Hi everyone. The oil pump in my girlfriend's 1.3 fiesta died on the motorway on Sunday and took the engine with it. Less than a minute from the oil light first flickering to sitting on the hard shoulder. The AA guy suspected the cam chain jumped a tooth and there has been some valve on piston contact. The engine will turn over but won't fire.

The plan is to strip it down and have a look at what the damage is but I'm tempted to just throw a new engine in as, even if I can get it running with a new oil pump and valves, there will always be the possibility that the oil starvation has damaged other components.

I believe it's the rocam engine - it's listed as 1297cc on ETIS, the plugs are on the back of the engine near the bulkhead and the oil filler is top-left as you look from the front of the vehicle. The Fiesta engines I can see advertised online are >£250 but KA engines are listed as low as £80. This engine (cam cover damage notwithstanding) from a 2005 KA could be tempting: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264196518167 but I'm not sure about compatibility.

So, a couple of questions:

1. Would you attempt to fix the existing engine (oil pump/valves as a minimum) or put in another engine for peace of mind?

2. How easy is a driveway engine change on a fiesta?

3. Will a KA engine be a straight plug-and-play swap?

 

Thanks.

 

Mike.

I had a chance to do some diagnosing over the weekend - it seems that the camshaft seized due to oil starvation and the camshaft sprocket retaining bolt failed as a result. Given that the transmission has to be removed in order to replace the oil pump, and given that the camshaft bearings are pretty chowdered, I don't really want to put any more effort into getting this engine running.  

So, that answers question 1. I could still do with some advice on questions 2 and 3 though, if anyone has any insight.

Bump. 

No-one has any experience doing an engine change? 

Seems not. You could try asking in the relevant section of www.talkford.com 

 

Heartbreaking i know,  but given the age and cost, i'd weigh it in and put the proceeds towards another car.