Stuzo237 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hi everyone I am having a slight or maybe a major problem with my Ford Fiesta zetec 1.2 16v 2002 car. Here goes I was driving home and as I was going up a slight hill my car started to lose power and I knew at that point something is wrong so after making it over the slight hill my car started to smell like rotten eggs I looked at temp it was all ok but I did notice there was a orange engine light was blinking then as I was almost home the engine light was on solid and my car started to judder along with this smell, so I parked up near my street and checked the oil, water, even checked for the smell and couldn't smell anything only when I was in the car and it was coming from the air vents. So if anyone has any ideas what this could be please let me know many thanks stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef123 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 The smell and engine light are most likely due to the car misfiring - could be an issue with plug, leads or the coil. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hi and thanks for your reply so it would be a good idea to get spark plugs and see if that works and if not then it's the leads or coil. That's funny that I got a service pack about 6 months ago changed the oil filter and put new oil into the car unfortunelty the fuel filter wasn't the right size for my fiesta even though I gave the supplier my reg. and as for the spark plugs I put them all in and my car was misfiring along with the smell and really lose of power so I put the original sparks plugs back in and it was good as new so as I've had these orginal spark plugs for a very long time I think I'm needing new ones hence the reason for my car acting the way it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef123 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Some cars are funny with certain plugs - don't ask me how or why but I've come across it a few times now. The last time being a couple of weeks ago in a fiesta where it wouldn't accept Bosch plugs but NGK were fine! What make were the plugs that caused the misfire? I would go with genuine ford plugs or NGK - nothing fancy just go for regular single electrode. Plugs are cheapest place to start Reading the codes produced by the ecu would be handy but they will probably point to emmisions or misfire so nothing that you don't already know to be honest. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB2004 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Best to always use genuine plugs. On the fords genuine or ngk works but on the PSA cars ngk is bad for the engine and it's usually Bosch or genuine that are recommended lol but Bosch don't work so well on the Zetec engines. So genuine is only safe bet. Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 The Original ones when I bought the car are ngk and car was going great so 6 months ago I got service pack for car and I had got Bosch ones and when I put these in my car it was misfiring and smelt like a rotten egg so put back the ngk old ones back in and everything was ok and as 6 months went on I think it's time for new ngk spark plugs as the Bosch ones do not agree with my car somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thanks guys for your ideas ,help and quick response going to get new set of ngk plugs tomoz fit them and let you know how I got on, fingers crossed that it's only sparkys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodkat Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 No problems with clutch operation? They reek if they are burning... Just a thought. Sent from my Gen 1 WAP phone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I just had my clutch replaced a week ago as my previous clutch went, so bought brand new clutch and had garage fit it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillyallan Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I thought eggy smell was cat normally. Just throwing this in there. Orange engine and flashing being limp home mode. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodkat Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Has the clutch been checked over and in need of adjustment? My old boss neglected to have a follow up check from clutch place with a mk2 mondeo and the damn thing failed again Sent from my Gen 1 WAP phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef123 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 it will have a hydraulic clutch so no adjustment neccesary. An eggy smell from exhaust/cat on a car not burning fuel properly isn't unreasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard150 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 for me it the cat that's had it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Well wat ever it is I don't have a clue got 4 new ngk spark plugs today and fitted them in and the car was still doing the same minus the smell so took spark plugs back out and tapped them abit lower all same size fitted them back and all was fine car was good no spitting from the exhaust no juddering And no smell only thing the engine light was still on, so took it for a drive for a bit and on way back home after driving around for 45 mins I sat at idle on my street and there it was back again exhaust spitting, juddering started to come back like the car was wanting to move its self , also at one point it was like my car was away to stall and shut down even though it wasn't in gear but there's a lot of rumbling vibration on gear stick and I feel it on my feet. I checked leads they all look good now I'm lost , any ideas would be appreciated also thanks for your comments guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I should of said but there was a bracket broke at mid front of the car for the exhaust but had this fixed from garage a week ago, you don't think that has anything to do with it do you ,also when my car is going fast it seems fine and when I say fast I mean at 30 mph anything under that , the juddering starts like going to stall and rumbling vibrations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodkat Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Sorry forgot about the hydraulic nature of the clutch... Have you had the codes read? It is pointing towards the cat... Exhausts do spit, water is one of the byproducts of engine combustion. I had a hateful Vectra once that kept filling the exhaust with water, had to be drilled to drain it more than once. TL/DR get codes read. Establish why is the warning light coming on. I would guess lambda sensor reading out of acceptable levels, cat probably shot. Sent from my Gen 1 WAP phone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'm going to get that checked going to take it to garage on Monday as the garage said it should be fine to drive about with what I have described to him but he said not to go really far jus incase.but going to avoid driving until I have too and that's to take it down on Monday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillyallan Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Is it running on all cylinders? It's sounding rough like it's missing one. Might be the coil for that cylinder. Maybe even intermittent since it worked for a bit. Though I think when it goes it goes. If it is anything like that then it'll go to limp home mode and only allow it at so many rpm...light flashes if you try to go above that. I'm not a mechanic but other than egg smell the roughness and power drop from limp home sounds like what happened to my old zafira when coil went (twice) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef123 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 A smaller plug gap will require less energy than a larger one, sounds like it could be a dodgy coil pack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 What do you make of this people the eggy smell has gone totally and when I replaced the 4 old spark plugs to the 4 new ngk spark plugs it didn't do any difference so here's what happened I took the new spark plugs out and tapped them a bit lower the 4 of them all same in size , put them back in and my car was back to normal except the engine light was still on that's the only thing so went for a drive and all was good then come back sat idle for 5 mins just to make sure the juddering and spitting noise from exhaust was all gone and boom it started up again so took spark plugs back out again tapped them some more put them back in and made it a lot worse more jittery and spitting noise from exhaust so last time I was doing this ,took the spark plugs back out opened them up just a tiny bit put them back in and now my car is back to normal and all is fine but for how long I mean will this come back or do you think all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef123 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Making the plug gap too small is just as bad as making it too large - it will affect performance and cause it not to run properly. you need feeler blades to accurately gap spark plugs otherwise you are totally guessing. Personally I think you will need a new coil pack and the juddering/misfiring will return shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 I thought when these ngk spark plugs and coz I gave the supplier my reg they would jus go in as they are, so I have to buy feeler blades ? And how will I know what I set the spark plugs at for Ford Fiesta zetec 1.2 16v 2002 I mean is there a number I have to set them at ? New to all this sorry learning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef123 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Ford changed the plug gap from 1.3mm to 1.0mm on some engines i'm lead to believe. But certain makes of plugs still come at 1.3mm, where as other come at 1.0mm For the simple fact you have made the plug gap smaller and its making it run better, then i would hazard a guess you have done something close to what I have just written. Then you tried it again, making it too small which has an adverse affect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuzo237 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Ah I see well looks like I'm buying that spark plug feeler and get them all the right size and hopefully it works better I'll keep you posted how I get on with this thanks for the comments , tips, advice and help ,well appreciated . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Ford UK Shop
Sponsored Ad
Name: eBay
Ford Model: FordUK Shop
Ford Year: 2024
Latest Deals
Ford UK Shop for genuine Ford parts & accessoriesDisclaimer: As the club is an eBay Partner, The club may be compensated if you make a purchase via the club
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.