[AlanD]

Hi all,

I can't make any comment about the Focus, but I can, hopefuilly throw some light on the question based on experience with a 2008 bulid Mondeo. I'd expect that the module providing the instrumentation readouts are similar, if not identical.

Firstly, the data is available because the Engine Management System is calculating the quantity of fuel to inject for the current conditions - from that point it is a simple calculation to get a l/100km figure, but whether or not the software to do this is loaded is moot, because it depends on which software version your vehicle is equipped with.

Secondly, in our case the car was delivered without it, but some research on an English (European?) forum suggested that a later version of the software provided this data and then even later versions removed it. One guy in the UK had five different versions of the software across a 24 month period! At each "upgrade" features appeared and disappeared, the instantaneous readout was one of them. I'm guessing that this might be due to a limited size permanent memory array in the module - put something new in, something old has to go.

To find out if it "ought" to be present, you would need to track down the version(s) of the software that provides this readout, then discover if your car has the same version or not.

One of the things I have discovered is that Ford Service Centres and FoA have (had?) limited knowledge about the software that imported Fords have. This is because they told us that no Mondeo had ever had this readout provided and it could not be made available. Yet here we are with a car that does! (See later) What is worse they often "upgrade" a car to a later version of the software without letting the owner know that they have unless you read the work order carefully. Sometimes this causes changes in the way the car "works".

Again, in our case, attempts to obtain this readout caused the loss of the average readout as well, because the module where the software was loaded was damaged, either from day 1 or during the attempt to upgrade the software. Either way that service centre has not seen the car since. At the 15.000 service at our usual dealer, and after telling them the story, a replacement module was fitted and the instantaneous readout appeared along with some other mising features such as "Anti hi-jack locking". After the change the cruise control worked differently as well.

From here on in, I will be telling our service centre that software "upgrades" on our car can only be done if I am informed about the need for them and the changes that will follow.

Cheers