Got a tidy green 2006 mk5 Ghia 1.6 petrol which drove great, is immaculate inside, with FSH and full MOT. Two days later it spilled coolant on the drive to work. I'd already noticed it starting to wobble at idle and feared the worst. A leak detector confirmed I am occasionally correct, so I've currently got the head on the kitchen table. It's perfectly flat, so not overheated. Got my valve clamp ready and in the rebuild kit I have valve seals - half green, half brown. Can anyone please confirm which are inlet and which are exhaust?

The Elring kit part no is 569.871 - currently looking through their documents too.

It seems I'm cursed - my second owned car, a 2000 Clio 8v developed a leak which I diagnosed from the change in the level of coolant when releasing a bit of pressure; my last car before this had a blown gasket, though you wouldn't have known with it being a non-turbo 1.9d Peugeot, it didn't give up much at first, but topping up the coolant constantly and eventually noticing the cloud of steam behind gave it away. So I've got most of the kit and a bit of experience at least.

Looks like brown are fluoride rubber and green are polyacryl rubber, the latter has higher temperature tolerances so, I'm assuming green for exhaust and brown for inlet?

Edit: went to the vendor's site and found that green are intake and brown are exhaust. Didn't have that detail for the kit but, did for the valve seals if bought separately.

Thought since I'd posted already, I'll put in a few pics of the little project so far

Where. Would I be best listing 1.4 ghia 2004 block have ecu kit and gear box but don't do social media

Just now, Dean854 said:

Where. Would I be best listing 1.4 ghia 2004 block have ecu kit and gear box but don't do social media

All running no auxillarys

 

On here:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/forum/15-ford-parts-for-sale/

Or perhaps on Gumtree.

I know this is a tangent to the specific subject of the thread however, an update:

Got it back together by Sunday evening, tried to start it and it refused. After a conversation with my wife I realised I needed to find the coil pack plug I'd lost somewhere, it happened to be tucked under the coolant hose housing with the temp sensor, I think I was rushing things; so got it out and plugged in then got P0351, P0352 codes which pointed to spark plugs, leads, wiring loom, coil pack or PCM. Replaced with the old plugs this evening and it fired up immediately. This is a Duratec 1.6, 16v which many suppliers recommend NGK TR5B-13 plugs which I'd first fitted gapped to 1.15mm to preserve the coil pack but, the plugs I put back in were TR5A-10. Please correct me if I'm wrong, the A & B indicate potentially different insulators/gasket types between the plugs, so I'm assuming this might be a crossover model where an older coil pack is used however, I noticed the MK7 1.6 also uses the same coil pack so a little confused however, it's running again now.

Another thing I learnt, for those who might be interested: the use of anti-sieze compounds on NGK plugs is bad because they're plated for that purpose and the lubrication interferes with the correct torque. It's probably the same for all modern petrol engines, so don't use coper grease on spark plugs unless specified.

I reused the themorstat housing which has seen better days and didn't get a good seal, so still work to do with another replacement, though I've also ordered a stretch belt tool so hope to reuse my new belts as, at least the alternator needs removed to get to the thermostat.

Any tips on testing the injector seals are functioning correctly? I was just going to run it for a few minutes then quickly remove the air box to check for any leaks.

13 minutes ago, MAH310583 said:

It's probably the same for all modern petrol engines, so don't use coper grease on spark plugs unless specified.

What about the modern diesel engines ? 😉

On 4/29/2025 at 9:06 PM, unofix said:

What about the modern diesel engines ? 😉

If ya glow like Donald I wouldn't put any more copper grease on, just explode with the correct compression (incorrect tariffs) and you'll be fine until global warming isn't hot enough, the electricity is cut off, a code is logged and you need to replace a glow plug to put the warning light out. Though on a more practical thought, glow plugs are more likely to need anti-sieze compound with the length of time they last and with the rather old diesel engines I've dealt with the accessibility almost prescribes it.

Just going by an NGK notice for their spark plugs. It reminds me of some weird 90s show, might even be Pie in the Sky or something like that where, there was a question around injectors on a diesel Landrover and they didn't know what it was about. Must have been about 16 YO and can't remember the full context so unable to help any more than that but, good poke!

Got a stretch belt tool, new thermostat and housing, coolant and oil. Ready to get the little Fi on the road this weekend so don't have to rely on the unreliable, expensive bus services. My back hurts, I have pins and needles in my hands. Hopefully I can confirm the head leak test passes this weekend and draw a line under an eventful few weeks of hard work. Got a new fan resistor to fit too, only works on 3&4 ATM.

Great account and update 👍

Thanks @nicam49 I've got another update: took injectors off, removed thottle body, stretch belts off, removed the alternator and replaced the thermostat housing. All put back in reverse however, I have one 10mm bolt left over - not only did I lose a 15mm socket, but gained a bolt. Is this some weird magic!? Spent 20 minutes checking the intake manifold, it has five bolts securing it, no holes. I'm stumpted because it was on the scuttle panel where I put all the bolts I removed so had to come from somewhere. Does anyone have any idea of any components that require the same bolt as the intake and needs to be removed to get to the thermostat?

Anyway, leak repaired. There was quite a bit of smoke from the exhaust manifold after a few minutes, I think that's just the copious amounts of penetrating fluid I used, but stopped the engine at that point, might have to wash it down first before starting it tomorrow to do final checks and test drive.

Edit: problem solved - went for a smoke with my wife, took a torch and located the hole just below and to the left of the throttle body. Used a telescopic magnet to get the bolt started, a universal joint on an extension and the electric wrench to get it done up, so I don't have to take everything out again.

The Fiesta is running slightly lumpy and smells rich at idle. I've ordered some new plugs as I know the recommended 1.3mm plugs don't work from a previous post. Will clean the NGKs when I swap in new dodgy Bosch ones just in case. Going to pile in a good helping of Redex too. Aside from compression testing, I think I'll need to recheck timing. So sure it was spot on but with the belts I did turn the crank anti-clockwise a little a couple of times to get the belts back on. The PCV and or breather hoses seem in good condition. The coild wouldn't power 1.1mm gapped plugs, so is a potential culprit so, prepared for that. The misfire is not regular either. Any advice appreciated.

Just tested the coil pack and leads. The coil pack primaries and secondaries are within correct operating ranges, three of the leads are about 4.6K and lead two is 5.3K, so happy with those. Took the old plugs out to check condition, one looked a bit more sooty on the centre insulation until I noticed a crack from overtightening... I wonder how that happened? 🤔

Waiting on delivery of new plugs in the next four hours.

New plugs - sorted! Took for a short drive and most of the penetrating fluid has burnt away from the exhaust. Got up to temp, topped up coolant (there was no excess pressure thank goodness) and it drove reasonably well. I think there is some time for the valves to reseat themselves well, I did do one at a time when replacing the seals so they're all back in the same places and so are the valve caps. I could have lapped them in and done some valve leak testing but since it ran well before and I want it back on the road, I'll let it work out the valve rotation changes naturally, there shouldn't be too much difference with the valves back in the same places.

It was sat on the drive a few minutes ago and the alarm went off. The rear drivers side door triggers an open door quite often so I'll check that out and the bonnet catch set off the alarm when I closed it earlier today, so another common place to investigate.

Really happy to be driving to work in my own car again tomorrow, not having to get the expensive, unrealiable buses with the drivers who don't consider the comfort of their passengers, sitting in seats which stink of pee (actually not that bad usually, just a couple of bad journeys with the smells).