1999 Ford Fiesta trouble

simon333

Hey,

posted here about a previous problem with the car. It's a 1.25 1999 Fiesta Zetec.

Basic symptoms of the problem(s):

• Trouble starting.
• Running out of water coolant within 7 days of reful. Roughly 70km a day.

The starting trouble: it's as if the engine isn't catching on when turning the ignition. It's not the electric ignition motor as far as I can tell, but rather the engine won't start revving. The petrol light stays on during the problem even when the tank is full. Pushing the accelerator feels like it's not helping at all, there's no resistance, so there's no revving. But then when the engine succeeds, it catches the revs, and it revs up. It drives fine after that.

It's also intermittent, but happens more often than not. It's less likely to happen if it has been driven within the last couple of hours. If you stop and start the car straight away, there's no ignition problem.

The starting trouble started a month ago when pointing down a steep hill, and was very low on petrol. Having trouble since. Could be coincidence?

Changed the fuel filter to no avail.

Suspecting it could be a fuel injector problem? Or not? Mechanic also mentioned it could be an air leak, and also mentioned the gasket, but he didn't know.

Any suggestions on what could be wrong?

Simon

crosstownk

It could be a faulty head gasket that is leaking coolant into the combustion chamber. This can cause starting difficulty which becomes more apparent the colder the engine gets due to condensation forming. If this is the case, you may or may not have coolant/water mixed with the oil. Check your oil and see if it is looks a lightish brown. Also check the underside of the oil filler cap. It is possible that the oil is not contaminated. In this case have a look at the exhaust fumes coming form the tail pipe - if they are excessively steamy then it would indicate a faulty head gasket, but this will depend on how much coolant is entering the combustion chamber.

simon333

Yup, the water in the coolant resevoir started to get a little green floating on top, and I'm worried it could be a little bit of oil.

The mechanic did check the oil level, and he didn't seem to have an issue with the colour, but he did have to fill it up a bit. The oil had been checked about 8 months before that.

charlesD

simon333 wrote: »

Yup, the water in the coolant resevoir started to get a little green floating on top, and I'm worried it could be a little bit of oil.

The mechanic did check the oil level, and he didn't seem to have an issue with the colour, but he did have to fill it up a bit. The oil had been checked about 8 months before that.

Most older cars burn a little oil, so if you hadn't checked it in 8 months, then I would not be surprised if it was low and he had to add some oil.

If you have a blown head gasket then you would likely have noticed a lot of white smoke coming out of the back of your car.

You might ask your mechanic to do a compression test, which will tell you whether or not you have a blown head gasket.

You can easily damage an engine if you do have a blown gasket, so pay careful attention to your coolant level and temperature until you are sure this is not the problem.

simon333

A bit of history that might be connected:

2 months ago, there was a fast coolant leak, and the engine got really hot before we knew it. As in, we were driving down the dual carriage way and the engine switched off because it got so hot. I'm guessing this could have blown the head gasket?

There was 5 or 6 weeks between that event and the first time there was a starting problem, though.

crosstownk

simon333 wrote: »

A bit of history that might be connected:

2 months ago, there was a fast coolant leak, and the engine got really hot before we knew it. As in, we were driving down the dual carriage way and the engine switched off because it got so hot. I'm guessing this could have blown the head gasket?

There was 5 or 6 weeks between that event and the first time there was a starting problem, though.

Hmmm - you should really have the head gasket investigated. From what you say there is every chance it may have been damaged from overheating.

simon333

Thanks a lot for the replies.

So what I'll do is bring it to the mechanic for a compression test.

simon333

As a follow-up, yes, it was the head gasket.

Good diagnosis