Is it too late for a change?

[Bailes1992]

Bailes,

Off topic I know but, how do you find the st220 on fuel just urban & knocking around
Not on a run.
I've heard that they can be as bad as 17mpg urban, 24mpg mixed & 34mpg on a run.
I ask as I might have to give up the 535d & I've seen a ST220 estate in very good condition near me
& it's in my price range.

My Wife is back daily-driving the '220. If I put £90 of Shells finest in it, it's gone in 200miles.

Her trip computer reading is always ~21mpg. I remember my Fathers ST220 years ago when he was mainly doing motorway journeys showing ~26mpg.

Good news is ST220's are flying up in value. I'd quite happily put mine up for £2500-£3000 and I expect it would sell. I only paid £1000 for it last year!

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Thanks for the reply,

Yeah, the one I've been offered is a good one, f.f.s.h ten stamps
Very nice condition, not the usual battered heap, two private owners from new
06 with 86k.

But the fuel, I put £75 a time in the 535 & get 450 min just knocking around
Going up to 550 to 600 on a good motorway run.

The tax group is the same, so it's just maintenance cost's that I'd be saving.

I might have to put some very dark shades on & go look at another 407 sw 2.2 Hdi XSsport or GT
Much cheeper to maintain, £205 a year tax, about the same as the 535d on fuel, 170bhp stock or 210ish mapped.
I can't find a nice mondeo 3 2.2hdi, their all high millage nails.

Thanks for your time,
Take care.

[Welly]

DDD - the 535 is too much maintenance? what else needs doing? I'd imagine you being pretty good at keeping up with all the usual stuff.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

DDD - the 535 is too much maintenance? what else needs doing? I'd imagine you being pretty good at keeping up with all the usual stuff.

Welters old boy, nah not too much maintenance BUT it's bleading me dry.
The part's cost's

Now don't get me wrong, I did do my homework (but not enough as it would transpire )
But seriously, some of the part's are eye wateringly expensive.
I do love it, probably too much ( my fault for having a test drive ) cue a big

But now the gearbox is throwing issue's (a common problem on higher millage 535ds)
It's north of £2.5k just for the rebuild.
As a comparison, the Mondeo was offered to me for £2k & I can get £3k for the 535 for spares or repairs.

But I had a great tussle with a Focus ST250 on the way home from work

I think I'm gonna get the box re-built, the power the 535d has
Oh yeah baby.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Balies,

I think your man maths needs recalibrating

The mk3 Mondeo has a 58.5 L tank capacity

Now at 55 litre fill up of 'Shells finest' would mean your paying £1.64 per litre

V power round my way is £1.20

Even if you squeezed 60 litres in, I make it £72

& 200 miles to a tank, 58.5 litres = 12.8 uk gallons giving you 15.625mpg

I said I'd heard 17mpg round town

My work colleague has a Jaguar S-type R & he get's 22mpg from that

[Bailes1992]

I usually get ~45 litres in once the fuel light comes on. So that's 10 gallons near as damn it. 200miles works out ~20mpg.

I assume your 35d has a ZF 6HP? They're pretty reliable boxes. I'd be tempted to do a handful of drain & fills with an additive like Lubegaurd Red. I've 'fixed' a few gearboxes with issues using such measures now.

Our Saab 95 that we had at the start of the year was occasionally missing 2nd or slipping for a second after a change and I did 5 drain and fills with Comma MVATF, the first I added 10oz Seafoam Hydratrans and the last I added Lubegaurd Red and by the end of my maintenance it was functioning perfect.

[Welly]

Bailes's 'magic gearbox potions' has got to be worth a go? you do hear about so many slushmatics being fixed with better fluid.

Our local corner shop keeper used to have a 535d I think in 2008 when it was quite new, he said on the motorway it was stonking and silly numbers would come up on the speedo before you knew it.

535 is a 6-cylinder Twin-Turbo? if I recall. The 530d is single turbo.

Apart from the swirl flaps and turbo failures in the early days and some weird breather filter right at the back of the rocker cover? I guess the 2005+ cars are ok generally?

[Bailes1992]

From what I read over on Bob Is The Oil Guy, LG Red containers lots of esters which are great for cleaning up varnish and sludge which can effect how the valve body works. Certainly has worked for me in the past!

https://www.lubegard.com/products/red/

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Bailes's 'magic gearbox potions' has got to be worth a go? you do hear about so many slushmatics being fixed with better fluid.

Our local corner shop keeper used to have a 535d I think in 2008 when it was quite new, he said on the motorway it was stonking and silly numbers would come up on the speedo before you knew it.

535 is a 6-cylinder Twin-Turbo? if I recall. The 530d is single turbo.

Apart from the swirl flaps and turbo failures in the early days and some weird breather filter right at the back of the rocker cover? I guess the 2005+ cars are ok generally?

Yeah, mines a twin turbo 3.0 straight six 286 bhp stock, the engine is addictive but not so much the gearbox
I've had it 'serviced once' @ a cost of over £500 & this is my point read up on this the correct oil zf lifeguard 6 is over £20 a litre & the box takes over 9 litres, 12+ to do a flush & do it five or so time's, not a simple,/small job & another £600 up in smoke to 'try it' see where I'm coming from. Oh & that's me doing all the 'services myself not paying someone to do it @ £500 a go.
Just to find that all this hasn't worked & the hardware, clutch Pack's ect are worn out & need replacing @ a cost of over £2.5k.
You start to understand why you see so many,100k plus car's with this gearbox being broken.

I'm a bit like Duke, I need a reliable, soild, powerful estate to tow our van.
Any suggestions under 3k? That aren't going to cost me the purchase price in the first year

[Bailes1992]

You don't need the genuine fluid. Honestly, most universal automatic transmission fluids work just fine.

If you've changed the oil and filters once, a drain and fill should be an easy process. Easily doable on your drive.

Infact, I think ZF actually put the service procedure on their website....

https://aftermarket.zf.com/go/en/afterm ... il-change/

You can pick up Comma MVATF for £20 for 5 litres. Which means you could do a change, add some Lubegard red for less than £100. It's got to be worth a shot, surley'?