Thanks all.
I will be handing to a trusted local mechanic to do the work, but wanted some details to pass on. I think it may be easier to replace the radio (cassette only) with a CD version. Probably cheaper.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Had the radio cassette replaced by a Ford dealer in our 2000 X Fiesta works van, IIRC approx £65 quid inc labour. Incidentally it has done nearly 200k and is still going strong, the most impressive aspect is the suspension that is taut and totally rattle free, also it goes like stink due to being very light with a 1.8 TD motor.
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Blue was for the older level of engine-red(organic acid technology) is for the up to date engines.
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Wow, just been having a look at the Fiesta Zetec-S website. The forum is full of morons who can't spell and probably look like gorillas.
However, a mod gave a good idea of things needed for a service.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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If you've got it, don't go thinking that purple/pink coolant is bad. If it is then I suspect it's been replaced by a Ford dealer within the last couple of years and should be good for many years to come.
See www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=28752&...f
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Mike Farrow
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Car not been serviced at Ford dealer for years. Been at local back street bloke in London for last six years and despite his best efforts at making a mess, it still drives very well. Car handles superbly and engine is a dream - it pulls at all revs, although esp over 3500rpm. But worried that its been neglected in parts. I'll price up a local Ford garage as well, won't be too expensive at a Rapid Fit place I would have thought.
I think a change of coolant will not go amiss.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Car booked in for major service at local Ford dealers who are not expensive. Having brake fluid and Antifreeze changed as well; leaving cambelt till next year. The radio says LOCK 10. dealer says that they cannot deal with it and it needs to go a specialist car audio place. Any ideas why?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Lock 10 means someones's unsuccessfully tried 10 times to put the right code in (I think there's more to it than that, but that's the jist of it). Bin it and get one of the special offer £39.99 CD players that seem to be doing the rounds at the moment.
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Lock10 is bad.
Usually you'll have been made to wait 30 minutes (something along the lines of WAIT30" will have been displayed before you put the code in.
Lock 10 means you've put 10 wrong codes in and it's basically locked itself down so that even the right code won't fix it. I read somewhere that you sometimes have a couple more attempts after Lock10 is displayed but that was on certain systems.
I'm almost certain Ford should be able to unlock it though - it is their radio after all. Phone Gordons Wigan (01942 823000)and ask them. They actually have a very helpful and competent parts department.
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>>and engine is a dream - it pulls at all revs, although esp over 3500rpm>>
It wont if the cambelt goes, it will never be the same again, if it has never been done then really better to get it done sooner rather than later.
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>>and engine is a dream - it pulls at all revs, although esp over 3500rpm>> It wont if the cambelt goes, it will never be the same again, if it has never been done then really better to get it done sooner rather than later.
I know, but the car will do no more than 3,000 miles in the next 12 months and is worth about £1,000 at best. I'll take the chance.
Why did we never worry about cambelts in the 1970s and 1980s when you have Ford OHC and good Italian ohc engines?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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timing belts are most likely to go when they are first started in a morning when everything is under most strain,i also think you are very foolhardy not to have the belt done as these engines in my opinion are NOT worth pulling to bits when something goes wrong,dont get me wrong (please) but you seem to have the outluck of many people these days and are more concerned that the radio doesnt work rather than worrying about turning a decent runabout into worthless scrap,a tel no of a company in wigan was given to you for the radio code i got a flyer from a co in wigan last year that sounds ok you ring them with the radio numbers they debit your account when you are satisfied the radio works,seems cosha but i have not had reason to use them,their name is miry lane auto electrics tel 01942 244331,and get that belt done.....................please?it keeps us in work :) hope that helps
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Well its also a question of money. The car is not mine and I am doing my MiL a favour by taxing and MoTing it as well as giving it a good service. If I didn't it would not get done. So next year I will spend the £200 on the cambelt change with a minor service and no need to change fluids etc.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Well worth checking that the rear brake cylinders are not weeping. The drop in fluid level is insignificant cf pad wear, but ultimately contaminates the rear linings, with potential for imbalance failure. A weep is only a precursor of failure anyway. If you are changing the brake fluid/bleeding brakes, might as well do at same time.
(Both of my 1996 Zetec engined cars done at about 4 years, and one looks as tho now due a second time! )
There is also a well known moisture/mud trap on the rear rigid brake pipes just by bracket to flexible. It can only be easily seen when wheel is off. Well worth checking, and problem can be minimised by bending rigid pipe slightly to make mud trap "wider".
Also the front flexibles were subject of a recall on routing and chafing, worth a careful look.
Keep a close eye on whether front footwell is wet, check under the carpet, as leaks on a rubber bulkhead seal are common. If not stopped it will promote rot under the carpet.
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pmh (was peter)
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Thanks pmh
checked the Ford system at the dealers and the recall was spotted so will get done. Car is having a full service and MoT at same time as fluid changed, so hopefully spot any problems with rear brakes.
Will check under carpets myself. Car smells dry so don't think theres a problem and it has never been parked under trees, so unlikely to get blocked drain channels.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Mine that suffered the problem always smelled ok, it is not the classic blocked drainage channels, it is a poor fitting very large rubber grommet. Nothing that a tube full of silicon sealant cant solve, but access is VERY difficult and you have to work blind.
If you do a forum search you find several comments.
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pmh (was peter)
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Why did we never worry about cambelts in the 1970s and 1980s when you have Ford OHC and good Italian ohc engines?
Up until the 1980s lots of belt driven engines were
a. non-interference, which meant that if the belt broke, it didn't take anything with it - very few still are; and
b. a cambelt change was a very simple job (e.g., I remember PugUgly saying that his cambelt change on the works hack, a '94 Cavalier, was about half an hour of labour).
Also, a Fiesta of that age (and indeed, of your car's age, except with the 1.3 litre engine) would most likely have been chain, rather than belt driven anyway.
Yes, I think that it is possible to overstate the case but this car will be scrap if the belt fails and, at ten years old and on the original belt, that's a distinct possibility irrespective of mileage.
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The only way I could describe this particular model is "bullet proof".
We have owned ours since 1998, when it was purchased from the now defunct National Car Supermarket, shortly after it expanded to Middleton.
It is a 1.25 Ghia and up to our daughter passing her test in July last year was used, gently never doing more than 4k miles per annum. Although for about 18 months Mrs E. insisted on using it daily for the 1 mile trip to the station. Not lazy, saved time?! Always serviced either at Lex Autocentre or Ford Main dealer.
Once it was handed over to a 17 year old it was a case of keeping fingers crossed. It's once immaculate body work is now peppered with dents and scratches, not all self inflicted but it still trundles on.
Naively, I refused to do the weekly chores of general maintenance and this where it nearly came to grief and my thoughts on why it is a tough motor. We recently went on holiday for 3 weeks - lucky us - and Mr's E insisted I check it over to make sure all was OK. Good job I did. The coolant tank was empty! When I checked the oil, it was below the minimum on the stick. Much grilling of daughter ensued, whereby she was adamant that no warning lights had ever come on and the temperature gauge was always in the middle. I topped everything up and it has still run as sweetly, if noisily, as ever.
The only things that have been replaced are a battery, too many of the aforementioned short journeys, front discs - a common fault apparently and a pair of brake cylinders, thats it on an 8 year old car that has done just shy of 40k miles. I asked about the cam-belt and was told it will last the 10 years, so I will get that replaced sometime in the not too distant future.
Overall this has proved to be one of the most durable cars we have ever owned.
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Can only agree with Dave who has the exact same as I did.
I never had to change the discs and it was on it's original belt but it was probably due for one if not both of those.
The only rust was a tiny amount on the rear wheel arch. I was going to get it sorted but it was so unnoticable I never bothered.
It was on it's original battery too. Not saying things never went wrong, but they were never wallet emptying problems when they did happen.
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The coolant tank was empty! When I checked the oil, it was below the minimum on the stick. Much grilling of daughter ensued, whereby she was adamant that no warning lights had ever come on and the temperature gauge was always in the middle. I topped everything up and it has still run as sweetly, if noisily, as ever.
My son is just the same, I checked his Discovery oil one day and found that it was running on 1 litre of oil. I put in about 5 litres to bring it up to the correct mark.
They just like Dad to do the checks.
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Changed my mind and car booked for MoT tomorrow, having changed the wiper blades as they were a definate failure. If it passes, I'll cancel MoT at Ford garage and get them to do cambelt instead.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Well car passed MoT with minor work to the brake switch.
So next week, full service, change all fluids and cambelt. I'll have spent about £600 this week on a car worth £1250 at best, and its not even mine!
Am I a good son-in-law????!!!!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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My son had the 1.4 version for several years and loved its ride and sharp handling.
He did oil and filter changes himself and was always absolutely diligent in obtaining the correct grade of oil (5-30?); there is evidence of this particular type of engine's valves seizing up if you don't.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Well typically, after singing this car's praises on this thread, ours goes and throws a sickie!!
It stopped less than a mile (lucky) from the house as my daughter took her boyfriend home at 10:30 in the evening. It started but would not hold tickover, I managed to drive it back home somehow and even managed to get it my friendly mechanics garage the following day. Once it warmed up it did actually work but for the first mile or so it made for an interesting ride. It turns out it was one of the many sensors that are attached to the air filter.
Not only that the fan packed up only working in setting no 4! Fortunately only a few quid extra for a resistor.
Adopting a safety first route I have had a new cam-belt fitted at the same time as you never know. Ford recommend 10 years or 100k miles but I thought as it is coming up to 9 years it made sense. Turns out the belt was still in good nick as were the tensioners.
As it is getting a bit wheezy now, it is a case of keeping my fingers crossed for the future.
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