ChrisTDCICMAX

Sounds like more in depth info needed from a Ford mechanic. If I get some spare time next week I'll do the rounds of our local dealerships and see if I can get some quotes out of them or info. Cheers for bringing me back down to earth ;) Must be the excitement of the footwell lights for free that got me overenthusiastic of the possibilities :D Chris

wizbongre - you make me a happy chappy with your last post :) TDCi im sure is fly by wire so at least for the diesel owners theres a chance it may work. I'm wondering if it would be possible for me to do the work myself? I've got a laptop and surely could order the steering wheel from somewhere. All I would need is the cable to connect the laptop to the diagnostics port and install the required software onto the laptop to edit the ECU settings and I should be good to go I hope. Has anyone seen any of the Ford ECU editing software on the net and/or pinouts for the Diagnostics port to serial/p

Hi vitrocmax, Thanks for taking the time and trouble to take a looksee at the TIS info - appreciated :) After seeing how VAG do it making an easy to do option i'm still hopeful you may find that all the common stuff is there just requiring the wheel and ECU editing. Fingers crossed. Am I right in thinking that all the seven parts to the cc you list would be needed in a non cc car anyway with only the deactivator switch being exclusive? Be interesting to see if the loom is the same for both cc and non cc cars. Time for me to get a TIS CD set I guess and start taking my dash apart - LOL :twis

Sounds great. Thanks wizbongre. Just what I need :) I was wondering if it would be worth me getting the TIS CD? I've looked on @bay and there's loads to choose from with January 2004 seeming to be the latest. Would the TIS CD show you how to change the steering wheel? I'm wondering also if it will show the wiring too. I want to be fully armed before approaching dealers for quotes :D

thanks for the info wizbongre :) You scare me when you say I will need a steering wheel. I can see local dealers having a field day with that one telling me how much it will cost if they can be bovered! :( Hopefully I can find out how much it SHOULD cost before approaching dealers as I have little faith in them at the moment :( What I would could really do with is for some kind soul who has cruise control to pop their steering column undercover and take pictures of loom in there with all relevant plugs etc so i can compare to my wiring to see if Ford have taped up the required block connectors

Hi guys, Been a while since i've been around badgering you all so thought it about time to pop a post or two. I've spent the last week driving a VW Passat with cruise control and am really kicking myself for not getting it fitted when i bought my CMax. Looking at VAG cars it appears that the wiring is there for their cars and all you need is the stalk and a helpful dealership to enable the option in the ECU setup menu. Would it be possible to do this with the CMax? If anyone would be willing to have a look at the TIS wiring diagrams of the cruise control to see if it may be possible would be

SteveTDCi - My 2.0 TDCi had an ECU update at the end of March and the dealer like you say said it was a recall update. Funny thing is the car was fine before the ECU update with no errors with fuel on upfront display and the engine had no flat spot between 1500/2000 rpm in 1st gear. Will Ford notify all the customers affected when a cure is found and ask them to book their cars in to be fixed or do we have to wait 12 months till first service? Sorry to break my vowe to not be forums resident hypochondriac ;) just would like to get the flat spot removed as its getting really annoying to drive t

Hehe, Good of steamvalve to bring me back down to earth from my state of hypochondria ;) To be fair - like mentioned above for the money the CMax is a great car and the interior does look the business compared to the competition. My old man keeps telling me just to live with the niggles as long as the car is reliable. Its just that spending just over £15,000 on a car i expected better service from Ford's dealerships. Lesson learned - be more choosey who you buy from regardless of price and if the car is not 100% upon collection walk away :( One thing I would recommend to any potential buyers

davidChief - Has me wondering if Ford are overdoing the hospitality benefits for the media ;) I noticed the Touran was voted best MPV 2004 in What Car and after tooth combing one compared to my CMax, from a build point of view i'm kicking myself owning the CMax. langkin has just taken a test drive of the Touran and says he is cancelling the CMax and going for the Touran as he was most impressed. I'm very tempted to go down my local VW dealership and see if I can get a test drive myself. I really don't want to lose the money I would changing, but the way Ford Dealerships treat their customers/p

Im afraid i've not yet had a test drive as I was scared I would upset myself after getting my CMax :( Every time I look at my dads passat and how everything looks so spot on it bugs me :( If you test drive the 2 litre Touran would be really grateful if you can let me know what you think of it to drive compared to the Focus CMax 2 litre TDCi. Is there any mention of a "Highline" spec for the Touran in your brochure?

langkin - thanks for the tip on the wiper blades :) I've got some Mer screen polish kicking about so will give that a try :) Sorry to digress - Was eyeing up the 5 seater Touran again today with the 2.0 litre Diesel motor. Is this motor the same or similar to my TDCi? If VW do a Highline version of the Touran i'd be tempted to take a closer look before my CMax loses loads of value :shock: Touran in Pearlescent inky blue with nice alloys and chrome rails and privacy glass, hmmm? 8)

Hi mlenel, Have you got access to a decent digital camera? After my experience with the CMax may i recommend you take a look at ALL the other manufacturers offerings in the same class before going for a CMax and take pictures of the build of them all to compare from the comfort of your computer. After today looking over a VW Touran and looking over other CMax's at showrooms i'd be double sure the CMax will satisfy your wants compared to others before comitting your money. I bought my car with rose specs and after seeing my dads new volkswagen i'm now regretting my decision after all the hass

Thanks Craig :) Will get back to you shortly - not avoiding you, honest :D c-max - My wiper blades too are noisy. When I try to clean my screen with washer jets the blades sound like theyre juddering trying to jump over the screen instead of gliding. Funny thing is my dads Passat has the exact same wiper blades as mine yet they are fine. Hope you guys don't start thinking i'm a hypochondriac ;) :lol:

Hi Craig - Who did you speak to at customer relations? :shock: When i rang Ford they were too busy trying to tell me its a dealer problem for them to sort out, as in effect I had entered into a contract with the dealer upon buying the car and not Ford! ???? Just remembered another problem - upon reversing when applying brakes it sounds like an old bus with squeaky brakes and is REALLY loud! I'm sure this is a need for some copperslip on the back of the pads but still annoys me.

Some great info there guys. Looks like i've just been unlucky. I forgot to mention that my dealings with Ford dealerships has been far from satisfactory. Has anyone had a good relationship with their dealers jumping through hoops for them or are they all the same? My recent VW dealership experience has made me feel like we were buying a luxury car whereas the Ford dealerships its like their doing you a favour! :/

Been nearly three months of ownership now for my 2.0 TDCI CMax so thought it be a good time to address my thoughts and observations in a thread and hopefully get some input and observations from other TDCI CMax owners. Apart from the screen hassles, ongoing wind noise from driver door and dissapointment at some of the details of the build quality i've enjoyed the car so far. Current niggles outstanding for me are as follows:- When acceleratiing in 1st gear the motor hesitates under acceleration just before the turbo really kicks in the power. Creaking car when been sat in the sun. In

Hi Sidhe, Nice choice of motor :D Don't know if i can be of help but here goes:- I think the part for changing time is generic to a number of models so may be able to use the same method I used. I only have the standard ford 6000 CD in mine but may be similar to setup? I have to hold the menu button on the CD unit in till its display changes, then keep pressing the menu button till RDS option is shown and disable it with scan button(s). Then i repeat the above going past the RDS option and I think the next one or thereafter is the time which I change with the volume, and scroll from hours to

Cheers Craig, No worries. I feel now that to save coming across as a rabid crackpot :lol: going to give it a rest for a while and just drive the thing till I can muster up the courage to deal with it once and for all :roll: Funny thing is today the map compartment has started making vibrating noises on the top of the dash. In fact the whole dash is making little creaks etc but I guess you would get this with all cars, and this being my first car I've owned myself maybe i'm being too piccy? I do get annoyed though when I see the C-Max advert taking the michael out of other creaking people ca

Sounds like you've done ok with the Millers stuff :) The additives worry me though for the oil, as Ford specifically states no additives for the C-Max in the warranty. I think I will do the oil change myself beginning of September and go with fully synthetic myself as i've always been lead to believe that fully synth is better if any condensation gets into your oil. I know from my bike riding days and the kind of journeys I do this will be a problem come Winter later this year. Maybe time to start looking out for a Haynes manual for the C-Max. I've never done an oil and filter change on a car,

Update on my screen - RAC came yesterday to fit the new screen. Watched them peel back the rubber and looked at where the supposed wind leak was coming from and surprise - there was a perfect seal all the way around. The garage - Alan Ford, Northampton must have known this and just fobbed me off or could'nt be bothered taking a look under the rubber which would have been very easy according to the fitter. Side rubbers have'nt been changed as mentioned in previous post though looking at them I guess I can live with them. Washed car to find that when i hose water into the gap at bottom of

Hi Kevint, Nice to hear of another happy C-Max owner :) Don't worry about the niggles mounting up on here as vitrocmax pointed out its the dealers that are the problem. If you ever have to take your car to be sorted out for warranty work may I recommend you get yourself a set of diagnostic dice to give to the service reception, and ask them to use these for sorting out the problem :lol: I'm sure this is how they deal with their customers, but the ones they have are probably an older version than the ones available now and also they've probably worn the writing off of the faces of their dice

May be cheaper to take the car to a professional valet once a month looking at how much this is adding up to :shock:

Craig - I know what you mean with that Meguiars catalogue :shock: I ended up getting lambswool mitt, towel, Gold Class Wax, Bulk GC Shampoo, Wheel cleaner, App sponges, trim cleaner. Cost me a ruddy fortune! :oops: If you try their waxes be very sparing as i put the stuff on with the attitude more is better. Suffice to say the next 2 hours rubbing the damn stuff off taught me an invaluable lesson - be VERY sparing with their stuff. Chris

tdBBci - Thanks for the info on the fuel warning - Feel better knowing i'm not alone. You've got me worried with your oil change regime :shock: I was hoping that a 6 monthly oil and filter change to cover my short journey regime would be enough to prolong the life of the engine. Would the oils and additives you mention make a considerable difference to using Ford's stuff? Chris

Hi Alex, Glad to hear your pleased with your motor :D I agree with you about the power needed to push the C-Max along. When I was choosing my car I went for the 2.0 TDCi on the recommendation of my dad that it will be handy for long runs. After over a month and a fair bit of motorway work I now feel I would have been just as well off getting the 1.6 diesel instead. I don't like to floor it everywhere keeping within the speed limits and driving sensibly. If you don't need to prove a point all the time showing people your bumper while pulling away from them then the 100bhp is adequate IMO. H