Ford Fiesta Mk4 Ghia 1996 Upgrade Tips.

[Gonky]

Hello all and if this message is a little long please skip to the last section.

I am new and I would like to know a few things about my. 1996 Ford Fiesta 1.3 Ghia. Basically I have got it for my first car and it is a great little thing, it drives like a charm and feels great to handle. I picked it up for £250 which was a bargain and i took it into college wile i was training to be a level 2 fast fit mechanic and fixed many minor problems on my own and gave it a whole new set of tyres and door wiring looms. It did not passs its MOT when it was due then as there was welding that was not correctly done by the previous owner but I was lucky enough to get it done for free which took the person doing it nearly 2 days to prepair it and weld. I have been driving it for about 7 months now, I started on a provisonal licence then I passed my test on the 24th of june and since then I have driven around on my own.

I have test drove a fair few cars now and I still think mine feels the nicest through the steering wheel. It has no power steering and no abs etc.

The car has a big exhaust and is lowered by a previous owner. I'm not a huge fan as it scrapes being so low on speed humps.

Is it just a machine and driver. The car is now 17 years old and has had 16 owners with about 110 miles.

I hear cars loose bhp over time and I would like to know of some good ways to gain those bhp back or add some by upgradig some parts that wont brake the bank.

Also I would like to make it look a little nicer inside and out, it has a lot of scrahes on the roof and others scattered around the car which I know it will most prob need a paint job which I'm not bothered about for now.

I am trying to avoid getting rid of it because it is my first car and it is very fun to drive.

If anyone has any hints or tips or any info at all on what I can do to it I would be very greatful...

[FOCA]

I would just keep it nicely serviced, a regular oil and filter change, air filter and spark plugs (correctly gapped) will help to keep it running nicely, there can be a bit more muck than normal coming out of the crankcase breather/s on older cars, so a breather catchtank is probably a good investment

if you increase the power it may put more stress on the clutch etc

A K&N cone filter is a typical mod on these cars, but im not personally a big fan of them

The scratches may t-cut or buff out

Which engine is it? CVH / X-flow etc?

[Gonky]

The spark plugs are new and i used auto data when I was in college to find out correct gap. The air filter is new as I replaced that at the same time.

I never learnt anything about the crankcase breathers on cars so not a clue about that :(

I can't imagine the car has been well looked after in the past and I can feel it struggles due to power loss when going up slight hills at speed as it will slow down.

I will get a oil change when I can afford the oil. A little broke at the moment due to keeping the car on the road and my first child due on thursday, so 2 days away.

The oil filter looked new when I first got it and it had a new belt.

Maybe the pore litle thing is just old and tired. I hope to give the old girl some more life and make it not so lazy ha.

I don't want a huge amount of power, just a little more than it has at the moment.

Hanks for info though.

[Gonky]

I would just keep it nicely serviced, a regular oil and filter change, air filter and spark plugs (correctly gapped) will help to keep it running nicely, there can be a bit more muck than normal coming out of the crankcase breather/s on older cars, so a breather catchtank is probably a good investment

if you increase the power it may put more stress on the clutch etc

A K&N cone filter is a typical mod on these cars, but im not personally a big fan of them

The scratches may t-cut or buff out

Which engine is it? CVH / X-flow etc?

Spark plugs/air filter are newish and think the belt and filters where replace before i got it. I have only seen the oil filter on my car though.

I used the fluid you use to put in the fuel tank to clean the injectors a wile ago which burnt most of the crap away after starting to drive the car which did make a big difference but it went back to the way it was about a month later so I tried it again and it didnt make any difference and couldnt smell the crap burning out like before on the second time.

Is it a pain to clean the crankshaft breather? Iv never taken one off but if it is not to much hassle I will give it a try tomorrow, depending on the weather.

If there are bolts to remove do they need a torque setting or just tightened up normally?

Not sure what engine it is, , maybe a CVH engine but im not sure, I will have to look in the morning.

[FOCA]

Crankcase breather -

The engines crankcase is sealed, to allow the expansion of air/ gasses due to heat/ pressure there is a breather, the breather is a hose, usually connected to the head, block or sump, sometimes it is in the oil filler cap, somtimes there are two or more breathers, and a valve (= PCV / Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve)

On very old engines, the breather was simply vented to the atmosphere, but the emmisions from the breather contains polutants, so on a modern road car, the breather outlet is connected to the engines air intake, so the engine re-gurgitates whatever comes out of the breather

This is fine when the engine is new, as the bores/ rings/ valve guides are tight, hardly anything comes out of the breather, to re-enter the inlet (the breather may be fitted with a catchtank on a new race/ rally car, for safety, and because of the (small) performance advantage)

When an engine gets older, the bores/ rings/ valve guides wear, the combustion gasses can bypass the pistons, pressurizing the crankcase, these gasses (+ oil spray/ mist) gets injected into the inlet, coating the hoses etc with oil

Under hard acceleration, these warm, burnt gasses can replace, cool, oxegen rich air, reducing power

Placing a catchtank in-between the engine breather outlet and the breather intake, "catches" any oil that is sprayed, any mist condenses on the (cool) walls of the catch tank, reducing the amount of oily spray/ waste gasses / moisture etc goin into the inlet from the breather, the breather can even be vented to the air, (to keep the imlet even cleaner) i don't recommend this, though, as the emmisions can find their way into the cabin via the heating/ ventilation system, a "total loss" breather should be treated like an exhaust - fed to outside the car

You can buy fancy polished alloy catch tanks but they can be expensive, you can make one out of a tin can

Some catchtanks have level "gauges" on them to monitor oil loss

I have a total EGR delete and total loss breather system on my car, only cool, clean air goes into the engines air inlet. it has a small performance advantage, and the hoses/ inlet stay clean (the oily residue also breaks down rubber hoses, in time, diverting it protects the hoses)

On the diesel, the oily spray from the breather can mix with the carbon from the EGR, forming an oily "gloop" that coats the inlet manifold - on a turbo, the oily spray from the breather can condense on the inside of the intercooler - reducing its efficiency slightly - in a petrol car, the oily spray can contaminate the spark plugs, potentially causing miss- fires

There is more to this, but that will do for now

Your oil breaks down over time (losing its protective qualities) and one of the best things you can do is to give it regular oil (and filter) changes, not to can be false economy - a stitch in time.... etc

[Gonky]

Thanks for your info. I will have to figure out how to dismantle it and re install it all correctly

Hear is a picture of my little engine.