 60mph, you still haven't gone anywhere and have therefore decreased your mileage per gallon. Oh B!"£"$%ocks, I've