Fiesta terminal rot!

[sierraman]

Investigated the fiestas wet floors today, noticed passenger side was wet as well. Pulled carpet and sound deadening back, wet through. Underneath however was rot in several places. Most notably 3 £2 sized holes in the wheel arch/bulkhead, inner sill holed through and a 3 inch hole in the centre of the floor. Bearing in mind wife and child use this car I've decided to get shut as its got all the structural integrity of weetabix.

 

Looking at mk1 focus 1.6's seem durable, I am aware they rust but nowhere near as bad as the fiesta. In any case I'd be checking it thoroughly followed by waxoyl! Does anyone have any buying tips?

[philibusmo]

My buying tips are simple.

 

1. If you wish to purchase a car, it is always a good idea to have some money with you, preferably enough to buy your desired automobile.

 

2. Remember: All Vauxhalls are shit.

[sierraman]

Top tip check there's an actual engine under the Bonnet not just a drawing of one.

[Micrashed]

Research your chosen car well.

 

Inspect thoroughly when purchasing. Test drive if possible.

 

Be prepared for something to crap out on you / be wrong when you get it home.

 

Fix it or learn to accept it.

[Split_Pin]

Tbh I'd just get another less rusty Fiesta. The 1.3 Endura e is pretty miserable but it will never die. Endura D for maximum shite points. Great for waking the neighbours come cold start time!

[AlabamaShrimp]

What you doing with the soggy one, will it be for sale?

[rml2345]

Make sure that it's actually a car the seller has and not a bed frame or something. The number of times I've been caught out by that one...

The only places I've noticed really serious got on the MK1 Focus are the sill ends and the rear wheel arches.

[Bren]

Investigated the fiestas wet floors today, noticed passenger side was wet as well. Pulled carpet and sound deadening back, wet through. Underneath however was rot in several places. Most notably 3 £2 sized holes in the wheel arch/bulkhead, inner sill holed through and a 3 inch hole in the centre of the floor. Bearing in mind wife and child use this car I've decided to get shut as its got all the structural integrity of weetabix.

Looking at mk1 focus 1.6's seem durable, I am aware they rust but nowhere near as bad as the fiesta. In any case I'd be checking it thoroughly followed by waxoyl! Does anyone have any buying tips?

If the car is a good runner get it repaired. Better the devil you know.

[mrbenn]

As noted, check sills and wheel arches. If you have a quick look underneath you should be able to pull the fabric wheel rear arch liner forward slightly. These get wet and touch the bodywork at the front of the arch which can promote rot - mine needed a good wire brushing here. Also check door bottoms, particularly the rear. They go from the inside - out. I'd suggest a facelift (generally 02 plate onwards) as these seem better for rot resistance.

 

Check all instruments work on a test drive. If the speedo plays up and drops to zero its probably the speed sensor on the gearbox. If all gauges mess about then its probably a new instrument cluster.

 

If the gear lever doesn't return to neutral properly its likely a little spring underneath the gaiter, cost roughly £7-8 and 2 mins to replace.

 

Front windows can stick. I got my Focus cheaper due to driver's window doing this - could hear motor trying. Took car card off and freed of the motor with a tap of the hammer, been fine since.

 

Check for damp footwell in front passenger well. Pollen filter tends to need a bead of sealant where the cover meets the windscreen.

 

I love mine, its great to drive and (so far) has been cheap to run and fix

 

[Cavcraft]

3) Ask for advice on here

 

4) Horsey Horeseless

 

5) Ignore advice on here

[phil_lihp]

As above, Focuses (Focii?) do rot in a few places, not half as badly as a Mk4 Fiesta/Mk1 Ka though.  I had a 2000 1.6 for a couple of years. it was fundamentally a good car but had been ruined by terminal abuse and neglect by its previous owners so probably not the best example to use.  The Zetec engines do not tolerate neglect well so try and find one with some evidence that it's been serviced fairly regularly.  Other than that, they're a pretty good car to drive and although they do get niggly electrical faults they're usually pretty reliable.

[Cavcraft]

6) Focus's's's's are crap.

 

7) Nissan Vanette.

[danthecapriman]

As others have said, rust on the rear sill ends, lay on the floor and look up at the bottom of the sill end, this is normally where it starts. Also rear arches, theres a few around here with nothing left in the little bit of arch between the rear door and wheel. Ive also seen a few with rust blisters starting to come through on the doors around the door mirrorrs.

The zetecs are great little engines, but need to be serviced regularly and not abused. I think the later black top zetec should have 5w30 oil not 10w40 that most people just bung in them.

 

My mum has a 2002 1.6 zetec, had it from new and its been a very very good car. Its just hit 130K now and all its had is regular servicing, tyres, 2 sets of front discs + pads and a few other minor bits and bobs. Its even still on the original clutch! The only issue it had was the speed sensor problem mentioned above, solved with a new one, ours was easy to change but I have heard they can be a right twat to get out sometimes. It also had a problem with the instrument binnacle, they were built using a modern lead free solder and of course its shit and breaks down over time so you get weird things happening on the dash, ours made all the gauges fly up to the max and all warning lights came on! It happened randomly. The cure is to have it taken out and resoldered with proper solder. We got a specialist to do ours for about £70 all in (incl removing the binnacle) I think.

The OE radios sometimes fail too (Ford 6000cd), my mums car is now on its third replacement, I dont know what the issue is with them but they just stop recieving radio channels or stop all together. The next time it goes ill get a aftermarket dash facia and a non original radio for it.

 

They are very good cars though, and id definatly have one as a reliable daily. Try to look for a later one thats been looked after and itll last you ages.

[phil_lihp]

Incidentally, if you find one with a swimming pool in the passenger footwell, don't be put off, it's almost certainly the pollen filter seal.  It's under the N/S scuttle panel and the filters seldom get changed.  There's a foam seal around the edge of the scuttle panel/filter box which degrades over time and lets water run straight down the windscreen, through the cabin air intake (eventually seizing the fan blower motor and blowing the fan resistor, another cheap and easy fix) and into the passenger footwell.  A new seal is supplied along with a new filter.

 

I think the 6000CD units tend to overheat if the cables aren't properly stowed behind the unit, I had that problem in a Mk4 Fiesta and the unit kept shutting off until I managed to get the bundle of cables behind it to sit out of the way.

[danthecapriman]

 

I think the 6000CD units tend to overheat if the cables aren't properly stowed behind the unit, I had that problem in a Mk4 Fiesta and the unit kept shutting off until I managed to get the bundle of cables behind it to sit out of the way.

 

Is this what causes the problem then? I thought it was just something that happened to them over time as they get old!

Ill have a look at my mums car next time I get chance.

[PiperCub]

Re: Focus instruments - is it still the case Ford are selling the clusters cheap as they were 4-5 years ago? - as they recognised this was an established fault with the Mk1's. (IIRC it was about £50 instead of £200 or so???). A friend had the cluster on her ST170 that was dying at the time.

[danthecapriman]

Re: Focus instruments - is it still the case Ford are selling the clusters cheap as they were 4-5 years ago? - as they recognised this was an established fault with the Mk1's. (IIRC it was about £50 instead of £200 or so???). A friend had the cluster on her ST170 that was dying at the time.

 

Not sure tbh! Although I would say that if they were/are selling them cheap then its because the new ones will also end up with the same issues at some point down the line. I think I would still rather get the original resoldered and sorted that way, at least you still get to keep the mileage etc as it should be and if the right solder is used it wont screw up again. Im sure at the time when this problem first came to light there was a bit of controversy with Ford as alot of cars it was affecting were out of warrenty, didnt Ford discount the new parts as a goodwill gesture?

[AldridgePrior]

I had a 1.1 Fiesta once. I had to bump her every morning to get to work. I painted it with a brush and swapped it for a wardrobe. Sorry, it doesn`t help you much in your decision making.

[alfetta]

All the older ones are pretty rot much a rot fest. MK'2 made in around '87 were pretty bad - awful steel. The 2002 onwards model (mkvi) seems to be pretty rot free.

[PiperCub]

Not sure tbh! Although I would say that if they were/are selling them cheap then its because the new ones will also end up with the same issues at some point down the line. I think I would still rather get the original resoldered and sorted that way, at least you still get to keep the mileage etc as it should be and if the right solder is used it wont screw up again. Im sure at the time when this problem first came to light there was a bit of controversy with Ford as alot of cars it was affecting were out of warrenty, didnt Ford discount the new parts as a goodwill gesture?

 

Yes that's a more accurately put, I think it was more of a goodwill gesture for out of warranty cars rather than the way I expressed it!

[AlabamaShrimp]

All the older ones are pretty rot much a rot fest. MK'2 made in around '87 were pretty bad - awful steel. The 2002 onwards model (mkvi) seems to be pretty rot free.

Not all Mk2's mine only has a tiny bit in the inner wing where 2 screws go through. It's the English and Spanish fiesta and escorts that rotted the German stuff is a lot better

[Asimo]

On my E plate Fiesta, the brackets that held the dash up rotted loose. And there were holes under the screen rubber.

 

Swapped it for some fence posts.

[sierraman]

Yes I am selling it so ill get some pictures up

[londonm]

Yes I am selling it so ill get some pictures up

Christ mate, this post isn't exactly selling it, is it?

[sierraman]

No i know but someone might want it for spares or something.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Still don't know what kind of fiesta it is yet!

[mat_the_cat]

A rusty one.

[twosmoke300]

Well that narrows it down

[sierraman]

A mk4 it is. Going to breakers Sunday. Offered £120 - happy with that. Plus it means in a bizarre act if retribution towards it I can blow the bastard up on the way to scrapyard.

[Cavcraft]

I did that to a Zetec engine Escort Mk7, or whatever they are, and a Focus. Drained the oil out, revved the absolute bollocks out of them and blew the bastards up. Very therapeutic.