Talk to me about Fiesta's

[LabRat]

Evening all,

 

After the farce that was the knackered Audi, Domestic Management has set her sights on something smaller. More specifically a 1999 (mk4?) 1.4 fiesta zetec in doom blue, complete with frowny face and an intact fuel filler.

 

 

I'm off to have a looksie tomorrow, so other than rampant tin worm and smokey engines, is there owt I need to look out for?

 

Cheers,

Alex

 

 

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[Bren]

Heater valves that are jammed.

 

Knocking zetec engines.

 

Sills that rust from the inside out.

 

Leaking thermostat housings.

 

Avoid anything due a clutch or timing belt - it costs too much.

[LabRat]

Cheers for that, the kid flogging it only wants £200 for it, so if it's not totally knackered it'll be worth a punt I reckon...

 

Saying that, it'll be a total shed now, just watch!!

 

 

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[D Spares & Tyres]

Heater valves are pennies and easy to change but a good bargaining point

 

Clutches are hydraulic with a concentric slave so be wary of that!

 

Rear axle bushes are a pain in the arse to change, any knocking from the rear is probably that

[castros_bro]

Zetec SE? Timing belt / timing belt tensioner. Think the spec is they will last 100,000 miles ho ho ho. Got some pics of bent exhaust valves at 55,000 miles when it's tensioner gave up

[Felly Magic]

Rocker gasket on these Zetecs too, ours went and it caused an epic thirst for expensive 5w30 which these Yamaha engines need, no other oil is suitable. As have already been mentioned, the hydraulic clutches are expensive to change, as i found out the day before i started a new job!!!

[R9UKE]

Every single one I've had has had a duff coolant temp sensor which doesn't activate the fan and so it overheats. Changed them and no avail. Bridged the two wires to the sensor and voila, fan runs all the time, but better than it overheating! Anyone know the actual cause of this?

[Cavcraft]

One of those cars going through that utterly worthless phase and they deserve to be. Pretty grim and only for the desperate sums them up, methinks.

[LabRat]

I don't know about desperate just yet...

 

She's after a cheap hack to get her through winter and get some funds saved up for something better. Problem being, once she's got an idea into her head, I've more chance of curing world hunger than changing it!

 

 

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[omegod]

They rust like a fucker, sills floorpan,boot floor. Grimness personified  

[castros_bro]

The 1.4/1.6 Zetec is 100,00 miles or 10 years interval for a cam belt but 70,000 / 7 years seems to be recommended, going on the lack of accessibility etc, will probably cost  £400 a throw.  A 1999 Zetec which hasn't had one from new is living on borrowed time, a 1999 which has had one at 7 years is now overdue as well.  All a bit of a gamble.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I'm currently running a rot free sad faced one with the pushrod engine

 

Great little car ☺

[Cavcraft]

LabRat, on 30 Dec 2015 - 7:27 PM, said:

saved up for something better.

 

 

That is going to be one very extensive list.

[LabRat]

So, in essence she is wanting a car that quite possibly is too grim even for Autoshite?

 

(Personally, I'd rather eat my own liver, but I'm not the one driving it.)

 

 

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[D Spares & Tyres]

I'm only running one as I couldn't sell it, was on eBay for 2 months and not the slightest interest!

 

I quite like it though, it handles well and still feels tight. I can't get too excited over it but as S reg hatchbacks go, there's nothing but grimness to choose from!

 

36 mpg isn't brilliant though

[Bren]

Ours was a ghia - had all the whistles and bells and was quite nice.

 

They wallow a bit and the brakes are utter shit - even with new linings. A few times I was tempted to open the door and use my size 9's to stop the bastard.

[castros_bro]

There is a worse car, they fitted a  Durashift gearbox to some Ford Fiestas of that period.  That's a manual gearbox + clutch  operated remotely by a couple of Bosch "wiper motors" and small hydraulic pump all controlled by a little bad tempered troll in a metal box (electronic to you Guv). In reality it was a Mazda design incorporating  some German bits so very few people know anything about how they work, or in most cases don't work.    If you do find one with gearbox control issues (usually not going into "N" so engine doesn't start) for 50p please tell me. A lot were scrapped as "repairs" started at £700 and went rapidly north.

[Bren]

If you are using it as a motorway car they are crap on fuel at motorway speeds - the engine is working very hard.

[hairymel]

quite like a mk4/5 fiesta myself.....

 

bad rot by the back end of the sills

 

the rear beam bushes are usually shot and are a bastard to change - cut them out with a holesaw/fire/hacksaw and fit poly type bushes (approx £30 on ebay) rather than spend £10 on oem style bushes and all of your lifeforce pressing them in/out

 

bits are cheap and they are not bad to run around in

[Split_Pin]

I would only consider one of these if it had the Endura E engine. Slow, noisy but almost unkillable. The ride is also sick-making, very wallowy especially in the back, but handles well.

 

I actually like the styling, decent dash and trim too.

[michael t]

I'm currently running a 2002 one with the 1.25 petrol motor in it. Brilliant little runabout, easy-ish on fuel and nice n comfy. Bad points are of course the rust as mine has already had a rear arch replacement (albeit before I bought it) and that arch is starting to go again as is the boot lid and the sills. The interior also gets ridiculously hot even when the heater is on the lowest setting which can be quite uncomfortable to say the least!

[Coprolalia]

What about the little polo for sale on here?

[MarvinsMom]

What about the little polo for sale on here?

oh sweet jeeezuzzzzz,

 

that IS GRIM!!

[lincolndanny]

Me and the old boy refer to these as fish face Fiestas. Toca 2 touring cars on the Playstation had these on bizzarely!

[lincolndanny]

Got me thinking actually, did they even do a sporty version in this shape? 1.6 si 3 door as high as things Go?

[LabRat]

It's only got to get her across Oldham for work basically and for the various courses she has to attend locally for work... It wouldn't be fair on a bigger car to do that sort of work.

 

I did suggest the bus once... She's only just gotten around to talking to me again! (Sleeping on the settee with a basset hound for company is not for the faint hearted, I can tell you!!)

 

 

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[beko1987]

Sounds ideal for that tbh

 

I need new front tyres dear. Certainly, here's 50p

 

I need new front pads. Of course, another fiver

 

I hit a bollard and bashed the rear bumper. Fuck it, doesn't matter

 

It must be buttons to service one of these now

 

Then when you need rid either roffle on here for 50p a ticket or send for frag.

[Ghosty]

There is a worse car, they fitted a  Durashift gearbox to some Ford Fiestas of that period.  That's a manual gearbox + clutch  operated remotely by a couple of Bosch "wiper motors" and small hydraulic pump all controlled by a little bad tempered troll in a metal box (electronic to you Guv). In reality it was a Mazda design incorporating  some German bits so very few people know anything about how they work, or in most cases don't work.    If you do find one with gearbox control issues (usually not going into "N" so engine doesn't start) for 50p please tell me. A lot were scrapped as "repairs" started at £700 and went rapidly north.

 

Even worse than that, 1.25 CVT sad face.

Ours grenaded three gearboxes in 60k.

 

Rear arches are another rust spot.

 

Don't get a Fiesta. They're miserable crap.

[sierraman]

I've had one. They are good cars but watch for following...

 

Rust on the rear arches, ends of the rear chassis legs, sills will almost certainly be patched, inner sills go and cause a problem when it comes to patching the sills as there's fuck all to weld to. Floors go as well that's what sent mine west.

 

They can cut out when slowing down usual cause for this is the ISCV, 5 minute job to swap.

 

Heater valve might be stuck again easy job to mend

 

Release bearing on clutch will likely be whirring but they go on for years like this

 

A lot will say they are shit but a lot of this stuff might have already been done. At least everything's cheap. I bought a new old stock tail lamp for £12.

 

I'd give it a go, don't start expecting it to last forever - the MOT man will likely give it a one way ticket at MOT time. On the plus side they are good fun to drive and the 1.25 Zetec sounds like a right banger when you give it some stick.

[sierraman]

I would only consider one of these if it had the Endura E engine. Slow, noisy but almost unkillable. The ride is also sick-making, very wallowy especially in the back, but handles well.

 

I actually like the styling, decent dash and trim too.

I couldn't kill the 1.25 we had, never changed the oil in 4 years, took it within an inch of its life daily. The engine on that car just kept going, in fact it ended up outlasting the car.