Ford Ka mk1 stutters and dies

[vale.maio2]

Hello everyone, I have a 2004 mk1 Ford Ka Collection, 1.3l version.

It started two days ago, I picked up the car to go to work and the engine didn't start. The starter was cranking normally and the battery was good (I had the alternator changed last week), but no response from the engine. No backfire, no stuttering, no stalling, just the starter going on. I tried cranking up until the battery died and left the car there.

I've tried again today, with jumping leads for the dead battery and the spare key because who knows, it might have been the immobilizer not recognizing the key; after some hesitations, the enginge stuttered more and more, until it fired up. I've left it running for a good 15 minutes at idle, and it was running smoothly. I've tried putting down the throttle and the engine responded as it should, nice and smoothly and went back to idle normally.
I then killed the engine and tried to crank it up again, but all I had back was a terrible stuttering and a tractor-like noise from the hood. It took another good 10 minutes of trying to start the engine again and, as before, it was running normally. This happened 2 or 3 times.

Now, I've plugged in my OBD scanner and it gave me no error whatsoever, with all the sensors nominal. I can't say about the sensors values with the engine running, I'm not a big expert on those.
Any idea what could be or where should I look? If it was the fuel pump or a clogged fuel filter it wouldn't have started and run normally, but that's just my opinion.

Any help would be really appreciated and, if you want me to, I can post the OBD values with the eninge running, if I can fire it up again.

Thank you

EDIT: or, if you can, link me to a data sheet with what should the OBD read with the engine at idle, so I can compare it with the readings from my car.

EDIT 2: These are the values at idle from my OBD reader, if anyone is interested.

Edited December 31, 2016 by vale.maio2
added images

[delboy]

i would first replae plugs and ht leads and air filter. have the wireing check on the battery and altinator aswell.

some obd readers oony does the basic reads not a full read and i dont always trust them as they cannot find a broken or damaged item so it's down to us

to replace on a trial and error basis.

i had similar on my fiesta and it turned out to be altinator plugs and ht lt leads.

the fuel pump is working as it does fire up so you eliminated that.

check the air hoses are not split aswell as that will make it sound like a tank as would a hole in the exhaust

 

[vale.maio2]

First of all, thanks for the reply.
As many other mk1 Ford Ka, the spark plugs on this one are stuck. I've soaked them in WD40 penetrating oil and will wait overnight, but I'm sure I won't be able to get them out.
As for everything else, I've done the following checks:

• Ignition coil cables are ok on a visual test and have a resistance of around 2 ohms.
• Ignition coil pack seems to be ok, with the right impedance between coils 1-4 and 2-3.
• Tested with spark plug tester, and all of them lights up in sequence.
• Tested the voltage at the fuel injector cables, and it shows 11.54V between the battery negative and the positive cable. I couldn't test the injector rail itself as I couldn't find an exposed positive contact.
• Air filter seems to be brand new, it has merely some dust on it. I've also tried to fire the engine disconnecting the air hose between the air filter and the engine head (as the hose might have been dirty or clogged), but it didn't change a thing.
• The tractor-like noise wasn't anything like you said; it wasn't like a punched exhaust, it was like a clanging coming from the cylinders.

I'm going to bang my head against a wall, I'm totally clueless on what to check anymore. 

EDIT:

I had to push the car for one mile to get it to the mechanic, since I wasn't going anywhere with my checks. It'll get checked tomorrow and I'll let you know what the problem is.

[vale.maio2]

I've just got the car back from the mechanic, the problem was the fuel pump. One of the pins from the electric socket rusted and broke down; the pump itself was alright, it just didn't have a good contact with the car's on board electronics.

Thank you guys for your help, it was just much simplier than I thought.

[delboy]

ahh the old rusty ka bites back. glad you got it sorted