Hi,
I've just bought my wife a 2001 (51 plate) Fiesta Flight with 60,000 miles on the clock, and with the 1.3 Endura engine. The car seems to run perfectly, but when she starts the car up, the exhaust is very smoky. It seems to go away, and as I said, the car seems to run perfectly. I'm not terribly technical with motors, but would this be a sign that all is not well?
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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What colour is the smoke?
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Hi,
I don't think it's too dark, as in black. I think it's more greyish white.
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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Bluey white smoke (is this what you are getting) on startup is usually a sign of worn valve stem seals. This allows a little bit of engine oil to drop into the cylinders where it burns off when the engine starts (hence the brief period of smoke)
I don't know the technical details of doing this job on the Endura-E, but it's not usually horrendous. The seals themselves are cheap (a few quid each), but you'll be looking at a few hours labour. These are simple engines, and any competent independent garage should be more than capable of doing this job. There's certainly no need to pay Ford dealer rates.
It won't be doing the catalyst a lot of good, but it won't damage the engine to run it like this as long as you keep an eye on the oil level.
Cheers
DP
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Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I'll keep an eye on the oil levels, and see if i can get someone to look at it for me. My wife only covers 6000 miles a year, so the car won't get hammered. I will check later today that the smoke is blueish white. Would the smoke cause the car to fail an MOT on emissions?
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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Unless it's burning a LOT of oil, it should pass emissions. Son's 1.1Fiesta burned 1 litre per 800 or so miles and it passed like that for 5 years.
Personally I would change the oil next time round to Castrol Oil for High Mileage engines (don't bother until service is due) as it does cut down oil usage - son's one was burning 1 litre per 400-500 miles before we used it.
Make sure you put a drop or two of engine oil on the spark plug threads (external- don't remove plugs) as this will prevent well known problem of rusting plugs in head and possible removal problems. (see various threads in Technical0
Edited by madf on 31/01/2008 at 15:36
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Hi Guys,
Thanks for the answers. Ihave been trying to locate the required valve stem seals. From what I can see, the only part numbers I have found are either UPG4629 or UKG655. These are not Ford part numbers though. Does anyone know if these part numbers are correct, or what the Ford part numbers would be?
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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£1.19 each seal. Ford FINIS (part) number 6166533.
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Hi,
Thanks for the part number. Will that part number be suitable for any Endura 1.3 engine, as I have just discovered that my car had a replacement engine fitted not long ago. Also, is there any way I can find out how old this engine is, as I'm now concerned that the engine I have may be somewhat older than the car.
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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Yes that'll fit all.
I doubt you'll be able to find out how old the engine is. Even if you've got the engine serial code/VIN this will tell you nothing but when the car was manufactured, unless you've a friend at the DVLA. It'll be post '96 though.
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Hi,
Thanks again for the info.
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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The first two letters of the engine number [if still legible] might be the build-date code. There may also be casting date marks on the head.
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Hi,
Thanks for the reply. The car has 59,000 on the clock, but obviously I have no way of knowing what mileage the replacement engine has done. For obvious reasons, I'd prefer the engine to have come from a 2001 car rather than a 1996 car!
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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Don't bother with the Castrol oil-your Ford dealer will stock Ford 10w/30(in winter) or 20w/50(in summer) which will be adequate.The seals soften as the engine warms so you normally only get the smoke on initial start.
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Hi Guys,
Thanks again for all you replies.
First, let me say that my wife has just arrived home. The car has been sitting for 10 minutes, and when I started the car up again, there was no smoke at all from the exhaust. I also checked the oil cap, and there is no white gunge that i can see. Is it possible that my smoke problem is caused by the wrong oil, rather than the valve stem seals being faulty?
Secondly, there is a label on the engine which says "97WT 7002 VE". Does that mean that it might be a 1997 engine? I'm not sure where else to look for anything stamped onto the engine.
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:20
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What did I just say?-initial start then the seals soften.
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7002 base number sounds more like a gearbox ident.
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Find the sparkplug nearest the gearbox and come forwards slightly to find a rectangular flat surface sticking out below the head face.
Clean it off and the engine number is stamped on it.
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Hi Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I think the sticker with the number I quoted was on the gearbox. The wife is away out in the car now, but I'll check it tomorrow, and see if I can find the plate referred to.
(The manual signature you included right throughout this whole thread removed. Once or twice is tollerable, but all the way through was starting to get annoying, sorry - webmaster)
Edited by Webmaster on 02/02/2008 at 00:24
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The flange referred to normally only shows a three letter code starting with a J(for 1.3) which designates the type of engine fitted.The engine number may or may not appear somewhere on the block and will consist of two letters and five numbers.The first letter is a year code,second a month code and then five sequential numbers.
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Hi,
These numbers are stamped just below where the spark plugs are:
1085, then just below that 19J, and then to the right of that (below the spark plug nearest the gear box) 1996.
I could be wrong about the first two, but the 1996 number is definite.
Edited by gah2402 on 02/02/2008 at 09:51
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