A friend of SWMBO has asked me whether I can service her Ka for her. She's been a bit unhappy about the cost and quality of servicing at the garages, so wants me to have a go (SWMBO thinks it'll be worth a few beer tokens for me). I've yet to find out the details of the car, but I'm assuming it is one of the older versions with the ancient 1.3 engine in it. I'm also unaware of the mileage and age at the moment, though the will obviously become clear when I see it tonight.
I'm happy to do the oil and filter change for her, and will do that regardless. Are there any unusual or notorious things to look out for on other servicing aspects of this car? Is it true the spark plugs can get jammed tight? I'm going to look at the car tonight to give her an idea of what needs doing and how much it'll cost , so it will be useful for me to be able to pin-point certain areas.
I used to own a Fiesta many many years ago, can I still expect spares for the Ka to be as available and cheap (by modern standards) as they were then?
|
Yes plugs rust in: Plus gas for 2 days when stopped.
Engine breathers fill with black gunge. Clean out.
Watch for rust underneath.
Parts cheap as chips.
madf
|
Expect to be changing the lower wishbones in the not-to-distant future.
Also, so I've heard, they are notorious for needing brake discs at fairly low mileages.
If it's the old 1.3 engine the tappets will need adjusting; rather unusual these days.
|
I managed to give the car a look over last night. It was a T-reg with 70k miles. On initial checks things looked OK; plenty of oil in there (so no leaks), spark plugs looked quite recent (she said they were changed at the last service in March, so hopefully aren't rusted in), other fluids looked fine, and the front brake pads were thick.
However, I decided to take it for a quick spin around the block , and things went rapidly downhill from there. I started her up and engine sounded quite rough and sent some pretty hard vibrations through the car initally. While tootling around the streets it became clear the engine was down on power and was not firing cleanly. She hadn't noticed this lack of power, as she is a relatively inexperienced driver who had only really driven her own car and and never really gets out of London.
This engine problem doesn't seem too much of a problem to deal with though, misfires aren't usually too difficult to track down. The more worrying thing were noises when going over speed bumps. There was a lot of crashing and banging sounds from under the car, probably mainly from the rear right corner. Something sounds very awry and not healthy down there. I'm pretty sure it's not the exhaust clonking, but more to do with the suspension side of things. She says she often has to ferry around some salad-dodgers in the back, and they make it worse. Sounds like the poor car is suffering under the weight of too much lard and too many speed bumps.
What is the rear suspension arrangement on Kas? Is there a known weak-point which can give up. I'm pretty sure the front end sounded OK.
|
|
rear shocks are easy to replace,check the springs are not broken, jack it up and have a good look you will see much easier,also check exhaust mountings etc, worth checking rear axle bushes for exessive play, good luck it's a ka everything is cheap enough!! oh and set them tappets there's nothing worse than a rattley ka!!
|
|
i think bigtee has it covered but also make sure the spare is tight in its cradle as this could give the banging symptoms and if left unchecked the wheel could bounce out with horrific consydoodars
|
I bounced up and down on each corner of the car and they all seemed OK and damped without any funny noises, so I think the shocks and springs are probably OK. So maybe it is the spare, or something else which Bigtree suggested. I think she did have to change a wheel recently after a puncture, so it's very probable that she didn't secure the wheel.
|
I think the higher the milege on the old Endura-e engines the noisier they become, despite this they can run up to 120k i think?
As long as it's serviced properly & on time they can reach high milege that is, otherwise it'll choke itself on its own sludge!!!!!
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
|
my 1.3 push rod in an escort is now up to 112,000 and perfect. oil changes at 6 months from new. burns no oil does 45mpg, parts at givaway prices, go to Partco etc.discs?, £22 +vat for two. etc
exhaust cost pennies!
They do the common suspension bits too, just what for the rot- Ford had a shortish design life in mind
|
|
|
