Ford Problems

All the information I can find on this car suggests that the towing limit (with a braked trailer) is 1600kg, not 2000kg as suggested by your source. At which point, you'd need to be pretty careful you didn't inadvertently overload the car by adding a toolbox or other gear to the trailer.

The Mondeo is not really the ideal vehicle for towing heavy loads as it's front-drive layout means it doesn't have the traction a rear-drive car does when towing. A slippery boat ramp, for instance, might pose no problem for a rear-drive car, while forcing a front-drive car trying to haul a boat out of the water to struggle with wheelspin.

That said, the turbo-diesel engine in the Mondeo is a strong, torquey thing, so provided you don't stray on to slippery or loose surfaces, the Mondeo should be able to do the job. Again, though, your 1500kg projected load is almost at the car's legal limit.

It's not just transmissions that cop a hiding when towing, either. Just about everything on the car from the brakes to the cooling system will wear faster when subjected to the extra strain of towing a big load.

The recommended Ford Ranger engine oil depends on the engine fitted to your particular example. Since the popular PX Ranger (2011 to 2022) used four different engines over its time on sale, this is an important piece of the puzzle. So here’s how it pans out:

The Best Ford Ranger oil type for the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine is a 5W30 fully synthetic. The 3.2-litre turbo-diesel also uses the same grade and specification of oil. The sophisticated two-litre twin-turbo diesel requires 0W30 fully synthetic oil which is quite a light oil but is designed to lubricate those turbochargers immediately on start-up. Meantime, the 2.5-litre petrol engine (which is quite rare to find and only sold for a few years) requires either a 5W20 or a 0W20 (depending on which oil manufacturer you ask).

In the Ranger’s case, changing the oil at home is not difficult provided you’re not dealing with the five-cylinder 3.2-litre turbo-diesel. We’ll get to that one in a moment. In the case of the other engines, it becomes a case of warming the engine, removing the drain plug and letting the old oil out. While it’s draining, fit the replacement oil filter, replace the drain plug and refill the engine with the fresh oil. Once you’ve checked the level and it’s good, you’re on your way again.

The exception to all this is the 3.2-litre engine which has a sophisticated oil pump that allows it to save a bit of fuel, but also imposes a ten-minute limit on how long you can leave the sump-plug out and the engine empty of oil. Because of the way the pump is designed, an empty sump will cause the pump to not prime itself when you refill the oil and start the engine. And that can destroy the engine. So, the oil filter needs to be changed separately and the oil drained and refilled inside that ten-minute window. Simply google `how to change oil on a Ford Ranger’ and you might not be given this vital piece of info. Beyond that, the job is still a DIY one, but you have to be aware of that time limit.

Oil changes are part of any vehicle’s regular maintenance and the specifications of the oil required and the service interval (how often to change oil) are set by the vehicle’s manufacturer. If this job isn’t for you, pretty much any mechanic at any service centre of any size will be able to handle it quickly and efficiently as well as dispose of the old oil and filter for you.

Ford Focus Bluetooth wasn’t a reality until the new model that arrived in 2011. But at the point, it was standard on every trim level (including voice command) and was many people’s first taste of the tech. Prompting a lot of online questions along the lines of how to connect Bluetooth to Ford Focus?’ It’s actually pretty easy. That said, the best of these earlier systems used Ford’s SYNC tech which was introduced on Focuses built from August 2012 onwards.

Bluetooth Ford Focus pairing starts with switching on the Bluetooth on your phone and making the device discoverable. Then press the Phone button on the car’s menu system and follow the prompt to Add A Device. You should then be able to select SYNC from your phone’s list of available devices, enter the security code displayed on the car’s screen and your Ford Focus Bluetooth pairing is done.

From there, you can make and receive calls, view text messages and stream music, all via the voice command system.

Oil manufacturers recommend a 10W-50 semi-synthetic oil for this engine. But not just any 10W-50. Crucially, the oil needs to be formulated specifically for LPG engines which have different combustion by-products and, therefore, require a different additive package in their oil compared with a car running on petrol or diesel.

Your car has covered quite a distance, but modern metallurgy and engine design suggests that 330,000km is not too many kilometres these days, and the engine could have plenty left to give. If it's starting to use a little oil between services, you could consider going to a slightly thicker grade of oil to compensate, but make sure it's still specifically formulated for an engine running on LPG.

This sounds very much like a fuelling problem. Since a diesel engine has no ignition system (beyond its own compression) any fall off in performance can often be traced back to the fuel system.

The best bet is to take the vehicle to a diesel specialist that knows this make and model and will have either seen this exact set of symptoms before or will be able to make a logical diagnosis rather than just changing random parts that may or may not be the cause of the problem. Things that are likely causes, however, are the fuel filtering system, fuel pump and injectors. But don’t rule out something simple like a bad batch of fuel that is playing havoc with the entire system.

The piece of the puzzle you've left out here is whether your Courier has a petrol or diesel engine. If it's the former, you could simply be looking at a worn out engine. These four-cylinders worked pretty hard and once they become worn, they start to blow smoke and lose power. That said, it could be something as simple as a blocked air filter element or a slack fuel pump.

If the vehicle has a diesel engine, there's a chance the intake system is choked up with black soot and oil fumes which eventually narrow the engine's breathing passages like cholesterol blocks a person's blood vessels. Suddenly, the air can't get into the engine properly and the engine loses power as a result. Again, though, it could be something completely different and apparently random such as the turbocharger's plumbing having fallen off, leaving the engine with no boost.

A word of warning, though, about driving a diesel Courier flat out everywhere. These engines were under-cooled and are notorious for overheating. Driving it with the throttle pedal on the floor is asking for problems.

Luckily, your car is in the clear, and the LW Model Focus was the one with the hugely problematic dual-clutch transmission. In fact, these gearboxes were more or less ticking time bombs and more than half of them suffered – sometimes multiple – failures requiring replacement units. Ford was taken to task by the ACCC over its handling of the whole thing and was forced to quickly revise the Fiesta, Ecosport and Focus ranges. Which is why your car, the LZ model, has a turbocharged 1.5-litre engine and a conventional automatic transmission which is not only a better thing to drive, but also vastly less likely to fail prematurely and expensively.

Ford made the switch to the LZ model in 2015, largely as a response to the fearful reputation for transmission failures the LW model had gained. Our advice to anybody shopping for a Ford Focus (or Fiesta or Ecosport) is to absolutely avoid any example with the dual-clutch gearbox. Its demise will be a question of when, not if.

Ford’s popular PX Ranger (sold from 2011 to its replacement in 2022) marked a distinct move away from timing belt technology to drive the engine's inlet and exhaust cam. So, regardless of what engine your PX Ranger has fitted to it, the Ford Ranger timing belt or chain question is answered with a simple response: It’s a timing chain.

That means the timing chain should be good for the life of the vehicle and will not require replacement at regular intervals, unlike engines with a rubber drive belt belt, provided oil changes and other maintenance has been carried out properly. This gets around the rubber drive belt problems of periodical replacement and the associated cost.

This advice covers every PX Ranger engine, including the 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel, the 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel, the two-litre twin-turbo diesel and even the short-lived (2011 to 2015) 2.5-litre petrol engine.