Tom's TDCi Titanium X...

[Toms306]

So, had this a few weeks now...bored of it, gonna get something else!



No, of course not. Still liking it tbh, done about 700 miles since picking it up as well, done a few longer journeys (though still a bit of a battle with my guts so wont be at any distant meets for a while!).

Just need to sort the reverse switch tomorrow, so I can actually see to reverse lol, it's been sitting in the glovebox all week!

Have painted the drums black today, and fitted two new centre caps. Thinking about dark blue for the calipers to match the caps and Ford badges? Was tempted by ST green calipers and green on black gel badge overlays but I'll probably regret that in a few months so want to keep it subtle!

Also sorted the puncture...which turned out to be just a loose valve core, oops. Anyway, now all 4 tyres are staying fully inflated for the first time since collecting the car!

I couldn't help but check the turbo for play...fortunately it has a normal amount! Phew...

Next up, the odd DPF fault. Keep getting a silent regen duration fault when scanning for codes, with something (presumably a sensor) going past its max threshold. It's also trying to regen too often, and at the worst times (like a 5 mile 40mph drive to Nans), you can tell as the fans stay running after the engines shut off due to the amount of heat the DPF creates. Can't find any issues with the sensor pipes/wiring and no idea how to test the pressure sensor itself. On live diag's the differential pressure 'spike' is 9kPa...not sure if that's good or bad though lol, and don't seem to be getting any better answers on the Ford forums. So decided to force a static regen, this should make sure a regen is completed, and check that it is regenerating properly. And man is it scary to watch your engine revving itself to 4k rpm! If anyones interested, I took a vid for the guys on the Ford forum, but some over here might to watch it as well, it's about 10 mins though, so not recommended for a slow internet lol. Also I apologise for the breathing in the vid...kinda forgot I was meant to breathe while fully expecting something to explode.

http://youtu.be/c-CSC-u6Sbs

[Toms306]

So reverse light switch wasn't half as difficult as I thought it was gonna be lol.

Followed a guide on the focus forum last time but found it was easier to remove the whole airbox and MAF pipe in one and just rest it on the battery. Less time and more space that way, still not really much visual access but managed to feel my way through without having to remove battery or anything. Surprisingly easy once you've done it lol. So I know have a working reverse light again, yay...

May go for an eco drive this evening to try and raise my average MPG that took a battering during the DPF regen yesterday.

[Connor]

What did the guide say to do tom? As those air boxes come out in seconds lol

[Toms306]

Remove the top half of the box (screws)
Remove the filter
Remove MAF (bolts)
Remove the bottom half
Then the same to refit...

When you can just loosen the turbo intake pipe jubilee and pull the whole lot out in one lol.

I also had issues refitting the filter, seemed too big for the box and I didn't want to break anything, did eventually get it back though. Removing it whole saved that hassle haha.

[Connor]

Yeah that seems an ass about way doing it, undo the jubilee and unclip a few things (depending on engine) and it all comes out. Yeah those cylindrical filters can be a pain sometimes, but you do a few and you get the nack to doing them lol

[Toms306]

Tbf the filter in there is brand new, so hopefully won't be changing it for a while lol.


On another note, just came round a corner to another car over the white line partially on my side of the road, I paniked and over-steered straight into the kerb at 50ish...massive scuff out of my otherwise perfect alloys and lost a wheel nut cap as well. Can't have anything nice for long.

[Connor]

Thats a shitter :/ Want a wheel nut? I've got loads

[Toms306]

Ooh, yeah please, I'll take a couple if you have loads.

[lolsteve]

Do any damage? 50 is quite a fair speed to whack at

[Eeyore]

Thats a shitter :/ Want a wheel nut? I've got loads

wheel nut cap is what hes after?

[Connor]

Shhhhh we know what we're on about

[Toms306]

Do any damage? 50 is quite a fair speed to whack at

It was more a scuff than a whack tbh, so not really any lateral force to bend anything, still drives straight and smooth, though the tyre sidewall now has less writing on it.

Thats a shitter :/ Want a wheel nut? I've got loads

wheel nut cap is what hes after?

Shhhhh we know what we're on about

Lol, indeed. I lost a cap, but the caps aren't supposed to be separate! Problem is though, its only an 18mm nut when the cap falls off....which cant be removed with the 19mm wheel bar in the car if I got a blowout or something.

So thanks to Connor its gone from this...



To this...



For a second there it looks like kerbing has gone too lol, its at the bottom though.

Though a random Gumtree search found a brand new wheel, same as those for a third of the retail price. So when the tyres wear out I'll have a new one fitted to the new wheel and keep the scuffed one as a spare or sell it if its worth anything.

Took it to Felixstowe earlier in the week on a lovely sunny day...






And today is our months anniversary so a couple more wet and dirty pics lol...

[Connor]

Ahh it turned up alright then lol how much is that wheel? Just curious as I know the cheapest wheel is about 150

[Eeyore]

Well done tom! Should have said you were going out and I would have come and met you!

[Toms306]

Ahh it turned up alright then lol how much is that wheel? Just curious as I know the cheapest wheel is about 150

Yep, got the nuts this morning, cheers.

Yeah, the wheel was £50 lol, had been bought in error or something, in hindsight shouldve probably just ignored the kerbing and saved the money but on the other hand its still cheaper than getting the other one refurbed. Think they're £150ish new. They're only 16s though, I'd imagine the Y spoke 18s on the ST are considerably more lol.

Well done tom! Should have said you were going out and I would have come and met you!

Tbh I don't stay long anywhere atm Sam, but I did wonder if you might've been in Felixstowe at the time for any reason....though probably not sailing given the wind lol.

[THE_Liam]

Got to say, had a go in one of these today and it was alright for a modern diesel hatch, quite an involving drive. Although it's my mate's girlfriend's car and it blatantly hasn't been looked after.

[Toms306]

Blimey, didn't expect it to be your thing Liam! Fortunately mine does appear to have been looked after....and now I've got the V5 I can see it's been in a my Nan's village (about 5 miles from me) for the last couple of years owned by the son of one of my Nans church friends....amazed I'd never seen it before lol!

Not sure what you mean by an involving drive? You can drive then hard if you want, chassis seems to be good, steering is good being electro-hydraulic rather than full electric and much less roll than I was expecting...it's not so dull and numb as the equivalents (atsra/308) but retains more comfort and refinement than them! That said, if I had money and space for a 2nd 'fun' car, it'd be something made in the late 80s...


As I'm sure you're all dying to know the mpg...

I got exactly 600 miles to a tank (with the range saying 44 to go, bit pessimistic imo), and a calculated 58.6mpg... Not bad considering the static regen imo!! Only ~5 more mpg than I averaged in the 306 HDi's...but with working air con and heated seats lol.


Also, can the MAP sensor be used to read boost, obviously it is for the ECU, but does it give a useable value for us? I was watching coolant temps on live diags the other day (to see why the fans are often on after driving) and noticed the MAP pressure was hitting 200kPa uphill in 3rd under load at about 30, that's like 30psi though, so can't be actual boost can it? Or is than on top of atmospheric pressure which is about 15psi iirc? Just intrigued really.

[THE_Liam]

Don't get me wrong mate, it isn't my thing, but it feels like far more of a drivers car than anything else similar that I've driven. Steering felt dead and too light (even after the Merc which isn't even rack and pinion), but it turned in sharp and keen, gripped well and dealt with rough roads and changing cambers really well, sweet gearchange too, and surprisingly quick. Far better than the equivalent Astra, Golf, 308, Auris, C4. Still not a patch on a 306 or even an old Focus but if you want a modern 65mpg diesel small family car you could do far worse.

[Toms306]

Well I'm glad we agree on something lol, I wouldn't have any of the others you mentioned over the Focus tbh.

Things like the light steering and the massive travel on the hydro clutch do feel weird straight after something like a 306, but after a few days it just becomes normal. You can also change the steering assistance between comfort, standard and sport which does make a noticeable difference. I take it the Merc still used a steering 'box, can't say I've driven anything old enough to have that system lol!

[Niall]

Tom don't forget normal atmospheric pressure is about 100Kpa but the sensor will be reading that. Thats why when people build boosted engines and spec a MAP sensor, you always go 150kpa higher than the boost you intend to make.

[Toms306]

Yeah that makes sense, I did wonder if that was the case. So is the 'extra' 100kPa the actual boost, or is it not really as simple as that?

[Niall]

It will be as simple as that so yes, when you were going up hill at 200kpa, you were running 14ish psi of boost. Double what I'm running at max and you still couldnt keep up :p

[Toms306]

Haha, might run the diags on record next time I go out to see what peak boost is at then...

[Toms306]

Can someone move this to the new other marques project section please?

[Poodle]

58mpg with the heated seats and aircon on is pretty good, although the test confuses me a tad... Or are you just doing it to enjoy the fact that no 306 has ever had a working version of either?

It will be as simple as that so yes, when you were going up hill at 200kpa, you were running 14ish psi of boost. Double what I'm running at max and you still couldnt keep up :p

Have you really got to the point where you need to compete with a standard diesel focus to make yours look quick?

[Toms306]

No, I didn't have the AC and heated seats on permanently lol, think that might've come across wrong.

Just meant that yeah its not far off a 306 HDi...but with a load more fuel thirsty extra's so not really comparable lol. Heaviest fuel user on the 306 was probably the blower motor.

[Poodle]

Haha yeah sorry, just trolling as per...

In terms of relative efficiency this thing should blow the 306 out of the water, its a generation ahead. You should be able to take a feed off the map sensor for a boost gauge, its just an electrical signal, calibration is the only bit that might be a problem.

[bashbarnard]

Well done tom! Should have said you were going out and I would have come and met you!

I'd be up for a little meet at some point

---

Also nice mpg. Worked out mine this morning 51mpg on veg. Not bad I thought. No heated seats though. My air con button works just no air con does that count

[Toms306]

Haha yeah sorry, just trolling as per...

In terms of relative efficiency this thing should blow the 306 out of the water, its a generation ahead. You should be able to take a feed off the map sensor for a boost gauge, its just an electrical signal, calibration is the only bit that might be a problem.

Oh I see, my bad.

I don't want a gauge permanently stuck in my view lol. Don't mind leaving the OBD scanner plugged in for a journey now and then though.

As for the efficiency, I never expected it to blow the 306 out of the water...however, if someone fitted the DV6 to a 306, I bet there'd be a massive difference... Especially if you leave the DPF off which appears to be there purely to use more fuel to reduce emmisions, cant help thinking it would've been better to just improve the efficiency more rather than fitting DPFs...

Though I'm still looking for more mpg at speed, I had assumed it was due to the A12/A14 being fairly hilly, but thinking back to the Golf, I could easily average 65mpg on a round trip to Felixstowe in that, where its only about 55 in this... Only difference is the blue Golf had cruise (and better mpg than the silver Golf without cruise), can't imagine it'd make so much difference though.

Well done tom! Should have said you were going out and I would have come and met you!

I'd be up for a little meet at some point

---

Also nice mpg. Worked out mine this morning 51mpg on veg. Not bad I thought. No heated seats though. My air con button works just no air con does that count

Not bad, considerably cheaper being veg as well.... Though good luck running it all winter lol.

Air con doesn't count unless it makes the air colder. Tbf, even fully working the 306 AC wasn't that great though.

[Toms306]

So, came around a blind corner to meet a massive tractor thing, about 75% of the roads width. Had no choice but to squeeze in tight between it and the hedge, leaving some of my paint on the hedge. About 5 or 6 scratches like these was the result.



But in other news, ticked over 48k today.