[Drewcole]

@gbgaz where did you use for the retrim?

I've been looking at Royal Steering Wheels to get mine done.

 

[gbgaz]

@gbgaz where did you use for the retrim?
I've been looking at Royal Steering Wheels to get mine done.

I used edge automotive in rugby, I live in the midlands anyway so dropped it in and collected it rather than having to post. I rang a few places beforehand and most of them are sending the wheels out of the country to Lithuania to be done, whereas Stephen at edge does it all onsite, so went with him.

 

[gbgaz]

Long time No See Everyone! Almost a year since my last post! I hope you're all happy and most of all healthy.

I still have the car, I still love it to bits, I still love washing it and most of all I still love driving it!

56,876 miles on the clock as I type this, 30,902 driven by me, 8 Goodyear eagle F1's fitted and 82 washes in my ownership (Yes I've logged and took pictures of them all!).

Had lots of other 'things' going on in my personal life of late which have restricted me getting on here to comment on other peoples threads as well as post on mine.

I think i've always said my car will never be hugely modified, but wanted to post this thread as a record of its life with me...highs AND lows!

since my last post...... (not many changes have happened... but we've done stuff!!!)

Took it on holiday twice... which after 2020's holiday hiccup was a great feeling!

July holiday...

September Holiday...

Drove back frugally in the middle of the fuel 'crisis' lol

 

[gbgaz]

Having been a motorsport fan (not so much F1 but BTCC & club level) most of my life, October 2021's BTCC round at donington gave me the first opportunity to take the car to a motorsport meeting.... Damn you covid!!!

Did the usual big clean and pre winter wax in october, number plates off and the like... sheared one of the screws off in one of the tailgate rivnuts - tried to drill the screw out but no go.....

Looks terrible doesn't it!! Did some research and asked on here - first of all many thanks to @Flashfox for his kind offer of installing the new rivnuts.

I took a countersunk drill to the car to get the existing one out...

Ended up drilling both out to make sure it didn't happen again... hopefully!

A neighbour actually had a rivnut gun which was quite handy! Bought a set of rivnuts from screwfix and bob was my uncle!!

I've since bought the rivnut gun, so if anyone is stuck with the same problem give me a shout... it's not as big a job as it first seems.

 

[gbgaz]

Blimey... was that last post in March?!!

The illuminated sill plates stopped workingin february I think, so I removed them and decided to have a look to see if I could get them working. I removed them and whilst unsoldering the leads thought it may be corrosion or a dry joint on the connections..

I resoldered the lead and they still didn't work... so I went for the full strip down and pulled them completely to bits... full of water and completely wrecked beyond repair lol.. so in the bin they went!!

Ordered a pair of ceuk's blue ones with footwell LED lights and fitted...

 

[gbgaz]

What have I done recently then? Well the car has blown its second left hand sequential indicator, Thats one set of autobeams and a cheap ebay set! So had a little look and found a wire in the door mirror that had a bit of a break in it... easy enough repair.. cut it out and solder a new bit of wire in... but it turned out the split was inside the bit the wires disappear into! £106.28 later I had a new one from ford... ( £106.... they're not even powerfold!!)

Since the car had been back on its standard indicators... this hasn't half been doing my head in!!

Water in the lens... I'm sure you've all had it! it just wont go away... so with the root of the problem with blowing the sequentials hopefully sorted, I thought I may as well get another set. It would seem it's pretty hard to get hold of grey/smoked ones now... most are gloss black - I wasn't sure how they'd look tbh and was against putting the gloss black ones on, but turns out I think they look better!

Obligatory shower after washing it! (how good do cars look with no number plates on!)

 

[gbgaz]

Couple of bits that have been niggling me lately...

Lettering coming off my rear plate, also my owners club decals in the rear quarters are 'just' starting to peel on one side. I messaged Sweven Plates about the the rear plate as they guarantee for 3 years, they were brilliant... asked for a couple of pictures of the problem and then sent a new one straight out, I can't recommend them enough.. I've got my 'MOT' plates by them too... legal spacing with gel lettering and sapphire blue outline......

Re. the owners club stickers, as we know we can't buy them through the site anymore, but I did read a thread where someone mentioned that DMB used to do them, so I dropped them a mail. Once again great service, told them the size and colour I wanted... and mentioned I cut off the 'focus' part and just used them as 'SToc.com' so they said they could do them that way to avoid waste! Ordered a couple of sets which arrived same day as the new plate! Incidentally, if anyone wants similar from DMB, I still have the sizes and specs so give me a shout ...Dave made them with my name as referrence so I'm sure he'd be able to find them again!

 

[gbgaz]

Two consecutive weekends... some miles apart! Had a couple of days in the lake district for a mates wedding, took the long route up there from the midlands to take in a road i've been wanting to drive for many years.. The Buttertubs Pass! I've wanted to drive this road since Clarkson did his reunion with his Escort Cosworth and took it over the pass on Top Gear in the mid 90's - I planned to take the ST170 over there back when... but unfortunately it never happened! A big tick in my bucket list and probably the most scared any road has ever made me!! 'Cliff Gate Road' really does have cliffs!!

 

[gbgaz]

... and then the following weekend! A trip to Cheddar Gorge with the Mrs and some of her Performance Edition Friends! A few of us were allowed to take our 'different' cars as guests lol. Great day out with a great gang! ( Yes my front right looks a bit flat in this pic! It bizarrely lost some pressure as we rolled into the Gorge setting off the TPMS.. pumped it up there and fingers crossed it's been A1 since!).

 

[gbgaz]

I finally bit the bullet and did it...after a couple of years of pondering whether to or not lol! Bought Collins CP1 and loaded it onto the car myself.....



However....

I've always been fully aware of the game of roulette with these diesel versions when it comes to performance air filters! Mine's been running a K&N with no issues for a couple of years pre-map, so treated it to a new one to go one with the map....took it out and straight into limp mode! switched off and restarted it and all was good.. until I put my foot down! Standard filter back in and no problems at all....OMG it drives so much better with the map though - I should have done this sooner!!

 

[WayneST-2]

Seems like the the club has been putting some business the way of Collins at Ford Fair, did you manage to get one of the discounted packages they were offering at the show ? Sounds like your pleased with the results of the CP1 package, apart from the air filter issues, but seems like you was already prepared for that. Just looking back through your project thread, no mention of exhaust, so I guess you're still running standard. I also noticed the blue silicon pipe from the air filter, does this make any difference to the power delivery ? If not, it certainly makes a decent visual impact of the standard ribbed rubber pipe which is horrible, mine has gone a weird greenish colour.

I brought the CP2 package from them, at the Ford Fair discounted price, was hard to say no with a deal like that. Going up to Collins this Friday for the workshop install. I looked at the iFlash kit, even though I'm fairly confident with things like this, I just had the nagging doubt that if I did something wrong, then it would be on my head. I'm going with the standard air box lid and a paper filter in the boot, just incase I get the limp mode issue, don't fancy limping back from Congleton, it's a fair trek home.

 

[gbgaz]

Seems like the the club has been putting some business the way of Collins at Ford Fair, did you manage to get one of the discounted packages they were offering at the show ? Sounds like your pleased with the results of the CP1 package, apart from the air filter issues, but seems like you was already prepared for that. Just looking back through your project thread, no mention of exhaust, so I guess you're still running standard. I also noticed the blue silicon pipe from the air filter, does this make any difference to the power delivery ? If not, it certainly makes a decent visual impact of the standard ribbed rubber pipe which is horrible, mine has gone a weird greenish colour.

I brought the CP2 package from them, at the Ford Fair discounted price, was hard to say no with a deal like that. Going up to Collins this Friday for the workshop install. I looked at the iFlash kit, even though I'm fairly confident with things like this, I just had the nagging doubt that if I did something wrong, then it would be on my head. I'm going with the standard air box lid and a paper filter in the boot, just incase I get the limp mode issue, don't fancy limping back from Congleton, it's a fair trek home.

TBH I've had it a little while Wayne, though I wish I'd have waited and bought it at the show! Yes I'm ver pleased with it, the car is very different in a positive way.. the torque is so much stronger.. how these cars should be from factory in my opinion. Yes the car is running a standard exhaust, nothing wrong with it currently, but if it did need a replacement then I'd probably go to one of the custom exhaust places and try to keep the standard tailpipe. I didn't really notice that much difference with the silicone pipe, it already had the filter in at the time which made a noticiable difference.. but didnt feel that different with the pipe - that was more a cosmetic addition for me, like you I'm not keen on the standard one (of which mine had gone that funny colour too!).

Yeah they were good deals at the show, like I say, wish I'd have waited! I know what you mean re. the flash kit, but it really was very straight forward - even though the first map they sent me wouldn't load onto the car, rang them and they sent one that would load within the hour! I think you're right to take the standard ones with you just in case, like you say be a long drive back in frusutration should it go into limp. Let us all know how you get on on friday and how you feel it's changed the car - is it stage 1 or standard atm?

 

[WayneST-2]

I believe mine is standard at the moment, apart from the K&N Air Filter and RS Airbag Lid. I've never driven another ST TDCi to compare, and never really got much history with the car. It feels strong and pulls well, especially in 3rd & 4th, and peaks over the 3/4 mark on the boost gauge before dropping off a bit.
I'm with you on the exhaust, no plans to change from standard, and like you, I like the standard tailpipe.
I'll let you know how it goes on Friday.

 

[gbgaz]

I'd say yours is standard then Wayne, i think standard cars only boost to about 3/4 ish of the gauge.

 

[WayneST-2]

Had the CP2 map loaded at Collins workshop today, all went fine till the road test and data logging, car went into limp mode on a 6th gear pull from low revs, they said it went into limp when it got to around 2k revs under maximum load. The DTC codes suggested the fuel pressure was too low to match the the load being put on the engine. It was something they’d experienced on a few diesels in the past, seems some just have a stronger fuel pump than others.
They slightly adjusted the map for my car to accommodate this, and all was perfect on the 2nd test run and data log.

Hat’s off to Gary & Martin at Collins, 1st class service, they wasn’t happy with letting the car leave without being 100% happy with it, and even gave me a courtesy call on my way home to ensure all was well with the car. So glad I took the car to them, would highly recommend the workshop install for anyone looking to get theirs mapped.

So, am I happy with the way the car drives now, oh yes, drives completely different, so much more eager to go, revs a lot more freely, and pulls like a train. Too early for any view on the fuel economy, but expecting improvements, same as others have reported. Also for reference, it still has the K&N Air Filter and RS Airbox Lid, no issues with limp mode due to airflow so far, but prepared to put that back to standard if it does play up.

 

[gbgaz]

Great stuff Wayne, glad you're all sorted and happy with it. I didn't know that about the fuel pumps!
That's good mate that it's still on the K&N, fingers crossed it stays that way!

Bet it was a fun drive home!

 

[gbgaz]

Ok... been wanting to post this update for a while... and for many reasons have sat on the fence for a bit! To put it simply.. im going to try to post just facts and not my opinion which could... how do I say.. well.. not be what some may want to hear!

In early october I pulled the dipstick to check the cars oil level (as I/we all regularly do) to find this....

Extremely high oil level, and wreaking of fuel.

We'd just come back from two weeks of holiday in september.. car had been from midlands to devon and back again.. plenty of driving around various places.... motorway and duel carriageway miles.

Flash map was added in late june.
Car was serviced/mot'd in late july.
everything checked - including oil levels, first week of september and all good.

took the car to dealer it came from (as per my first post, they've done EVERY bit of work on this car and sold it three times lol) and they asked immediately... is it mapped?... well yes....


They took it in and stripped the fuel system down to find debris/swarf in the fuel filter... and said the fuel pump was breaking down.. car needs pump/rail/injectors replacing and map removing.

The cost for it all is pretty serious as you can imagine! So before this, they said they'd restore the car to as built, drain the fuel system and replace the filter, then replace the oil and filter and do a forced regen on it to cover all bases. - I'd actually asked them several times if they thought it could have been a DPF problem.. or maybe the vaporiser - to which they said 'no.. it would throw an engine light on'

At this point, I must mention that the car hasn't thrown a single engine light on, gone into limp mode, or had an error code shown relating to this on my hand held scanner or forscan.

 

[gbgaz]

Had the car back to run for a couple of weeks or so to monitor - they didn't want to go straight into a serious amount of work if it wasn't needed (fair enough I thought!) and after my first drive thought 'this is still mapped'

Returned it to them after a couple of weeks to check over - oil level was still rising!

Fuel system partially stripped down - they rang me to come take a look at the swarf in the filter.

Now it's not for me to say on here as to whether the map caused the fuel pump to break down, or as to whether it would have done it anyway.. who knows... it could all be coincidental!

either way, the fuel pump was knackered and looked to have caused injector damage and borewash. So new pump, injectors, fuel rail, filter, oil and filter.

The work was done - serious expense! Had 3 weeks without the car.... without a car at all - working 14 miles away from where I live with no bus route was a proper pain!

Got the car back and all seemed kind of ok....

Driving home from work boxing day night and the 'change oil now' light came on... FFS! Got home let the car stand for 20 minutes and pulled the dipstick by torchlight... yep - oil level risen!!

Seriously doing my head in now... didn't drive the car for a week after this...

Rang dealer on 27th and they basically said 'we cant remove it, contact the map company' (which I get tbf)
Rang map company on the 27th and closed until jan 3rd FFS AGAIN!

Anyway, emailed the map company and by 9.25 on 3rd jan there was a stock map in my inbox..which didn't work! I must add that for some reason, my stock map from June would not reload to the car for me -as to whether something had changed when the dealer returned to asbuilt I dont know! Anyway, the map company sent me a second map out which was apparently the latest available stock map for my car and it loaded... YAY!!! took the car up the road and it drove lovely!!!

Parked the car up then and headed off to work with a lift - wasn't driving it with all that fuel in the oil - I was off the next day and had this waiting!

 

[gbgaz]

That was the 4th Jan, and touch wood, so far so good!

Some more facts..

oil level is holding where it should 2 weeks on.
Car is driving so much nicer - smoother,on acceleration, smoother on lift off (no juddering)
Car drove/sounded like it was always doing a regen with map (growly!)... stop/start permanently deactivated

Now I know this is not definitive but....
On tickover with map when warm.....

On tickover without map when warm.....

I wonder if it was just overfuelling? Just keeping my fingers crossed now.. I'll let you know.....

 

[Radiator]

Sounds like your Vaporizer is semi or even fully blocked. There’s loads of Youtube videos about Fords with problematic Vaporizers. Mine started playing up a few months ago. Had it replaced, changed the oil and filter and it’s back to its normal regenning pattern.