hoff900

Well after selling the Scooby due to trying to trim down on how many cars we had (that idea didn't last long) I've just purchased a Mondeo ST200 and I must say what a cracking car it is. Just wanted a cheap little project but I must say I am very impressed, don't get me wrong it's not the fastest car on the road by a long shot and I miss the boost from a turbo, but the V6 sound soon makes up for that.

Why I am posting is I want to know if anyone has had any experience with these cars, and if anyone can recommend any tuning tips for the duratec V6 as a google search doesn't bring much up.

the shreksta

iTrader: (20)

water pumps are a common problem mate-something to do with the impeller i think,also drivers seats can break aswell

LDNSTi

I had an st24. The sound is great, like you say. And I must admit, I miss the car greatly. Never ran into any problems. Other than the dreaded front lower arms with the 'impossible bolt' lol.

hoff900

What is the impossible bolt, as I do have a knock that I was putting down to a bush/mount, and thought that's a simple fix, maybe not?

LUCKO

iTrader: (3)

dont miss mine

always wanted one had it a year or so

terrible mpg considering the performance, corrosion issues awful brakes and to top if off couldnt give it away in the end

loved it though all the same

LDNSTi

That knocking is what I had. As for the bolt, it's the rear bolt on the wishbone. It goes from the top down. But you cant undo it because of not enough clearance. So you are left with two choices. Lower the subframe on the side you are working on, with the other dropped by about 5 turns of the bolt, or, as most do, saw the bolt off and reinsert from the bottom up. Your choice. If you do the latter, make sure you only have the minimum amount of thread coming out of the nut. Or else it will wear through the gearbox casing and drain your oil .

hoff900

Hmmmmm....cheers for the heads up, did you ever get involved with tweaking the car?

LDNSTi

Uneven tyre wear can also point towards the wishbones failing. and no I didn't. It was back in my 'Drum and bass days' lol. So I was more into the audio lol.

wrx.si

Just sold my st200 ltd head her for 4 years of trouble free . Good cars only sold her to get a scooby . As for Turing it not much can be done as fords did a lot of it at all reddy but I did put a k&n panel filter and a pipe craft exhuest. And I know a man how knows these cars inside out and he's not long supper charged one as will

RS Grant

Love mine... it's the second one I've had and it deals with daily duties perfectly. Reliable, sounds great, practical, looks nice, reasonably inconspicuous, rides well enough and doesn't cost the earth to run.

I'm averaging around 22-24mpg in mine, but I only do about 10-15 miles a day at most, so fuel costs aren't silly for me.


Cheers,
Grant

hoff900

Grant looking good, looks like you've lowered it? What set up have you gone with, any compromise with the ride quality?

RS Grant

Yeah, my car only has 63k on it so I've just gone with a set of lowering springs.. IIRC they are Pi springs and the ride has suffered a bit, but it's by no means harsh. I'm reluctant to spend the kind of money needed for coilovers on a car of this value, but if I still have the car when the shocks give up then rather than replacing the standard shocks, I will bite the bullet and get a set of coilovers for it because I much prefer the way it sits on the 18" Comps when it's lowered.


Cheers,
Grant

Sheepy Sean

iTrader: (1)

I had an ST200 before I got my Spec D - Kept it for 5 years and loved it.
Didnt do much on the tuning side just a K&N panel filter and a Blueflame cat back exhaust.

A good trick is to clean the upper and lower inlet manifolds with carb cleaner oir similar. These engines have a set of butterfly valves in the secondary intake ports below the lower inlet manifold wich open over 3500rpm or on full throttle. However these intake ports become quite blocked reducing the air flow. A good clean on mine made a world of difference which we did at around 70,000 miles.

The Inlet Manifold Runner Control (IMRC) unit can fail preventing these valves opening - A good way to check is to floor the throttle from around 2500 revs. If its working you will hear a very noticeable change in engine noise as the secondary 8 ports open.

The water pump is another good thing to check as the impellers can indeed break so the fix back when I had mine was to replace with a pump that has a metal impeller instead of plastic.

I did have to change my front lower arms but I seem to remember having a quick look at what was involved in removing them and decided I was going to have a lazy day and let my garage swap themover instead.

theboy

Ask them at www.fordrst.co.uk