Station Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Are the Endura-E engines reliable (I guess they are unbelievably reliable)? Do you reckon longs journeys (in the hundreds) are doable?I don't like the fact there isn't a temp gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigmund Fraud Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 The Endura is a modernised* Kent Crossflow, so there's not much to go wrong. I know that heater valves can fail spectacularly, dumping all the coolant and toasting the engine. Perhaps a new one would be a reasonable bit of preventive maintenance before long distance use ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minimad5 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Did it pass ????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 The Endura is a modernised* Kent Crossflow, so there's not much to go wrong. I know that heater valves can fail spectacularly, dumping all the coolant and toasting the engine. Perhaps a new one would be a reasonable bit of preventive maintenance before long distance use ?New heater valve have a "tell tale" hole like a water pump that lets you know when the seals have gone. Personally I would rather the coolant remain in the system if it's all the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Station Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 It went in on Thursday, and failed in exhaust resembling a flute, and 'brakes imbalance across axle'.Which axle? Is this steering axle or the rear axle?The rear drums are seized on as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partridge Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 So they didn't pick up on the sills being made of teabags? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minimad5 Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Think he welded them squire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partridge Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Oh I've just read it. Sorry Station, not feeling my best today and was having a thick moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Reverend Bluejeans Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 The Endura is a modernised* Kent Crossflow, so there's not much to go wrong. Not quite. It's the Spanish Valencia unit that shares nothing with the Kent unit, it's a shorter engine as well. Plugs rust in for fun.Good save on this one. They're rust buckets but so were BMC 1100's and I wish more of those had been saved. AnthonyG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bangerfan101 Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 cant beleive how bad these rot compared to fiestas of a similar age . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partridge Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 You would have thought Ford would have learned after the "D for Doom" fiasco. overrun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercrocker Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Speaking of Billy Blunders, it always struck me that Ford made the same mistake as BMC in costing the KA. Didn't they once take a Mini apart and find it should have cost more than a Cortina? Maybe if the KA had been aimed higher in the market place they could have afforded to build them properly - they would probably still have sold given their appeal to the "Blonde Pound". Its probably the closest modern equivalent to a Morris Minor and was cheerfully Spartan when new (before all the rather pointless Collection business...) and they certainly seem to have engineered the right amount of corrosion resistance* into them. If you are going to all this admirable bother to save it one, it might as well be an early one in a nice colour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partridge Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 I guess the idea was to appeal to the blonde pound with the collection version, but also keep the lower end of the market in play with lowlier spec cars. It was designed with women in mind actually.The mistake was to budget with idea of selling more cheap ones (at a guess) than posh ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timewaster Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 You would have thought Ford would have learned after the "D for Doom" fiasco.I've not heard of that one. Is it to do with the weetabix they made escorts and fiestas out of circa 1987? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partridge Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 I've not heard of that one. Is it to do with the weetabix they made escorts and fiestas out of circa 1987?Yup, D to E cars were worse effected. It was put down to Ford using cheap, reclaimed steel to keep costs down, according to the media at the time. How much of it was true, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timewaster Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Well my brothers C reg XR3i that dissolved over its 4th winter would go some way to prove it.Also the ex birds D reg Escort turned to dust before the tax ran out. Myth CONFIRMED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partridge Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 CASE CLOSED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercrocker Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Filed along with the Silver Fox, Blue Mink and Light Orchid fiasco c.1969 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyG Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 For future collectors, Millennium special edition ones would be worth looking out for. They were yellow with black interiors (possibly leather, haven't seen one for a while). Built to 'celebrate' Ford's sponsorship of the transport section of the millennium dome. Came in Ka, Puma and Focus flavours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 I used to rate KAs until I did a clutch on one and spent days welding another one up for it to pass the MOT and then shit its clutch immediately after. In their defence they are amusing to drive and go alright for a 1.3, but they have got to the point where they are all hanging to fuck. They've all been "just one more year" MOT welded since about 2008, so there's more welding wire and brushable seam sealer than there is original steel underneath them. Like you say, the sills go from the inside out so while they might look OK, a few taps with a hammer splits the strange fibrous layers of rust (it's like the steel version of slate) and you've got a great big hole. They're always a pain to weld to cos even when you go at it with a grinding disk, you can't find owt shiny. The engines will handle hilarious amounts of neglect, I don't think they even need any oil at all, let alone oil changes. Same goes for water. I think ford designed the engine to require neither oil nor water, but just added them both on because people would be suspicious otherwise - they don't actually perform a function. Lankytim, overrun and dugong 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 The tappety noise from the day it was driven out of the dealer would suggest that oil is an optional extra. I wonder if you can reroute the oil pump outlet to just fire 10W30 down the inside of the sills? Might have worked out better. mat_the_cat, Station, dugong and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobthebeard Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Suspect Jalopy magazine would have had a thing or two to say about them...... Shep Shepherd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I can agree with everything said. My ex had a 5 year old Ka which took all the abuse she threw at it. The engine was tough and the steering and handling was brilliant, but I spent a week derusting the sills so she could chop it in for a Civic Sport which she later wrote off. I think they're pretty ace and definitely worthy shite due to mechanical durability and handling. Would need to be cheap though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twosmoke300 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Anyone else changed a pas pump on one ?Good grief ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadworkUK Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 My parents still have one of these, '97 on an "R", the base model with FM-only radio/tape and bicep-o-matic unnassisted steering. They've had it for sixteen years. Marvellous thing to drive, it really is. Sadly, most of the bodywork has been replaced with bits of Zintek by now, and the new bits have started to be rejected by the old. It's fizzing away quite nicely now and Dad's finally at the stage of waving the white flag and throwing in the towel. I have said to him that if he weighs it in he MUST save the clock. Shame these are all jiggered by now. A good one, as stated earlier by knowledgable folk, will be an investment. BUT THERE AREN'T ANY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Station Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Yes, the bottom of the body is a load of crap. I found out why the petrol cap surround goes. You can put your hand inside the arch and feel the cavity, which is usually full of mud and further amounts of chunks of thin metal which has departed from the rest of the car. The wheel flicks all the stuff off the road about a foot into this area, what a bunch of idiots Ford are. Incidentally, has anyone not had a metal car ramp either rocket off away from the car as soon as the wheel touches it, or somehow insert itself into the sill, -behind- the wheel? Needlesstosay, it went straight through as this is a Ford Ka. Also these things: The very rusty backbox gave way before I managed to get it off the other hook. Slathered with grease, they're easy to get on, but if they've been on for a while they are a frigging nightmare to remove: What do they make exhaust pipes from? Dare I say it, the same metal as they make Ford Ka's from? Must be the worst, cheapest kind of metal available. I bought this used exhaust pipe from Nottingham (50 mile diversion driving home from work) for £7.50 after weighing up paying 60 quid for a complete one, or £10 on diesel. The bloke had a big handlebar moustache and came out in just his undies and must've weighed 28 stone. I wanted to take a good photo of him for you all, but I fear he may killed me. I had to stick it to the roof of my Astra estate as I couldn't believe how long exhaust pipes are. It's like it came off a Cadillac Eldorado.It was strapped down well as I conveniently had a load of bungee cords in the boot and it didn't move an inch, but it whistled like a recorder all the way home. Lastly brake shoes - horrible job from start to finish: TBH, the rest of the car is superb (handling, engine, interior), I can't fault anything about it really. brickwall, TagoraSX, mat_the_cat and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Best post ever. Handlebar moustache man dressed in only his skegs and the description of the inordinately long woodwindesque exhaust. dugong, AnthonyG, tooSavvy and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendry Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 What's the deal with these things? Today in Tescos car park I clocked an 07 plate and a 1999 T plate parked next to each other, the 07 was totally gone on the rear quarter around the fuel filler whereas the T was much more solid looking, it got me thinking most earlier Kas I see are tidier than later ones, were they better built or with better quality metal or did Ford just cost cut on later ones to keep making money on them Barry Cade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twosmoke300 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Presented a customers 51 plater for mot 3 week back and not a bit of rust on it . In Cornwall ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Station Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 I reckon you'd get away with it if you actually jetwashed the cavities once in a while from new! I know I haven't painted a very pretty picture but I'm putting this up for offers if anyone wants to buy it? There's a chance I may sell three cars this week, and if I could make it four, I'd be very happy as I have an 80's Japanese sports car shaped space that has been assigned a spot in my garage tomorrow.I'd take offers, it will come with 12 months MOT (no tax), and a bonafide guarantee it will need welding for the next MOT (but I have plated up the bad bits so possibly not?) (actually, what am I saying, no, it will need welding for the next MOT). Customers with bad back and lack of ability to bend down (close to floor) will get priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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