Good evening. 

I have touched on the issue i'm having before, but i need to get this sorted. 

I have a Mk7 2010 1.4 petrol fiesta. 

She sounds like a bag of spanner when starting (well that's my OH's description)

When cold, it starts up first time but sounds a bit rough for a minute.  Once you turn it off and leave it for say 10 minutes or more, it struggles to fire up on the first go. Turn it over again and you have to give it some throttle to fire up. I have replaced the air filter as it was so clogged up it was unbelievable. I've not had the car that long so it obviously had not been changed in a hell of a long time !.

I wanted to add a video of it on first start up but i can't see how i do it 😞 

Once she's running she's fine and no spluttering on anything like that. Ticks over spot on about 750

New set of Spark Plugs would be the first thing on the list.

13 hours ago, Debz68 said:

She sounds like a bag of spanner when starting (well that's my OH's description)

Ironically it sounds as if it's not seen a spanner in a while!

Presumably you don't know when it last had a service?*

Might be worth trying a tankful of E5 (e.g. BP Ultimate, Tesco Momentum) next fill up.

*You can look up service content, etc, here:

https://www.ford.co.uk/support/service-intervals-check

Thanks for all the info guys. 

It's strange because it has had a lot done as in head gasket (inc reface), cambelt, water pump, thermostat and a few other bits, totalling £2258. All this was done in April 24.

Radiator looks newish, oil filter looks ok. 

The oil is not quite honey looking, but it's clear and certainly doesn't look like an oil slick. It had an oil change in 22 but i have no receipts after that 

So it has had some care over the years. I'll see if other half has a plug socket and check them first. What would you suggest as being the next thing to check after said plugs ?

Thanks again 🙂 

After plugs and air filter are done, there's not much else obvious that would affect starting, particularly as it seems to run ok once its going.

If you've no evidence of an oil/filter change for 3 years I'd be inclined to get that done, though, as said, it won't affect starting.

Take care when changing the plugs - could be difficult to remove it they haven't been changed in years!

21 hours ago, Debz68 said:

When cold, it starts up first time but sounds a bit rough for a minute.  Once you turn it off and leave it for say 10 minutes or more, it struggles to fire up on the first go. Turn it over again and you have to give it some throttle to fire up. I have replaced the air filter as it was so clogged up it was unbelievable. I've not had the car that long so it obviously had not been changed in a hell of a long time !.

Once she's running she's fine and no spluttering on anything like that. Ticks over spot on about 750

Sounds like a cold start issue - i.e. fueling when cold.  I don't know how these modern Fiestas make the mixture rich?  But if I were you do a bit of research on that after changing the plugs.

The PCM changes the injector opening duration based on coolant temperature, plus intake air temp and/or head temp where applicable.

So you could check the temps through live data on Forscan etc.

However, lambda isn't used on a cold start, so if be heading more towards a vacuum leak, that the PCM can adapt for once it gets the lambda readings.

The small oil breather hose under the plastic manifold is the most common one to split.  Awkward to access too.

 

Right, only just managed getting round to checking my plugs out. 

In my mind they are knackered, but i'd like your diagnostic opinions please ?. 

TIA 👍

Hi,

Those do look like they need to be changed, quite sooted.

Agree with Unofix...spark plugs first and put some high octane fuel and run it for about a week so cleaning additives do their work cleaning injectors.

3 hours ago, Debz68 said:

In my mind they are knackered, but i'd like your diagnostic opinions please ?. 

OK,

They are well and truly f#@$%! (worn out) 👍

8 minutes ago, unofix said:

OK,

They are well and truly f#@$%! (worn out) 👍

My dad back in the day would just get the brass wire brush out and give them a good cleaning, then check the gaps, resetting if needs be and bang them back in the engine.....Good as new he'd say 

20 hours ago, Debz68 said:

Right, only just managed getting round to checking my plugs out. 

In my mind they are knackered, but i'd like your diagnostic opinions please ?. 

TIA 👍

...well we can't really see 3 of them, and the 4th is blurred. 

Measure the gap - that will tell you how 'worn' they are.  If you can't measure the gap, you are guessing anyway.

Sure they are 'sooted' but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the plugs - if they are 'sooted'  after a long run, it suggests more that there may be an issue with fuelling.

16 hours ago, Ian Lanc said:

My dad back in the day would just get the brass wire brush out and give them a good cleaning, then check the gaps, resetting if needs be and bang them back in the engine.....Good as new he'd say 

....but back in the day, spark plugs were simple copper wire, so once cleaned and gapped, your dad was probably correct 😄

As they are now out you might as well put new ones in. 

6 hours ago, orangecurry said:

....but back in the day, spark plugs were simple copper wire, so once cleaned and gapped, your dad was probably correct 😄

I remember my dad tapping the plug on the manifold lightly, to close the gap up  Was plugs that expensive back in the 70's or was my dad just a tight git!

25 minutes ago, Ian Lanc said:

was my dad just a tight git

No, we all did it back then. Bear in mind that plugs needed re-gapping and cleaning at much shorter intervals than the modern ones, which seem to stay in the engine until they are seized in place and then go in the bin. Plugs back then didn't  cost £50 for a set of 3 either. 

3 hours ago, Ian Lanc said:

Was plugs that expensive back in the 70's or was my dad just a tight git!

No, they certainly weren't but wages were a lot lower too! Set for mine now is 5 weeks wages when I started work. And you only get 3!

Like Paul, I also remember giving plugs a clean and regap at frequent intervals. And doing a de-coke, balancing twin carbs, resetting valve clearances, fitting a new set of points, and all the other stuff. Don't know how we had the time to actually drive the car!

14 hours ago, pcaouolte said:

 Plugs back then didn't  cost £50 for a set of 3 either. 

Heck my daughter in law went to Ford for 3 plugs, she took £20 with her, she came back with none and still refused to pay such a high price as it's a joke on everyone who owns the tiny engines.

They do last ages though. I actually cant find them on the service schedule for my Puma. They used to be every 3 years or 36,000 miles but the plug change seems to have gone missing from the service schedule when Ford changed to 2 year service intervals.🙃

1 hour ago, pcaouolte said:

They do last ages though. I actually cant find them on the service schedule for my Puma. They used to be every 3 years or 36,000 miles but the plug change seems to have gone missing from the service schedule when Ford changed to 2 year service intervals.🙃

It's every 4th year.

12 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It's every 4th year.

Every 2 on the Fiesta ST. I assume the Puma ST will be the same but you can get a schedule here:

https://www.ford.co.uk/support/service-intervals-check

NB I find it doesn't work with the Reg No, I need to use the VIN.

4 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Every 2 on the Fiesta ST. I assume the Puma ST will be the same but you can get a schedule here:

https://www.ford.co.uk/support/service-intervals-check

NB I find it doesn't work with the Reg No, I need to use the VIN.

Pauls profile suggests ST-Line?

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Pauls profile suggests ST-Line?

Lol, oops! Missed the "line" . And mis-typed my post anyway - it's 12 months on the ST, no wonder I'm skint! 

33 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

you can get a schedule here:

https://www.ford.co.uk/support/service-intervals-check

Yep, that's were I looked for the spark plug change interval. No mention of spark plugs at any service for my car, I looked at "Under Hood", "Extended Period Maintenance" and "Wear & Tear" for every service up to 126,000 miles and 14 years.

10 minutes ago, pcaouolte said:

Yep, that's were I looked for the spark plug change interval. No mention of spark plugs at any service for my car, I looked at "Under Hood", "Extended Period Maintenance" and "Wear & Tear" for every service up to 126,000 miles and 14 years.