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Mk6 nightmare!


amsan
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Hi, new to this, so please bear with.....

I have a 2006 Fiesta Zetec Climate. I have owned this for 18 months and has been working like a dream up until a few months ago. Problems started where it was feeling sluggish, and it was having problems getting power and was "juddery" ? It would then all of a sudden launch off and behave normally. Anyway, my dad gave it a once over and found liquid in spark reservoir, we dried it all out, changed spark plugs and was working perfectly for a few weeks until it did the same thing again, dried it out again, and once again......perfect for a few weeks.

water to begin wasn't pink so assumed water getting in, but water is now pink, mechanic friend had a look and said core plugs have gone, he replaced and same problem again (these weren't sealed properly the first time so he did again) , but worse, its losing power to the point i'm on the A12 doing 70 and power cuts to 45 and the poor old girl is really trying hard to keep going but making a god awful noise, had to pull over a few times to rest and re start (the car- not me lol), eventually got it home.

Mechanic now saying head gasket has gone. iv'e looked this up and there is no water in the oil, no coloured smoke or any of the other "typical" symptoms of HG blowing. can anyone shed any light on this? my Dad fiddled with the spark plugs and the leads and took the car for a spin and she seemed to be working fine again..could this be an electrical fault somewhere? He said it's not done them any favours being wet a lot recently, and it is 12 years old...

The engine has never over heated, I never have warning lights on the dash either. A few days ago after the same problem the mechanic re-sealed the core plugs for 3rd time, i drove it less than a mile and juddered and stalled worse than it ever has, and just kept cutting out, no liquid in spark wells this time, coolant level normal, but the tank that holds the coolant was hissing? is this normal too?

If anyone can try and point me in the right direction, that would be great as i'm trying to weigh up cost of getting fixed versus how much the car is actually worth... 

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The mk6 fiesta petrols always have issues with coil packs. I'd replace that and the HT leads. 

 

If it's pre 2005 (prefacelift) then add some silicone sealant to the bottom of the washer jets as water gets in between the jets and the bonnet.sounds unlikely because the airbox is in the way but it happens! 

 

Then change the plugs, make sure the core plug has been changed correctly with a good quality one. 

If issues continue then it could indeed be headgasket failure, but the engines in the mk6 are pretty reliable so it's unlikely. If it is, get some powermaxed steel seal headgasket stuff, put it in, and sell up 😂. To be honest I know people who have used it as a permenant fix 

 

 

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you mentioned the water reservoir hissing. it should not hiss. can you tell where from, eg. it has cracking on it which is letting pressure go when hot and under pressure.  or hissing from the cap due to bad cap seal or it releasing pressure as it should when pressure gets too high (it should not get too high unless something else wrong like faulty thermostat/radiator silted up/head gasket gone.

I am not familiar with the core plug you refer to . I know what core plugs are but not examined one of these engines in that much detail

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I had the same issue every time it rained, mine is a 2006 style climate, I did all of the above except the head gasket. As it never used to do it I assumed it was caused by something that deteriorated over time. I have had it since new so I knew it had never done it before.
After my fix it has been dry for 8 months.
There is a seal along the scuttle panel that I noticed looked a bit squashed, I figured this could be letting the water in. I priced it up and it only comes with a new scuttle panel and is expensive so I looked for a new solution, a colleague who used to work on classic Aston’s gave me a fix he used to use when you couldn’t buy new door seals for very old cars, they would find some rope the same diameter as the hole through the seal and feed it through to plump the seal back up !
I used an old door seal from a damaged car and tied a piece of string to it an a weight on the end then pulled it through my scuttle seal and cut to size each end, I also added a couple of washers under the middle of the scuttle to raise it slightly.
I have taken some pictures.
I didn’t use rope as it is in the engine bay and I wasn’t sure about rope getting hot. c05d66148a1553e9d332fb8ed447372f.jpg7317ea9dac3d713dd0d1e0cb4624d2f6.jpgeef28ed3a7ed6e69051a2b67b1e57878.jpg

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2 hours ago, isetta said:

you mentioned the water reservoir hissing. it should not hiss. can you tell where from, eg. it has cracking on it which is letting pressure go when hot and under pressure.  or hissing from the cap due to bad cap seal or it releasing pressure as it should when pressure gets too high (it should not get too high unless something else wrong like faulty thermostat/radiator silted up/head gasket gone.

I am not familiar with the core plug you refer to . I know what core plugs are but not examined one of these engines in that much detail

Well it's the first time I've noticed the hissing, there looks like there could be a small crack near the top, but the container is 12 years old and looks 12 years old if you know what I mean! I don't know what core plugs are either, just know they're about the size of a 50p coin and push into the engine system somewhere (car enthusiasts will be cringing at that explanation lol) and keeps the pressure. Will investigate for cracks tomorrow. Thankyou for your comment.

Amy

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1 hour ago, niknakmb said:

I had the same issue every time it rained, mine is a 2006 style climate, I did all of the above except the head gasket. As it never used to do it I assumed it was caused by something that deteriorated over time. I have had it since new so I knew it had never done it before.
After my fix it has been dry for 8 months.
There is a seal along the scuttle panel that I noticed looked a bit squashed, I figured this could be letting the water in. I priced it up and it only comes with a new scuttle panel and is expensive so I looked for a new solution, a colleague who used to work on classic Aston’s gave me a fix he used to use when you couldn’t buy new door seals for very old cars, they would find some rope the same diameter as the hole through the seal and feed it through to plump the seal back up !
I used an old door seal from a damaged car and tied a piece of string to it an a weight on the end then pulled it through my scuttle seal and cut to size each end, I also added a couple of washers under the middle of the scuttle to raise it slightly.
I have taken some pictures.
I didn’t use rope as it is in the engine bay and I wasn’t sure about rope getting hot. c05d66148a1553e9d332fb8ed447372f.jpg7317ea9dac3d713dd0d1e0cb4624d2f6.jpgeef28ed3a7ed6e69051a2b67b1e57878.jpg

I thought it was rain water/wash jet water too to begin with but it's pink so must be coolant, I will check this out though, Thanks for your comment.

Amy

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4 hours ago, GingerFlame said:

The mk6 fiesta petrols always have issues with coil packs. I'd replace that and the HT leads. 

 

If it's pre 2005 (prefacelift) then add some silicone sealant to the bottom of the washer jets as water gets in between the jets and the bonnet.sounds unlikely because the airbox is in the way but it happens! 

 

Then change the plugs, make sure the core plug has been changed correctly with a good quality one. 

If issues continue then it could indeed be headgasket failure, but the engines in the mk6 are pretty reliable so it's unlikely. If it is, get some powermaxed steel seal headgasket stuff, put it in, and sell up 😂. To be honest I know people who have used it as a permenant fix 

 

 

Ok, my Dad actually said to Change the HT leads and spark plugs etc first and see if that helps before going to a garage to do a pressure test for HG failure and racking up a huge bill. The HT leads did look a bit old and crusty..... I'll change them and put some new spark plugs in and give it a whirl. Thanks for the Advice, much appreciated 

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You need to go to a garage and ask them to do a head gasket test on your car, its VERY easy to do, they take the coolant tank cap off and place a clear plastic tube into the top, then pour a solution in, if the solution stays the same color the head gasket is fine, if it changes to a pale yellow then the head gasket is gone, this test should probably be done for free as it is SO easy, but maybe a tenner max

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Thanks all, 

I dropped it off to ATS this morning, they are going to have a good look and do a pressure test. My Dad had a fiddle with the HT Leads a few nights ago and it has been running fine since. ***** cars!

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Hi

 

If fiddling with the ht leads solved the issue for a few days then i think we have your answer

Leads and coil pack.

 

Jamie

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On 03/02/2018 at 3:03 PM, james_60 said:

Hi

 

If fiddling with the ht leads solved the issue for a few days then i think we have your answer

Leads and coil pack.

 

Jamie

Well, so far ATS have changed:

Temp sensor, O2 sensor, spark plugs, coil pack, fuel filter, oil filter, and cleared a blockage in one of the pipes ( fuel pipe maybe?) 

Still cuts out occasionally and now has trouble turning over 😞. The bill is going to be more than the car is worth! 

Think I should cut my losses and sell for scrap lol

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Are they just throwing bits at it until it is fixed ?
My misfire went after I changed the battery, I was told that it was maybe because it was disconnected for more than half an hour which resets all the values.

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On 05/02/2018 at 8:53 PM, niknakmb said:

Are they just throwing bits at it until it is fixed ?
My misfire went after I changed the battery, I was told that it was maybe because it was disconnected for more than half an hour which resets all the values.

I actually had a look under the bonnet today, the coil pack hasn't been changed, it looks like the same old dusty dirty old one so if they charge me for one I'll be p***ed. I'll order new HT leads and change them myself and see if that helps. The only bit that looks new and different is the O2 sensor! It actually sounds/runs worse since they have fiddled with it. At a loss here Really! 

On 03/02/2018 at 3:03 PM, james_60 said:

Hi

 

If fiddling with the ht leads solved the issue for a few days then i think we have your answer

Leads and coil pack.

 

Jamie

Well, so far ATS have changed:

Temp sensor, O2 sensor, spark plugs, coil pack, fuel filter, oil filter, and cleared a blockage in one of the pipes ( fuel pipe maybe?) 

Still cuts out occasionally and now has trouble turning over 😞. The bill is going to be more than the car is worth! 

Think I should cut my losses and sell for scrap lol

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