Mk2 Mondeo alarm problems.

Hi all.

I know this is a fairly common problem in Mk2's. My research says the bonnet switch is the biggest cause but I have already cut the wire and twisted the ends together to firmly complete the circuit.

I know I can buy a doo daa that will read the CPU error codes. Is there anything similar that can tell me what switch / thingy activated the alarm? A cable to plug the car into a laptop? What software would it need and can it be aquired somewhere?

This has been going on for a year so far, but it's getting worse. It can go off any time, no touching, rain or cold required. So I leave the car unlocked now. I don't keep anything in it that's stealable, the car itself is barely worth two hundred quid and it's a very safe area round here. BUT, it would be nice to cure because I don't always park around here.

Thanks for any clues.

Mike.

Reply to
Mike Barnard
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The alarm can be put into test mode.

formatting link

Reply to
TTT

In message , TTT writes

Would that be valid for the Mk3?

(Not that I had problems with either Mk2 or Mk3).

Reply to
Gordon H

Great find TTT, thanks. Guess what I'll be doing today if the snow holds off.

Reply to
Mike Barnard

Hello again.

I FINALLY got around to following the instructions above. Easy really. I discovered that I have no internal sensors, and that it all works... with the execption of the drivers door switch.

Having removed the switch, the switch is in good condition. The contacts are clean, no corrosion, it moves OK and testing it on a multimeter shows perfect action.

I made sure the earth strip had a good contact on the bodywork where it goes into the pillar. No difference. So I swapped it with another door switch. The problem didn't move, therefore I seen to have a wiring issue.

I took off the cover under the steering wheel. Miles and miles of wires, pretty wires... However I couldn't get to the single brown wire that runs into the door pilar from the door switch. It's like it's the other side of the bulkhead.

My question is therefore, does anyone know where this wire runs? It seems to drop down from higher up in the pillar, but how high? Where exactly does it go into the loom? Any tips from personal experiences?

I'm off to Google, but I bet someone here beats me to an answer.

Mike.

Reply to
Mike Barnard

does it come from the interior light?

Reply to
Mrcheerful

My 1998 Mk 2 has had ongoing central locking problems since I bought it 18 months ago. The passenger front door electronics had a mind of their own un til one day I opened it from the inside to let a passenger in, something we nt 'ping' inside the door and I couldn't open it at all, from inside or out . Back at the workshop it took me a couple of hours to remove the interior do or panel with the door shut so I could gain access to the mechanism and ope n the door. After opening up the central locking/door lock mechanism and lu bricating it with WD40 and sewing machine oil I finally managed to get it o perational again but had to leave the wiring disconnected (still is to this day).

6 months later, and after intermittent CL and alarm failures, the driver's door barrel began stiffening up, preventing me from opening the door with t he key (very frustrating when the CL fails to work off the key's remote). In November 2014 a broken head bolt necessitated a cylinder head R & R (ano ther Mondeo nightmare for the uninitiated) which took several weeks due to the fact I had more important things to do. Once reassembled, I turned the ignition key tyo start the engine, at least I tried to, and discovered that it too had begun seizing up after sitting i n a warm, dry workshop for 5 weeks doing absolutely nothing. Despite lubricating the ignition barrel with graphite powder the problem ha s grown steadily worse, to the point where I now prefer to leave the key in the ignition, removing the remote component and locking the doors with it. Over the past few weeks I have been locked out of my car several times afte r it successfully activated the CL and alarm but failed to deactivate and u nlock the vehicle when I returned 5 - 10 mins later! 7 days ago I began to notice the auto trans 'flaring' on the upshift from 1 st to 2nd gear. By the end of that day I had lost 2nd gear and overdrive, a nd it's been a two-stage auto ever since. Today's failure of the CL / alarm system to deactivate has seen me driving around most of the day with the hazard lights flashing, until I removed the CL fuse under the glove box, which had the bizarre effect of sending the i ndicators (all of them) into a kind of intermittent epileptic seizure, temp orarily rectified by switching the ignition off and on quickly while drivi ng (not for the faint hearted when the ignition barrel is also sticking an d malfunctioning!). It seems that for each fault I fix, three more are waiting in the wings, an d I have now resigned myself to the fact that the Volkswagen was NOT 'Hitle r's Revenge' as so many have quipped; it is in fact the Ford Mondeo which w ill return Germany victorious one day soon. I had hoped to sell this poor excuse for an automobile for $800 - $1,000 fo llowing the cylinder head overhaul last November and subsequent roadworthy certificate, but I've been hobbled at every turn by this marvel of European engineering. I am more inclined to place a brick on the accelerator pedal, (in 'D' of co urse to prevent the rev limiter saving it's evil heart), tie the steering w heel on lock, then leave it to scream round in circles until the engine, tr ans and all the poorly engineered electronics burst into flames and return to the HELL from whence it came!
Reply to
bernsteijn

Um, so you're bitching about a car that 16 years old now, 14 and a bit when you bought it (presumably for pennies) and now replying to a four year old message.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Sounds like he's in Aus or the US. Before realising that I was going to ask why he'd bothered doing the head on something that was worth 10% of bugger all here, and not just thrown it away then.

Anyone ever see any Mk II Mondeos? Always seemed to be well built but, to my mind, they just disappeared overnight There must have been a massive cull in the scrappage scheme.

Reply to
Scott M
[...]

I would imagine folk buying cars at that end of the market would be looking for something that would use less fuel as well.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

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