Matt_C

My wipers are now jumping and vibrating accross the screen unless the screen is very wet. Is this telling me they need replacing?

I can get up to 70mpg (according to the computer) but driving at a constant speed on the motorway. Trouble is that I get bored very quickly and end up cruising at around 85ish :roll: and the MPG drops pretty quickly. My average indicated MPG hangs around the mid 40's for a combination of side roads, rush hour motorways and a road blasts. TBH I had hoped for better but suspect it is more my driving style than the car, I just like that turbo boost too much. :lol: Car is a 1,6TDCi Ghia...

As a guess would one figure be BHP and the other PS?

If you are not happy and it is a viable option then go with your gut feeling, otherwise it will bug you for ever more.

I have had 2 max's, a 53 plate 1.8 petrol Zetec and our current car 54 plate 1.6tdci Ghia. On both cars relatively speaking the MPG is/was poor when compared to Fords claimed figures. That said sitting at 70 in cruise in out tdci with the aircon off can give good figures (60ish MPG) , it just hates town driving and the MPG plummets. Also - dont dare touch the accelerator. We average 45ish which is not as good as hoped, but better than the 1.8 petrol that struggled to better 30. Might be my driving style I suppose... On both cars there have been rattles, the zetec had the famous B pillar ra

Is there a direct Ford replacement that has either MP3 or USB?

Never bothered with it. Looked into it and the main issue seemed to be getting to the wiring behind one of the rear light clisters...

Anybody help with this? Get a rattle that seems to come from behind the instrument cluster when accelerating reasonably hard (not revving the nuts off but trying to pull away quickly). Only seems to occur before the car has fully warmed up. When fully warm it seems to go away. The rattle sounds a bit like a woodpecker (sorry for the bad example) and does not occur when going over bumps etc, only on acceleration. There is nothing in the dashboard top bins. Any ideas?

I have got both the 'bogging down' on pullaway and the flat spot around 1700rpm The flat spot is intermittent and most noticeable if cruising in 5th... The 'bogging down' is annoying and does make quick pullaways difficult and potentially dangerous on busy roundabouts etc...

I have an intermittent flat spot now on my 1.6TDCi, has only been happening since I got the dealer to check the ECU software revision because of relatively poor MPG (mid 40's mixed driving). They did that, my MPG is still the same but now I have a flat spot :roll: although it is fairly minor. Dont want to lose the car for any more time so I think I will live with it until the next service.

Normally there is just a switch that you turn to disable the passenger airbag, this is so that a baby seat can be put on the passenger seat. cant remember where it is at the moment and my car is at the dealers :roll: but I expect somebody will be able to tell you where the switch is... I have a feeling it is down to the right of the steering wheel on the dash...

Have had 2 Maxes now (1.8 Petrol Zetec and 1.6 TDCi Ghia) so thought I would jot down my feelings on the best and worst bits of the car: Best bits: Ghia spec comfort general interior quality price of car when compared to rivals (Zafira, Touran, Scenic, etc...) In my opinion the best looking mini MPV on the road boot space excellent stereo even in 6000CD guise Driving and Handling 1.6TDCi performance. Worst bits: Without doubt Ford Dealers. Are your best friend when you are buying, give the impression they cannot be bothered when you have a problem. Is this a difference in attitude b

Ok, here goes... 82 Ford Escort 1.6L 84 XR3i 84 Austin Maestro (dont ask...) 87 XR2 86 Ford Sierra 89 Astra SRi (wife - 96 Fiat Punto) 94 Pug 405 Estate 98 Citroen Xsara (Wife - 94 Pug 405 Est) 95 Rover 216 Convertable (Wife - 96 Laguna) 96 Renault laguna (wife 00 Fiat Brava) 98 Pug 306 TDi 00 Fiat Brava (wife 98 Renault Scenic) 98 Citroen Saxo 98 Ford Mondeo 1.8 (wife 01 Citroen Picasso) 94 Citroen Xantia (again dont ask...) 99

anybody done it who can give an indication of cost?

Prices vary from dealer to dealer so worth phoning around. Independent garages? the 3 year service is a major...

The performance from the 1.8 is adequate rather than impressive, and you do have to rev it to get the performance. I just prefer diesels, my previous car being a Pugeut HDi. I find them nicer to drive. I agree with the dodgy walnut trim, although I am now used to it, there really isn't that much there to worry about. When I said nicer materials I was referring to the velour seats. I have heard of people changing to walnut trim to that as used in the Zetec.... IMO you do get a lot more kit with the Ghia over the Zetec, and for me the little things like a heated screen, electric windows

I have just changed from a 1.8 petrol Zetec to the 1.6TDCI Ghia. Although on paper the performance figures are very similar we find the 1.6TDCI feels quicker as you dont have to rev the nuts off it to get the performance as you do with the 1.8 petrol. I have to say in normal driving the 1.8 did not send the pulses racing... We tested both the 1.6 and 2.0 diesels and indeed did find the 2.0 noisy and quite raucious. We found the 1.6 to be pretty smooth and quiet for a diesel. The 2.0 is very quick but getting the performance out of it affects the economy... As far as economy goes (although

I would wait until the launch of the new and get a nice discount on a pre-registered old version...

OK, an update... Items that have been fixed are the surround to the flip out mirror and, erm, that's it... They could not find anything wrong with the auto wipers, and the car is booked back in to have the rear window replaced and a repair to the passenger door handle. With regard to the resonance they claim that they did not want to drive the car at 75mph as this exceeds the speed limits :roll: . I explained to the techy that the sound can be heard in lower gears at the same rev range and he was taking it out for another road test last thing last night before I picked it up. He was not

Sorry AH250 - are you saying that they are replacing your car because of this noise?

My average mph is around 35 as I do spend a fair bit of my time on the motorway...

My car is in now with a nice little list of things to fix and a printout of this and the other thread about the resonance issue. The main reason for giving them the printout was to indicate to them that I an not their normal punter and that I have researched these issues and they will not be able to pull the wool over me eyes...

Car is going back in today. As well as the resonance problem I want them to fix a sticky passenger external door handle, I have the bottom 5 elements of my heated rear screen not working (can they be repaired?), the trim around my flip out kids mirror seems loose, my auto wipers are 'inconsistent' in that at slow speed in drizzle they dont work even set on 1, at high speed in drizzle they are too sensitive, and I want my software level checked as only getting mid 40's mpg with mixed driving with the air con mainly off. Am I being picky?

1.6tdci, 2005 54 plate. Mixed driving is giving me an indicated approx. 43mpg. When I calculated it was actually about 48mpg. dont trust the computer folks...

RTV - thanks again Appears this is a common problem, was it totally cured on your car?