What happens if you drive a car with a faulty HT lead? Answers enclosed.

[DoctorRetro]

I went to see a car yesterday, but it was misfiring, EML was on, and an HT lead was arcing out. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/251124839229460/

Obviously I turned it down, but someone else bought it. 

So what happens if you attempt to drive a car with this issue? Buyer is trying to recoup his losses on this... 

 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1108627952814120/

[mercedade]

SHiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt

[Cord Fourteener]

Ouch, not the best outcome, but looks like no one was hurt at least.

[Heidel_Kakao]

Wowsers! If they had removed the lead completely do you think that would have prevented it?

[DoctorRetro]

2 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Wowsers! If they had removed the lead completely do you think that would have prevented it?

Probably. Or even wrapped it in insulation tape. 

I told the seller what the fault was, the arcing was very obvious, even in the daylight. 

[SRi05]

Fire is the best thing for Ford Ka's anyway, rusty heaps of shite 

[Kowalski]

You turned it down because it needed HT leads? ?

[Zelandeth]

Loads of unburned fuel dumped into the cat = mega amounts of heat (i.e. orange hot) can always set something else alight.

The V12 Jags with the Magnetti Marelli ignition system were really prone to this.  The system could lose spark entirely on one bank of cylinders at the drop of a hat...cue 2.6 litres of engine shoving unburned fuel and air into a red hot cat matrix.  At the best you need to replace the melted down cat, at worst you need the fire brigade.

On cars without a cat bore wash is usually the biggest worry, but with a cat fitted it's a different story!  Especially as most engine management systems will react to the situation by dumping more and more fuel in (as the unburned charge from the dead cylinder results in excess oxygen in the exhaust stream, so the lambda sensor interprets it as the engine running lean).

Best thing to do there if you couldn't just patch or replace the lead would be to disconnect the injector to the affected cylinder.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Real shame that... poor bugger.

[Bren]

At least it killed the rust

[DoctorRetro]

33 minutes ago, Kowalski said:

You turned it down because it needed HT leads? ?

No, because I couldn't guarantee the EML was just that, and because i didn't fancy driving a misfiring car with arcing HT leads home. Oh, and the steering wheel looked like it was cultivating its own strain of virus. 

[TrabbieRonnie]

It's a car I've never driven actually, bet they're quite good given the light weight, wheel at each corner design...  Like I say, they're thin in the ground up here and the 323 and Trabi are fulfilling our smoll car needs, so I may never know!

[vulgalour]

They can be pretty fun to chuck about, feel like a more natural successor to the Fiesta than the Fiesta was.  Nice airy cabins, good seating position, sensible control layout... Ford got a lot right with these and, unfortunately, a lot wrong when it came to rust prevention.

[richardmorris]

49 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

It's a car I've never driven actually, bet they're quite good given the light weight, wheel at each corner design...  Like I say, they're thin in the ground up here and the 323 and Trabi are fulfilling our smoll car needs, so I may never know!

Spiteful excuse for a car. I had one as a courtesy* car back in 2001 when my cx Pallas got murdered in France.

[Cooper1]

Misfires can damage cats.. 

 

My Fiesta had this issue, i just dunked the lead in a bucket of water and refitted, been fine ever-since ? ? 

 

Mind you KA's are complete pieces of shit.. 

 

You can hear them fizzing when it rains  

Watch them rust!!

[Cooper1]

Automatic anorl!! 

[Aston Martin]

The mk2 Ka used the Fire engine...

[Jazoli]

9 hours ago, Cooper1 said:

Automatic anorl!! 

What? 

Unless you were being silly there's no such word as anorl, do you mean 'and all' or 'as well'

The Ka isn't an auto, they were all manual, FB defaults to 'auto gearbox' on their listings unless you change it.

I've had a couple of Ka's for the children to learn in, they are a good steer but I'd not have one now as mine were rusty at 3 years old.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Following a Subaru doing 70 down a country lane (far enough ahead that he's clearing a path, not so close as to be a danger to you) in one of these really is great, great fun.  Unless it's on fire, obviously.

[Jazoli]

48 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Following a Subaru doing 70 down a country lane (far enough ahead that he's clearing a path, not so close as to be a danger to you) in one of these really is great, great fun.  Unless it's on fire, obviously.

Hehe I used to chase my boss to work in his Audi S4 in our Ka down 10 miles of twisty bumpy B road, he could never shake me off which annoyed him greatly

(no kittens were harmed in the above, and it was all on private roads obviously)

[Cooper1]

5 hours ago, Jazoli said:

What? 

Unless you were being silly there's no such word as anorl, do you mean 'and all' or 'as well'

The Ka isn't an auto, they were all manual, FB defaults to 'auto gearbox' on their listings unless you change it.

I've had a couple of Ka's for the children to learn in, they are a good steer but I'd not have one now as mine were rusty at 3 years old.

wot anorl ain't a werd? 

 

'It is a bad habit from another forum

[GrumpiusMaximus]

5 hours ago, Jazoli said:

Hehe I used to chase my boss to work in his Audi S4 in our Ka down 10 miles of twisty bumpy B road, he could never shake me off which annoyed him greatly

(no kittens were harmed in the above, and it was all on private roads obviously)

My Dad had an Audi A4 and I distinctly remember overtaking him on the M4 once - just for kicks.  We were both driving to Herefordshire, had gone different ways and ended up at the same point.  So I went for it.

My proudest overtake in my Ka was a Pagani Zonda back in about 2007.  It got stuck on the inside doing 60, so I went for it.  I am still delighted to this day.

[dave j]

Looks like you dodged a bullet there by not buying this one! 

I worked for a Ford dealer in 2000 ish and we had loads of these as courtesy cars, they were great fun to drive flat out everywhere! What they are like now they are 20 years old and rotten I don't know but I enjoyed driving them

[Amishtat]

WGAF? Another rotten shitheap going where it was always headed