7 replies to this topic

[dontknow17]

Hi everyone,

Im looking at buying a mk3 1.3 fiesta, extremely cheap, the seller has no mechanical knowledge or experience atall and its an MOT failure. i can fix everything except the running problem....

its rough on idle and is misfiring and running extremely rough under load. spark is strong, fueling seems ok and i dont think the jets are blocked....its carbed so fairly straight forward in that respect. the engine has 101k on it but has only been driven by old ladies and the seller (50 year old man driving the daily commute of 10 miles each way) so i wouldnt think it has been hammered.

another post with a similar problem on a mk4 1.25 suggested that its a dirty Mass Air Flow sensor.... is this a fault with the carbed fiestas aswell as the injected?

please help???

Thanks
Elliott

[james_60]

Hi

Firstly what year is your fiesta.

Second when was it last serviced.

Third what colour is the oil.

When was it given a good run up a dual carriageway

Jamie

[dontknow17]

Hi

Firstly what year is your fiesta.

Second when was it last serviced.

Third what colour is the oil.

When was it given a good run up a dual carriageway

Jamie

its a 1994 M reg. it was last driven 2 weeks ago by me on a test drive but it was really rough, i had to floor it to get to 30mph. maybe its because im used to bigger engined cars but it felt gutless and very rough. i havent checked the oil colour although im assured the headgasket hasnt gone....its my mates old man whos selling it so hes been upfront with me about it.

Elliott

[james_60]

Hello Elliot

You should not need to floor it to get to 30mph.

It sounds like it could be an ignition problem or a fuel starvation issue.

Firstly lets start with the basics.

Do you have any mechanical knowledge if so :-

Fill the appertures around the spark plugs with wd40 overnight and see if you can loosen and remove the spark plugs.

If you feel they are so tight you cannot undo them do not proceed as they may snap and that will be a head off job.

Remove the air filter and check its condition it could be clogged and costs less than £5 on ebay.

Find out if it is fitted with a fuel filter. Change that if it has one.

Does the car rev freely at a standstill.

If you have acess to a jack, Jack each corner of the car up safely and check that all four wheels rotate freely. If not then the brakes could be binding.

Hope these tips helps

Jamie

[jay1981]

Right, first I'll start off by saying your car does not have a Mass Air Flow sensor or a carb as its single point injection. Check the easy things to start off with, plugs, leads and coil pack.

The fuel filter is located near the fuel tank I think, a metal cylinder with quick release fittings at each end.

Check the throttle cable adjustment to make sure your actually getting full throttle.

Could be the Catalytic Converter playing up. Do you get any rattling from the exhaust?

As its an HCS engine with 101k could be a good idea to do a compression test

[lisajo]

Hi, I had a problem similar with my MK4 1.3i fiesta, a mobile mechanic came to look at something unrelated and caused the problem by helpfully changing one of the pipes that comes off the oil filler cap. He changed the pipe because he said it was blocked, not knowing that the pipe is supposed to have a restrictor in it.

Caused the car to idle terribly and try and cut out, and it sounded like a tractor when driven. New pipe with restrictor solved the problem.

[dan1990]

have you checked all the plugs and leads to see if they are fireing if not its coil pack

give it a good run fill the tank and use some redx

make sure all pipes are free and are not blocked

[puketylukey1234]

i have a mk3 fiesta pushrod engine, the other day when i started it it sounded awful and ran very bad, it was badly misfiring and only runing on 3 cylinders, i had the problem fixed, turned out to be a set of faulty leads, and we cleaned that spark to, and jumps when its still idle, i have been told now its a coil pack that you need, this hopefully will save the car, when i used to drive along it used to jump and jerk and felt like i was breaking down, hopefully this helps you