Water On Plugs And Leads (Mk2)

[MrGrumpy]

Hi folks, went to check the plugs today.. and when removing the leads I noticed they had Rusty water marks on them and after removing the plug its the same too :(

I thought it would of been the washer jets leaking but there are no signs of water marks anywhere else

can somebody shed some light and help me please :)

( i have bought new plugs and leads to put in)

[catch]

Hi folks, went to check the plugs today.. and when removing the leads I noticed they had Rusty water marks on them and after removing the plug its the same too :(

I thought it would of been the washer jets leaking but there are no signs of water marks anywhere else

can somebody shed some light and help me please :)

( i have bought new plugs and leads to put in)

Follow the top link in my sig for the fix, as this is a known fault with all early build Mk2 Foci.

It is not the washers that leak, it is rain water leaking past and between the washer gaskets and the bonnet. There are revised washer jets available which in reality are the same washer jets as the original, but with revised grommets. Pity you cannot buy the revised grommets, but you can't .

You did not need to to buy new plugs and leads, but you have them now. As the plugs are down for replacement every third service, they can have been sat in rust inducing water for three years. And on occasion they can shear off if brutish strength is used in an attempt to remove them.

But that is a worst case scenario, just better you are aware of that fact. If they are seized, soak the plug tops with WD40, but remove the WD40 from the plug wells before extracting the plugs.

[MrGrumpy]

MY leads didnt look like yours pal, it starts about half way down

[catch]

MY leads didnt look like yours pal, it starts about half way down

can somebody shed some light and help me please :)

Some actual pictures of the problem under discussion might help

[GavChap]

Sounds to me like the same as mine were, brown from halfway down, since changing the washer jets to the revised ones, it's been fine! The original washers didn't have a rubber gasket, the new ones do. Check down the spark plug holes for water, and if there is any, I'd get that soaked up asap using whatever absorbent stuff you can find, then change the washer jets, you may find that your plugs are rusted in though, luckily mine weren't.

[artscot79]

with the revisf jets smear clear silicone on the gasket where it meets the washer jet and where it contacts the bonnet if you dont the sun warps the gasket and you have the same problem

[MrGrumpy]

No pics, I have got new leads and plugs being delivered tomorrow, so when i get home from work I'll report back.

it was raining heavy last night and after reading the post linked above I checked under the bonnet and found no signs of water

[catch]

Unlike Mr Grumpy and GavChap, I and the rest of the board have not had sight of the the effects of the perceived problem.

OK , we have had these descriptions

"it starts about half way down"

"brown from halfway down"

Now both these descriptions are still not "definitive" as it could be equally interpreted as being..... brown upwards from halfway down or brown downwards from halfway down...

Whereas one photo would have remove any doubts as to what is being described.

All this effort and time wasted just in guessing what the plugs leads look like

Anyway whatever, all I will say is this. Changing the plugs and leads is a wasted and costly exercise, as it does nothing in regard to fixing the problem. The discolouration of the leads can be wiped off, either way it is only cosmetic and even left un cleaned does not effect the insulation properties of the leads.

Even though my two plug port wells had a third of a jam jars worth of water in each of them. The ignition sequence side of the combustion process was unaffected. The water ingress only came to light when the plugs [ having been replaced 12 months earlier by the selling Ford dealer ] were inspected by me at service interval.

Once I solved the water ingress problem [with new revised washer jets and a smearing of silicone grease ] I removed and inspected the four plugs [they were in perfect condition] cleaned the 5 year old original plug leads, that had been subjected to this water contamination, for those past five years. With it being an early build non rectified known design fault [ don't you just love these Ford Dealers stuffing you with £80 hourly rates whilst ignoring rectifying known faults]

Anyway here we are 21 months on from the fix, spark plugs now been in the engine 2 years 9 months. And the original plug leads subjected to 5 years of sitting in water, are now just 3 months short of being 7 years old, and never missed a beat the all the time I've owned the car.

Mr Grumpy, you have not indicated in your postings that you are having any problems with the ignition. So why on earth spend money replacing parts that are functioning satisfactorily ?

No need to answer mate, it was a rhetorical question, I'm just trying to make you see the logic of my argument. That replacing perfectly functioning parts with new parts, fixes Jack Sh@t

[MrGrumpy]

Had trouble uploading pics, no water in ports. all changed now.. thanks to those who helped

[MrGrumpy]

Ok managed to get a pic up, not sure why it wouldnt work before.

There was only signs on lead 1 and 2 and the same with the plugs

[MrGrumpy]

Mr Grumpy, you have not indicated in your postings that you are having any problems with the ignition. So why on earth spend money replacing parts that are functioning satisfactorily ?

No need to answer mate, it was a rhetorical question, I'm just trying to make you see the logic of my argument. That replacing perfectly functioning parts with new parts, fixes Jack Sh@t

no problems with ignition really, but I had a EM light on and wehn i plugged in my code reader it gave me a code directing me towards the coilpack.. seeing as i noticed the marks on the leads and plugs I thought I would just change them (not knowing when they were last changed anyway) sorry to be such a pain in the !Removed! and messing people around wasting your's and their time.

[artscot79]

unfortunately ford admit theres a design issue with the washer jets yet charge the owner to replace them this water that gets into the ports can also damage the plugs and leads but also the coil pack i believe the effected cars should have all these parts replaced by ford as the issue must have been known long ago if the coil pack isnt needing changed as well youve been lucky