Stevey Y

Anything they make is good, the Maximus is about the best all rounder I have been using their products for a few years I started just using the standard cetane booster which is good and moved over to the products like the Maximus, it must work as a couple of times I had to have injector seals replaced on my last Mondeo and the first time my mechanic did it he looked really fed up as he explained with 170k on the clock the carbon build up was probably terminal and he said he often had to take the head off and drill the injector out, I gave the offending injector a little twist and out it popped even he was amazed and after that quite looked forward to replacing the seal on the next injector, as he said to me he had never seen injectors that clean on a direct injection diesel unit, the last seal was replaced at 270k, the additive and good fuel definitely work. Steve.

Hi if you want a better additive that really makes a difference have a look at the Hydra Maximus additive it works for me, Redex will screw your fuel filter in record time. Steve.

Hi my Diesel is used as a taxi and I have been running round town a lot during the lockdown and even I noticed the drop in MPG to around 28-30 mpg, it is an unfortunate facet of the Diesel cars design that you have to take them on a long run every so often to give them a good clear out, with the restrictions lifting I had a good run out to Colchester the other day approx thirty two miles each way, when I refuelled at my local Shell on the way back the expected milage from full was 680 rather than 540 running around town and the car was a lot more responsive it just goes to show it works. town driving is always heavy on the A6 Diesels as the power band starts at 1500 rpm the other thing I have found is that brake wear is accelerated because of all the stop start as well as regeneration of the DPF is more frequent, as Gareth suggested keep an eye on the oil level as this would if dropping indicate engine wear as DPF activity is normally white smoke, try taking it out for a run of at least twenty five miles and see what happens, only other suggestion is steer clear of supermarket fuel as its cheap for a reason. Regards Steve.

Hi I think any car has hotspots for stone chips, I expect they know all about it but won't do anything which rather negates the anti perforation warranty, I have always used a product after respraying the offending area called Rhino film its thick and transparent and applied with soapy water and will take a world of punishment to the point where if it becomes opaque just take it off and apply another lot, its cheaper than paint. Steve.

Hi, try giving the gearbox an oil service and if that won't work then you have a real problem but it would a shame to get rid never really knowing if it might have been something as simple as a service, if it works happy days and it will make the car a more attractive proposition to the next owner. Steve.

Hi Gareth, the information and experience was from changing the wheel size on my last Mondeo whilst having a conversation with a neighbour who was German and was an ex Wolfsburg powertrain engineer who to prove a point weighed a 19inch wheel and tyre on some scales he produced and then weighed the 16inch wheel and tyre, there was four kilos difference to which he remarked can you imagine how much extra power will be used to drive the larger wheels, the simple question that resolves this is why is the VED higher on an S LINE 2.0 tdi than the SE Ultra 2.0 tdi apart from the difference in trim/spec the engines are the same, I asked the question by email to VOSA and their short reply was that the S LINE has bigger wheels, so working it back from what I have learned from the MPG gain on the Mondeo it must have to use more fuel to drive the bigger heavier wheels which equals more emissions. Steve.

Hi not really as its the mechanical side of it that is worn, but if you do get a new unit when separating the electronic driver from the calliper don't unplug the unit as when you finish putting the new calliper on the thing will go stupid and need recoding, just put the handbrake system into pad service mode and then do the work. Steve.

Hi I am assuming its a petrol model, the blue smoke could be valve seal wear, but the fan staying on sounds like a dodgy temperature sensor. Steve.

Hi Ann, I am not personally a great fan of that type of work but in saying that having looked at some of the prices of the new units I would say in view of the age of the car and its emission levels for that year it sounds like a going proposition as long as they can guarantee that it will go through the Mot which might involve you giving the car a good thrashing before you take it in, my parts system says Audi have discontinued some DPFs for that model but I am sure they would find one for you if they thought you were going to pay around £1300.00 for it, I understand your misery at keep throwing your purse at the sharks with no results, and I would definitely steer clear of the first garage as they patently don't have a clue about what they are doing and a remap would definitely solve your current situation hopefully, as for the old DPF I expect the garage has sent that back to Euros to get the surcharge back, if you decide to go for that option please get them to explain what the emissions are likely to be like after the process and please can you post how you have been doing and if its worked. Regards Steve.

Hi Bren, have a look on eBay or alternatively go to your local spares shop they should be able to get them from the Reg/VIN they are around about £15 quid from memory, it goes without saying the previous owner had the leak and obviously thought over tightening the flange bolt was better than buying a new set of gaskets then all his learned mates wound him up down the boozer about the cost of the repair so he sold the car. Steve.

Hi, larger wheels with low profile tyres will wear tyres more quickly as the rims are much heavier than the smaller rims add to this that the wider the tyre the more rolling resistance will be created thus using more of the engines available power to drive the heavier/wider wheels, one of the basic selling points when I bought my car as it had 225x55x17 wheels which have a somewhat lower rolling coefficient than the 18/19 inch set ups with wider tyres. I to used to run Mondeos as Cabs the 2.2 Titanium x Sport I had was fitted with lunatic 19 inch rims with 245 width tyres these would last about 4k on the front and 9k on the back, allied to the aquaplaning and tram lining on uneven roads it made the whole driving experience in bad weather to say the least entertaining, I finally got fed up with the expense and the ratty handling and changed to a 16 inch wheel with 60 series tyres 225x60x16 which produced a whole lot better ride with none of the above handling problems plus about another 5mpg, as long as you buy the extra load tyres 101 there is virtually no wall flexing on the tyre, 20k wear on the fronts, 30k on the rears with the prices being half for a good mid range as I was paying for a mid range 19inch tyre. If you look at it logically why are economy cars all fitted with skinny tyres with big profiles and 15-16 inch wheels?, because the rolling resistance is less. Steve.

Hi Ann, getting a bit closer I just need to know if its automatic/manual and the engine size, apparently three different types fitted to your model. Regards Steve.

Hi, its definitely as Kev said an EGR feed pipe unless you can see an actual split in the pipe itself I would suspect a faulty gasket on which end of it I would not care to speculate but I seriously doubt its the pipe itself as they are constructed with some sort of stainless steel, and if you remove it best policy is change both gaskets. by the looks of the photo someone has already had a go at stopping the leak on the flange with what looks like exhaust jointing paste, that won't fly. Regards Steve.

Hi Ann, sorry for the late reply, I thought the garage might say that as most of the aftermarket DPFs do give problems, I had it with one of my Cab buddies Mondeos he had fitted an aftermarket unit and done all the right adaptation changes but the car almost continuously regenerated, it was only when he bought a Ford refurbished part and we were fitting it that we realised that the aftermarket unit was a lot smaller in diameter the end result it filled up more quickly and therefore was regenerating more often. It may be worth enquiring if Audi do a reconditioned unit as they are a lot cheaper than new, if not try some of the internet DPF suppliers as there are a lot of them do reconditioned units or O.E. specification units, the only other option is as you say second hand, if you can let me know what your VIN number is I will do a bit of digging as well, I am sorry I cant be of more help, as for the euro unit if you can get a garage to try a forced regeneration after fitting a new pressure sensor its worth a try. Regards Steve.

Hi don't let those thieving Scrotes have it they will give you nothing for it when they spot the light, please let us know the outcome. Steve.

Hi it is that easy just as long as you get the right equivalent LED bulbs that match the original bulbs and that the LED bulbs are Canbus error free. Steve.

Hi I did mine by powering it from one of the spare fuse ports in the drivers side fuse box, from memory it was one that was in the green squared bit, the only other bit of advice is if you plumb in the rear camera run the cable along the plastic trims where the carpet joins the rocker panels on the sill as this will help by keeping the cable away from the DAB amplifier in the headlining, you will still have to buy a pack of ferrite suppression clips to stop the bit that goes from the headlining to the back window otherwise it just wipes out the DAB signal because the cables are cheap Chinese rubbish and get voltage leaks. Steve.

Just enjoy the car as is especially with the summer coming, and when the time is right just get something newer and with more Horses, but make sure you do it before the Mayor demands you own one of the new upmarket golf buggies. Steve.

Hi yes you will get more performance, yes the emissions will go up and in view of the age of the car and possibly high milage its like trying to get an eighty year old to do an assault course. Steve.

Hi the ball park figure for the sensor is £60 ish, adaptation fee should be about an hour of the garages time including the regeneration, make sure the garage has Vagcom or similar that can do the job unless its the latest Snap on kit most generic code readers won't have the required functions to do the job. Regards Steve.

PS they must still have a wheel well as otherwise where are they going to put the battery? I know my space saver is mounted above the battery. Steve.

Hi you have it in one, I think you can ask for a space saver at extra cost, the puncture repair kits are ok if its a small hole but if its a split you are scuppered, the Mondeo Sport I had was originally going to be produced with the repair kit only until one of the Ford big wigs had a pre release demonstrator for the weekend and split one of the forty series tyres and was stuck in the wilds of Surrey for hours waiting for the recovery to turn up, he put in a real snotty report to the CEO of ford UK who then decided the customer would be given the space saver option at extra cost. Steve.

Hi it could well be a pressure sensor but my guess is that the DPF you bought is aftermarket and is therefore probably smaller than the original and will block up quicker if the pressure sensor is not playing the game, the aftermarket units are generally smaller and have a Cordierite filter element which works really well but has a lower core melting point than the SIC cores used by the manufacturer, thats why they are cheap. Try getting a new pressure sensor and have the garage do a forced regeneration and the reset the adaptations for the new DPF if they did not do that after the new one was fitted that causes problems from the start as the adaptations used will be for the old unit, in effect you have to teach the DPF to learn its new functions as it goes along. Steve.

Possibly a worn DMF mine does it sometimes, the only way to find out what the lights about is to get a code reader OBD Eleven or Vcds and plug it in when you end the journey that will tell you what the fault is thats throwing the light on. Regards Steve.

Hi, OBD Eleven for the diagnostic and try youtube for any repair info, Haynes probably haven't got round to that one yet. Steve.