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Need Some Advice!


Stephen_D
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Hi everyone, i have just joined here in the hope you can give me some help and advice.

The Mrs has a 2003 Fiesta Zetec, its just been parked up for a few days whilst we went blackpool in my car...

Just went to start it up so i can put mine on the drive again and it wouldnt start, like it had no fuel (but it had a full tank) so after a few presses on the pedal and tried again it started but the sound was horrible from the engine and dark smoke came from the exhaust.

So turned it off and checked the oil all was ok there, then started it again and it started first time, but there was white smoke coming from the exhaust this time... i have now left it alone whilst i research what to do incase i do some damage.

What would have cause it not to start? The battery wasnt dead, there was petrol and it was only standing for 3 days!

Could a Engine Flush and some new oil do the trick with a bottle of redex? what other areas should i be looking at or concentrating on?

I've always thought this car lacks some power but i've got a 1.8 Audi A4 so im quite use to that.

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Hi stephen welcome to the club. When was the last time the car had a full service? Spark plugs,oil change, oil filter etc?

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Hi stephen welcome to the club. When was the last time the car had a full service? Spark plugs,oil change, oil filter etc?

Hi Dan, i changed the spark plugs myself about 4 months ago (with the correct ones as recomended by NGK's website), but oil, filter and air filter hasnt been done yet... we only had the car 8 months or so.

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Is it petrol or diesel?

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petrol mate, never had a problem with it until now. Been doing things on the Audi then i was going to do this one... but seems i might have to do both at the same times now lol

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had a fiesta do this regularly when left for a couple of days, turned out an injector had a small leak...once car was running it was fine, no other noticable symptoms. refurbed the injector, been fine since.

not suggesting this is whats wrong, yours could be a one off, sounds like it momentarily flooded for whatever reason...plus wouldnt be too concerned about the white smoke just yet, could just be condensation..

i would say just moniter it for a few days, see if you notice any other symptoms.

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Might be the injectors? Also check the last time it had a majour service

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had a fiesta do this regularly when left for a couple of days, turned out an injector had a small leak...once car was running it was fine, no other noticable symptoms. refurbed the injector, been fine since.not suggesting this is whats wrong, yours could be a one off, sounds like it momentarily flooded for whatever reason...plus wouldnt be too concerned about the white smoke just yet, could just be condensation..i would say just moniter it for a few days, see if you notice any other symptoms.

:lol: sorry mate you must have posted that as I was replying haha

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cheers wase, i never started the thing initially and as i sked the mrs if it made any noises.. her responce was very typically a womans not into cars... 'i dont know it just didnt start' lol

I'll definatly be giving it a good going over tomorrow. When we got the car it was absolutely filthy and the engine was in a bad state (missfiring) he got that sorted and we got the car, the mrs loved it, now im wondering if theres something wrong completely with the thing

Would you guys suggest a tin of Engine Flush before i change the oil? Ive done it in most my cars when i dont know the history of them.

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:lol: sorry mate you must have posted that as I was replying haha

hehe, when u say injector... what can i do to refurb it? sry for the dumb question

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Fill up your petrol tank, park on level ground and add injector cleaner and then go for 20-30 minute drive to let it work through the injectors. Either that or replace the injectors but they need to be coded

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no need for coding on petrol engine..

going back to the white smoke, are we talking clouds, if so, are you losing water...

water in cylinders will give both these symptoms too.

flushing oil never does any harm

i just sent injectors away for ultrasonic clean, plus one needed a new pittle...but would suggest trying a good old cleaner as dan suggested , can only do good.

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not clouds of smoke.. imagine 2 or 3 smokers exhaling at the same time lol... about that much ;)

i'll give the cleaner a try and no its not losing water and not using oil up... so i guess it cant be too bad thats a bonus.

Theres no mayonaise substance on the oil cap neither

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no need for coding on petrol engine..going back to the white smoke, are we talking clouds, if so, are you losing water...water in cylinders will give both these symptoms too.flushing oil never does any harmi just sent injectors away for ultrasonic clean, plus one needed a new pittle...but would suggest trying a good old cleaner as dan suggested , can only do good.

Ahh I thought all injectors needed coded. :) learn something new everyday

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Well found some redex in the cupboard so stuck 150ml into a nearly full tank and gave it a drive for about 5 miles.

Smoke wasnt too bad on startup today but i still say this thing is lacking power... its a 1.4 and if you dont time it right its VERY easy to stall, slow down for a corner to 8 - 10 mph and u got no chance of pulling off in 2nd gear... put your foot down and it takes forever to climb to 4k revs.

But this is how its always been since we got it, like i say its the mrs car so i hardly drive it but from what i can tell from todays long drive is that its a Pile of S#@+!! lol

Apart from and oil change and filter, air filter... spark plugs have already been done 5k ago what else could be the trouble with it?

It baffels me... i used to have a punto 5 year ago 1.2 and that was faster than this thing! Much to my delight i dont have to drive this fiesta every day.

Its a 52plate but the 03 model (registered in feb 03)

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Its hard to tell if its something wrong or its the way the car is - remember its just a 1.4

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doesnt sound right to me, add a fuel filter too, if possible get a bottle of 'cataclean' or similar, use it to half fill [or more if you can) new fuel filter, then give it a good old italian tune up...

see if that improves anything.

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where can i get a bottle of cataclean from off the shelf, google isn't giving many results.

Thanks for the input aswell i really appreciate it. I know its only a 1.4 but like i say the punto wouldnt stall and die of power when trying to pull off at low speeds from 2nd gear... imagine a low speed approach to a round about, the car goes past you drop to 2nd gear hit the revs and theres nothing there. Normally you wouldnt drop to 1st, its not how a car should be in my eyes.

If theres someone close to Newcastle under lyme that could spare 5 or 10 mins i'd appreciate it, just to have a look and see what your thoughts are

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in the good old days of points/plugs/timing and carburettors :)

with those symptoms of what sounds like what we used to call 'a flat spot' we would start by checking for good spark/timing/air leak or weak mixture

modern engines, different ball game.

reasons for flat spots dont change, but now timing/mixture are controlled by ecu.

if im right about 'flat spot' then ideally you need to see if any codes are logging, not all will flag the light, so may still be flagging something.

if nothing there then ideally you need to see live data as its running.

if you cant access any of that, then have close look at plugs [esp gaps] leads and coil pack, you might be getting a weakened spark, doesnt necessarily mean you would notice a misfire.

would change fuel filter as matter of course, use a cleaner as instructed before, doesnt have to be cataclean, can be anything similar, just look for one specificly designed for injection and catalyst friendly

check all breather hoses for splits or collapse, clean out the pcv valve...are you certain its running on correct engine oil, too thick or even just burnt old oil, and it causes problems

then starts to get a bit more involved, ideally want an a 4 gas exhaust emission check, if mixture is incorrect then you could be looking at temp sensor [fairly inexpensive, maybe worth a gamble of renewing anyway] or possible problems with oxy sensors or cat itself

not a bundle of help if you havent got the means to test any of the above i know, but would definitely give that engine the full works to start you off

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Just to add to what w is saying, you may have fitted new plugs with too wide a gap, the plugs come pre - gapped, but Ford specified a wider gap at one piont and the engine may run better (especially with old HT leads or coil paks) with the plugs "gapped down" a bit

If you remove your spark plugs (keeping them in order) and take a picture of the tips (the bits that go into the combustion chamber) and post on the forum it will give an indication of how the engine is running (rich/ lean etc)

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Cheers chaps, full works is on the cards now to try and resolve this issue. I'll post a pic of the spark plugs when i get my hands on the car.. Me and the mrs dont see each other much when im working nights. Think i might be able do get to it on thursday

Is their any diagnostics i can buy for Ford cars? For my audi i have VCDS (formally VAG-Com) runs from the laptop with the cable

Surely ford do one..

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You can get a code reader called an F-super that works on most Fords, you can get it online for about £25, you need a laptop to work it, i use a Superchips bluefin handset which does not need a laptop and reads almost all the Ford codes, even pre OBD11 (petrol upto 2000 & diesel upto 2004)

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Cheers i'll give F Super a try for £20 - £25 worth seeing whats wrong and cheaper than taking it to a garage...

And i'll have diagnostics for both cars :) winner

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