24 replies to this topic

[mintalkin]

the rattle on the manifold could be the swirl plates these have a habit of dissapearing into the engine.

[slim daz]

Hi just a quick update, so Ive sourced a fuel rail and inhectors, and a second hand inlet manifold, changed them over and it still doesnt feel right. Basically ive come to the conclusion that the problem occurs once in gear. you release the clutch and it struggles. It ticks over normally and and revs normally up until the car is in gear. Any ideas on that?? My only theory is compression.

[stooge75]

Mate sorry to ask the obvious but have you had a diagnostics done?

[ppeter7]

any slack in cable??

[FOCA]

Hi just a quick update, so Ive sourced a fuel rail and inhectors, and a second hand inlet manifold, changed them over and it still doesnt feel right. Basically ive come to the conclusion that the problem occurs once in gear. you release the clutch and it struggles. It ticks over normally and and revs normally up until the car is in gear. Any ideas on that?? My only theory is compression.

Lack of power/ torque - engine will rev happily all day with no load but then ask it to pull the weight of the car./ go uphill..

The car runs on a smart charge system and requires a silver calcium battery, if a regular battery is fitted it can cause all sorts of problems, including causing engine sensors to give incorrect vaues which can lead to poor running

The inlet manifold had butterflies in it, which had small plastic parts that broke up and fell into the engine, later cars had these removed or it may have been "retrofitted" - worth checking

I think this model may have had a DMF (dual mass flywheel) (even more un-nessesary on a petrol engine), this is fine when its new, but when it wears it causes increased vibration which can upset the crank sensor, causing poor/ rough running

The spark plugs may have come with too wide a gap - this can put the ht leads/ coil packs/ ignition system under stress/ cause missing - try "gapping them down" - they need a gap, and must not touch, of course

The clutch has a switch on it, on some models the ECU retards the ignition/ reduces power when you put your clutch pedal down/ change gear, this is supposed to give you a smoother change, it also stops you "slipping" the clutch/ slows the gearchanges/ car down, this can be disabled in a remap, i have bypassed mine

The EGR valve can be a source of problems on these cars, unlike a diesel this may be nessesary on an MOT for a petrol (i know some petrol owners have blanked/ disabled theirs)

The breathers/ PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve can give problems, the rubber gets eaten away "melted" by the oil, (a solvent to rubber) over time. (or the PCV valve gets choked with oil/ gunge) If the breathers are leaking it can draw air which bypasses the throttle body/ MAF sensor, causing lean/ poor running

Other problems may be expensive to fix..

[slim daz]

Hi Guys, thanks for all the replies and help. I had the car in the garage yesterday which had a diagnoostic test, and road test etc. It came back with a baffled mechanic, basically it had no faults, then the clutch sensor came up, then when cleared didnt come back. The clutch switch was checked and operating correctly. The fuel pressure and injectors were all running fine. The plugs were cleaned and re gapped, coil pack and ht leads were fine and compression was normal.
Thanks FOCA, I didnt realise that my battery might be the fault, it is what looks to be a cheap battery so that might be the fault. I will contact ford on monday and get a price.
The other things Im looking at are EGR valve, clutch switch sensor and the cat (whether its collapsed).
My garage are going to blank the egr valve of I hope, they said it might not sit flush on head and therefore may seap water, anyone heard of that?

[FOCA]

OOps - just noticed its a Mk2 youve got, in your profile (but a mk3 in the post title) i don't know if i mk2 has a smart charge system (so a silver calcium battery may no t be required) or if yours is fitted with a DMF etc - so you will need to check 1st

The good news is the EGR can be blanked ok on mk2s, (according to someone i know on another forum)

Many of those potential faults should have shown up on a diagnostic test - modern mechanics/ technicians rely heavily on OBD11 readers, (lets not go there! )

Good luck and hope you get it sorted - let us know how you get on

[Kevinlfc17]

Hi I had the same problem as you changed all the normall stuff it turned out I had two bent valves number 2&3 just check the manifold not been changed that is a sigh so some one can sell the car quick hope u resolve your problem soon and it's not the valves

[slim daz]

Hi everyone, just a quick update the car was back in the garage today as the engine management light came on over the weekend. It came back with 2 faults
1) the egr valve
2) the knock sensor. So I will be looking into replacing them, and whilst am in engine bay removing the swirl plates from my replacement manifold (which I took of a low mileage 2005 05 plate and it still rattles).
And FOCA, Im not to sure on what was the mk3, I am led to believe that mine was indeed a mk3 as it is a 2000 to 2007 model. I questioned my garage about what you had said with regards to the battery and they checked and came back with it being the totally wrong battery, so ill need to change that.
Hope these will sort my fault out, thanks guys.

[slim daz]

Ah my bad FOCA, I have just realised what you said, need to update my profile, my mondeo zetec s was a mk2 and failed the mot with what could only be described as very little metal supporting the underneath. So yes I changed to a mk3 only the other week.