Posted 07 February 2012 - 07:58 PM
Those vans are diesel?
If so, my diesel escort estate does this, try warming the glow plugs up twice before starting it. I had my glow plugs tested at the garage and they're fine, warming them up twice when cold rather than the once does the trick (Even three times sometimes in the sub-zero temperatures we've had lately)
Also try about 200ml of 2-stroke mineral oil (not synthetic or semi-synthetic) in with every full tank of diesel, helps with cold starting amongst other things
A 99 escort is a mk6 (at least the cars are anyway), as for changing tyre sizes I doubt 165's would be a good fit on 185 wheels, lowering the profile from 80 to 60 I'm not sure would cause any problems though other than making the ride a bit harder, might also not look right without lowering the springs a bit