ok, bought a 2001 mondeo 1.8 zetec privatley last year - 70k miles and full, stamped and receipted ford service history - nice motor.
have looked after it since. 80k miles on it now. about two weeks ago i noticed the temp gauge was way up - stopped and there was NO coolant in the car. I had, honestly, checked the oil, coolant levels about a week before and they were fine.
Since then it has been drinking about a litre of water every four miles - brought it to my mechanic and he says the head gasket is gone - he will not fix it for me as he says its a pig of a job.
rang my local main Ford dealer - they tell me 'ball park' figure to fix it is a grand, but could be 1500 euro. they will give me a one year warranty on the job they do. that is assuming they take the head off and can skim the gasket and no other problems arise. the oil level is perfectly normal and there's no white scum around the oil cap when i checked.
i was hoping one of the ford experts on this site could tell me what are the prospects of, after paying to get this fixed, of it happening again????
also - for a car that has been very well looked after from new, what are the odds of this happening on a 80k miles car?? i would have thought a mondeo would do a lot more than this without such trouble?????
as i said - i have it booked in for a potential 1500 euro job but i'm wondering if i'd be better of getting rid of it ??? if the job Ford do is sound, i'd probably keep the car for several years - but dont want to spend a substantial amount of money on an old car if its something that is likely to cause a similar problem again.......
hoping one of the ford experts on this site might have a few words of advce.
ps - for anyone considering a 01 mondeo - the remote central locking is problematic on mine and the rear suspension has caused problems and has cost a few quid to fix and there's awful rattles coming from the interior - seems like loose panels - great car to drive and very comfortable but i deeply regret getting rid of the passat for it i must say.
have looked after it since. 80k miles on it now. about two weeks ago i noticed the temp gauge was way up - stopped and there was NO coolant in the car. I had, honestly, checked the oil, coolant levels about a week before and they were fine.
Since then it has been drinking about a litre of water every four miles - brought it to my mechanic and he says the head gasket is gone - he will not fix it for me as he says its a pig of a job.
rang my local main Ford dealer - they tell me 'ball park' figure to fix it is a grand, but could be 1500 euro. they will give me a one year warranty on the job they do. that is assuming they take the head off and can skim the gasket and no other problems arise. the oil level is perfectly normal and there's no white scum around the oil cap when i checked.
i was hoping one of the ford experts on this site could tell me what are the prospects of, after paying to get this fixed, of it happening again????
also - for a car that has been very well looked after from new, what are the odds of this happening on a 80k miles car?? i would have thought a mondeo would do a lot more than this without such trouble?????
as i said - i have it booked in for a potential 1500 euro job but i'm wondering if i'd be better of getting rid of it ??? if the job Ford do is sound, i'd probably keep the car for several years - but dont want to spend a substantial amount of money on an old car if its something that is likely to cause a similar problem again.......
hoping one of the ford experts on this site might have a few words of advce.
ps - for anyone considering a 01 mondeo - the remote central locking is problematic on mine and the rear suspension has caused problems and has cost a few quid to fix and there's awful rattles coming from the interior - seems like loose panels - great car to drive and very comfortable but i deeply regret getting rid of the passat for it i must say.