Fiesta 1.4 16V Hissing Sound

[michaelshrimpton]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section (first post)

My car is idling rough, and seems to have a lack of power - struggles with hills etc & intermittently won't start (more so cold start). I have nothing to compare the car to as its my first car.

I had the bonnet open yesterday and took the air box off and could hear a loud hissing from the right side of engine (as you look at it). I finally manged to track where the hissing was coming from and it seems to be coming from the fuel line -or the fuel pressure regulator valve. I'm not 100% sure if it was from the valve or the hose connecting has a split in it.

Question is, is it normal for there to be hissing from this area on this type of engine - and also could this hissing be causing the rough idle and lack of power?

Any help or advice would extremely appreciated! :)

Thanks.

[Dan62]

The vacuum comes from the intake manifold so any leak will cause idle problems.

Seems you have located the problem.

[michaelshrimpton]

oh good thank you, would this lead to the car not starting sometimes too? and feeling a bit sluggish?

[Dan62]

I don't know.

Its worth pulling the HT leads and checking the spark plug wells are free of water as this is a fairly common issue.

[michaelshrimpton]

plugs and leads have been changed recently so i doubt its them