strange jerking on Mondeo....

Put the interior fan on, and give it a few minutes for the a/c to warm up, or cool down, as it were. Then it should be nice and cold and not humid.

I've gapped my plugs to 1.3mm¹ and everything seems to run just fine - though I am wondering if it might be kinder to my battery during the winter months to close them down again to 1.0 or

1.1mm.

It won't take long to do - is it worth spending 15 minutes on?

This is a late 1995 built (1996 N registered) Mk1 1.8 Mondeo.

John

¹ As my Haynes manual told me to

The smaller plug gap gives the HT leads and coil pack an easier time- they will 'leak' HT which results in misfires easily enough- especially when the leads get alittle aged.

Tim..

The manual *was* right, but now the gap is 1.0mm. 1.3 is such a large gap,= =20 it tends to arc through the plug leads (normally Cyl 1, closest to the=20 gearbox), needing a new set of leads & plugs.

Pete.

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They have a rubber t piece in the breather system which develops a leak, well worth checking, it is on the right end of the engine as you look, below and behind the coils, spray that area with carb cleaner while idling and it will show up a leak by speeding up.

mrcheerful

Wotcha Pete. Get about the place, don't you?

Anyway, come the morrow I shall have the plugs out and re-set the gaps to 1.0mm. I've got a long drive coming up next week (Cardiff and back - 450 mile round trip) so that'll be a good opportunity to see if there's any difference.

To change the topic slightly - I'm not sure if I'm being daft, but I swear I can hear some sort of resonant "hum" at around the

2,200rpm mark. Above 2,500rpm it's gone again - is there anything in the Zetec which normally resonates around there, or am I woofing up the wrong deciduous?

John

I've heard various things about the longer spark resulting in easier combustion. Sounds like snakeoil pseudoscience to me; the petrol vapour either burns or it doesn't.

As for the HTs - I kind of assume that they either work or don't. Mine have been in for at least 10,000 miles and no record of them being changed at the 40k, 65k, or 90k service points, though spark plugs _are_ listed as having been changed. (I put in a new set of plugs myself at 103k)

Do new HTs normally go in at the same time as plugs when a service is done? Is it worth getting a new set?

I take the opinion of "if it ain't broke", but if I can get as much as possible out of the car before it dies (I'm going to run it into the ground - it's only a Mondeo after all) by taking some preventative action then it could be worth it.

John

In message , mrcheerful . writes

Only on the Silvertop engines though. The OP said his was a V plater which is definitely a Blacktop engine which doesn't have the infamous T piece.

In message , John Duffey writes

I've got a 2.0 Mondy and I get a roar/growl between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm. I think its induction roar as it stops as soon as you lift off the throttle but someone else reckons that the MTX 75 gearbox gives some transmission noise at that RPM.

The manual *was* right, but now the gap is 1.0mm. 1.3 is such a large gap, it tends to arc through the plug leads (normally Cyl 1, closest to the gearbox), needing a new set of leads & plugs.

Cylinder 1 is crank pulley end, 4 is gearbox end, but yes, its usually number 4 which burns through in the boot and arcs against the head.

Tim..

Aaaah.... this makes sense!

Thanks for that one.

John

Check all the vacuum pipes as theres alot round the back of the engine. If still no good try

probably on there.

om

That's what confused me at the time. All other cars I'd had had 1 at pulley= =20 end, 4 at gearbox end.

The Mondeo was the other way round.

It even had a reverse firing sequence, 4213.

This *was* according to the BOL though.

Pete.

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