Hi guys any help on this would be great, i bought a 2002 ford ka 1.3 about two months ago and it worked fine, however i left it in my garden for the past two months and used my focus instead. Anyway long story short, the car has just started running really rough, it appears to have water coming from the exhaust and also quite a lot of white smoke when revving, also today i noticed that the heating system inside the car will only blow cold air even when the car has been running for 10 minutes, the air is freezing while the dial is on hot. When i first bought the car the heaters worked because its one of the things i checked because my focus is so slow at removing the mist, i noticed how quick the ka removed the mist, so this is something that has happened when the car has been stationary.

I have a maxiscan odb reader, and it showed 1 code as a misfire on cylinder 2, i have a spark plug tester and all cylinders have the light on the spark plug tester lighting up.

The car is causing me a lot of stress, i have been doing scrap metal quotes to just see what its worth weighing it in, but i don't want to give up on it just yet in case its a simple fix.

Other things to mention that could possible help.

On the oil cap, i can see a lot of light brown oil, the dipstick oil is a solid black colour.

when taking the oil cap off, with the engine running i can hear a poofing sound, if i put my hand just above the oil filler hole, it feels like a blow every 2 seconds.

sorry if this is getting boring, i am just trying to describe as much as i can

coolent level is fine, oil level is fine, coolent colour is normal no oil inside, its a reddish colour.

Sounds like head gasket failure to me

HGF from the way you describe it, steam from exhaust, misfire on cylinder 2 and no heat from heaters due to no coolant or very low coolant.

Check the coolant level, and check the oil for emulsification, although by the sounds of it the water is being lost into the cylinder and being exhausted as steam out of the exhaust.

I just got a scrap price for it £50 not really impressed with that figure, i am thinking about doing the repairs myself, 10 years ago i did an apprenticeship in mechanics i still remember a few things although i have forgot most of what i leaned as it was so long ago. I have the basic tools, ratchet, spanners, sockets, i think i am only short of the torque wrench. I am going to get some prices now for the gasket, wrench etc and see if its worth while.

Yeah the head gasket has gone, no doubt about it. Had the exact same on a Rover 200 and Volvo V40.

If the rest of the car is in good condition (no corrosion etc...) then it is definitely worth repairing it rather than accepting the £50 for scrap.

Let us know how you get on!

I am going to give it a go, no doubt i will go wrong somewhere along the lines, if i do i will just strip it down and sell the main parts on eBay, keep the battery as a spare for my focus. It does have corrosion on the petrol cap panel and also around the sills.

I found the gasket kit on eBay for £34 and torque wrench for £14, i will have to take a look at the bolts but i may also need a deep socket set which i found for £7. I already have some wd40 and the black sandpaper (i cant think of the correct name for the paper but the not so harsh black sandpaper for cleaning metal) I have two days off work next week Thursday and Friday i am going to do it then. I will update soon with progress or failure

I am going to give it a go, no doubt i will go wrong somewhere along the lines, if i do i will just strip it down and sell the main parts on eBay, keep the battery as a spare for my focus. It does have corrosion on the petrol cap panel and also around the sills.

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I found the gasket kit on eBay for £34 and torque wrench for £14, i will have to take a look at the bolts but i may also need a deep socket set which i found for £7. I already have some wd40 and the black sandpaper (i cant think of the correct name for the paper but the not so harsh black sandpaper for cleaning metal) I have two days off work next week Thursday and Friday i am going to do it then. I will update soon with progress or failure

Well as it is at the moment you could get £50, so even if you can't do the repair you could probably make more by selling it in parts.

Good luck with the repair though - I'm sure it'll go fine!

Do a compression test on it and you will reveal if it has a blown gasket or cracked head.

Hello, sorry for the late reply i have been waiting on the compression test to arrive from eBay, well it looks like good news, i did a cold compression test today, i unplugged all the spark plugs, did each cylinder and got results between 149 psi to 151 psi. I did this from a cold engine, this was my dry test, i am going to do a wet test, and warm dry, warm wet. I have got to go to work now, but i couldn't wait to try out the new tool. This has made me happy before going to work anyway.

Have you never watched Jock Campbell in "THE GARAGE" - Forget the compression tester and get a sniffer!

If its one of those compression testers in a red plastic box on ebay; forget it they are utter crap and could give any reading as the main compression fitting last about two goes before the rubber seal fails and the needle in the dial sticks and is about as reliable as your car is at the mo!

Everything points at head gasket but do keep us up to date - this should be interesting!

I may take some parts if you are stripping and punting it on!

 

 

Haha yes that's the one, red box £11.95, i do have news, i went ahead and did all the compression tests and everything appeared to be fine, anyway, during the process of me fixing a man come to take a look at it, because he wanted to buy it for £150, long story short, because of badly cracked bumpers, and rust around the petrol cap, he didn't think he could sell it and make a profit. he took one look at it, and said change the coil pack, which i did about 7 hours ago, and it started it and it sounds perfect. Tomorrow i have to ring up my insurance company to go  fully comp instead of third party, ring the vehicle tax, pay a month and then i am going to take it out for a good drive and see how it runs. Hopefully its fixed, i feel like i have got to know the car well, i am keeping it as a backup car (I deliver parcels as a second job, if you don't turn up to deliver you lose you're round) so even though its small i could probably still fit 50 parcels in it.

I have just now ordered a heater control valve off eBay for £8.99, so if all goes well and the car is fixed, that is my next job.

I was looking at that sniffer test you mentioned, they were quite expensive though, i do plan on building up my tools, since have a mess around with that KA its made me realize how much i like fixing cars. I also have a service kit here for my focus again off eBay £26 for oil filter, air, filter, cabin filter & fuel, however i am not starting that until i find some decent axle stands cheap, so i can get to the fuel filter.

I forgot to mention this, the coil pack was missing two screws from the bottom, i did a bit of googling and i think i am looking for t25 screws (i am hoping i can get these tomorrow from the ford breakers, i don't know if this could effect the coil pack in anyway, however the coil pack is cracked, i will take a picture tomorrow and upload it.

Sniffer is not really expensive all it really is, is a turkey baster - its the fluid that costs the money!

Glad you got it fixed - one thing ive learned over the years is to invest in good quality tools.

Coil pack crack sounds completely whack! Better invest in some jack or you might break your back!

Watch when you remove the fuel filter as you can snafu the plastic fuel line if its connectros are grimed/rusted on solid!

Buying el cheapo and nastio costs you twice in the long run and makes repair jobs twice as long!

You myhermes guys lol just chuck it in the back eh!

There is a documentary on about em tomorrow i think!

Mind you the price you get paid for the petrol and hassle , is it really worth it?

I wonder if you will ever discover the source of the "poofing sound".
Maybe your car has a Graham Norton or John Inman complex!
Cars have feelings too you know!
>;o)

Here is the pictures of the coil pack, its hard to tell from these pictures but there is a big crack on one side. Yes myhermes, its alright cant really say its good or bad, its just OK, I don't even consider the fuel, because i would deliver 50-60 parcels and do less than 10 miles total, probably more like 6-7 miles. It would not work as a full time job, its not enough money, but it works for me just to pay my bills and i live off my other wage. If all the parcels are going to different addresses that probably works out around minimum wage, but most days you get 2/3 parcels going to the same addresses and this can bump it up to around £8/£9 per hour, it just depends on the day really.

I found my missing bolts, i am going to the scrapyard today to collect them, 2 bolts for £1 not a bad deal.

 

Thats a bad place for the crack to be you might end up with arcing and stranded in the middle of nowhere like i did once or twice trying to be el cheapo and save money not buying a new battery - Honestly after all the disasters ive had its best just to shell out for a new one!

 

It looks like just a surface plastic damage but you can never be sure dude - If I had a job i would get a new one!

 

Junkyard lol You actually paid for the screws dlol

I used to go in to get a part and end up nicking all sorts - last time i was in i ended up with a fistful of old tax discs , car jack , fuses , screws and allsorts.

Tax discs most people dont realise they are now collectors items!

I am on the dole myself so understand how it is with the cash hence my scrimping and saving at the mo.

Havent even got a car on the road now!

Once you are over 40 its bloomin hard to get a job even though I am a fully qualified electronics engineer and computer systems and network engineer.

 

Good luck with that coil pack - when you get stranded in the middle of a roundabout in the middle of nowhere and have to call out a recovery vehicle , just remember my

words when you hand over the £120 for the recovery and another £150 for the repair lol

>;o)

 

Ive already replaced the coil pack with a brand new one from eBay for £8.99 i think i paid, and its done the trick, the car is running smooth. PS if you need a job, not a great job but it's a job, try yodel or Hermes, they are always looking for new drivers. Its not great but money is money.

Well, i have good news, the ford KA has now been sold for £400.

£400 Nicker , you crook!

>;o)

lol

Was it a wumman/ladee/girlie with her dad that bought it as a first car - bet it was!

And were you honest john and told her all the faults - lol

Michael Thomas Crookster!
haha
>;O)

Yes it was a woman and her boyfriend inspected the car, i was honest, i told her what i payed, what went wrong the coil pack, the heater control valve, and flat battery, she was OK with it, i told her she could have a refund anytime within the first 7 days, and that was 12 days ago. So everyone is happy. As soon as i fitted that new coil pack the car ran smooth, then the heater control valve helped to get rid of some of the mold building up inside the car. £400 for 65k 2002 - 10 month mot isn't that bad, i thought she got a good deal, i payed £440 or £450 for it with a 12 month mot, and spent £15 on parts, plus the time it took me to fix it.