1998 Ford Ka engine problems.

InvaderGIR

InvaderGIR

InvaderGIR

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Don't worry, it's not mine. :p

I guess it's a 1.3 or something, horrible little things anyway.

My friend is having issues with the car, when it's started it'll idle fine but as soon as throttle is applied it splutters and dies. That's what I've been told, will go take a look in a bit though.

Any ideas as to what it could be? My googling has come back a bit useless really, MAF and TPS appear to cause issues, but the other way round...if you leave it to idle it'll stall, but if you throttle it stays running.

Best guess as the moment is dodgy fuel, but then why would it idle fine if that were the case?
 
Could be ignition issues?

AFAIK all Ka's have the antiquated Ford 1.3 unit in them, thats just slighly more modern than the steam engine.

Worth swapping spark plugs and leads over, or checking for worn plugs or water ingress somewhere first?
 
Is it the definitely a 1.3?

I've read many, many people having having problems with the 1.25 where it would cut out or stutter at low speeds, my searching never found anyone who found the cure though!
 
The 1.25 engine wasn't used in Ka's IIRC its the older 1.3 engine that Ford have been using since the 80s albeit being injected rather than running carbs
 
sigma said:
Is it the definitely a 1.3?

I've read many, many people having having problems with the 1.25 where it would cut out or stutter at low speeds, my searching never found anyone who found the cure though!
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The 1.25 wasn't used in the KA. With the 1.25 it could be plugs, leads, coil pack or MAF sensor.
 
Right, had a look at the hateful 1.3...seems to be some form of injector issue. When the throttle is blipped I can hear what sounds like air coming in the back ok no3.

It idles fine, which points away from ICV surely?

Appears to be being suffocated on air/under fueling to be honest. Sparks are all clean and dry.
 
It must be because it's old, like everyone else says. Being an old engine must almost certainly be the cause of problem because old engines don't run.

If it dies when you flip the throttle open it's almost certainly a fuelling problem. If it was ignition it would try and run, but if it leans out too much it'll just splutter and die.
 
Yeah, damn these old engines!

It sounds like it us drawing air into 3 but I can't see a hole in the plenum, but was getting dark and didn't want to strip the engine on the drive in the dark.

But it won't be going anywhere under its own power that's for sure, owner will probably get a garage to look at getting it sorted.

I'm not up on these cack Ford units so don't want to do it myself really.
 
I'll see what I can do, I guess clean with carb cleaner?

Not sure if I'll be able to work on it, but will see what I can do...would like to help it for cheap than at a garage.
 
InvaderGIR said:
I'll see what I can do, I guess clean with carb cleaner?

Not sure if I'll be able to work on it, but will see what I can do...would like to help it for cheap than at a garage.
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It's 2 bolts and a plug.

Carb cleaner is fine, may need some liquid gasket as well.

Takes about 10 mins in total to do.
 
I mean I can work on it, but if the owner decides to get a garage or another friend involved, I won't be working on it. :p

I've explained what the likely cause is though and said I'm happy to work on it if needed. :)
 
Seems unlikely to be an idle valve; I am struggling to think of any possible failure mode that would let the engine idle ok but not run above idle.

As Jonny says the symptoms point to fueling. I had the exact same symptoms on my MR2 when the fuel pump failed, it could just scrape up a few PSI which was enough to let it run at idle but would die with the merest sniff of throttle. Does the Ka have a MAP or MAF sensor? If the latter then try unplugging it and see if the engine will rev.
 
It does have a MAF as far as I'm aware.

Yeah, ICV seems an odd one to me for revving and such, although usually the MAF related problems on them are a case of it'll rev but not idle from what I've seen on google.

That'd make sense with the fuel pump, it was certainly my first thought but then I figured it'd just completely not work rather than partially work...but if as you say, they can run but on too low a PSI that seems about right to me.

I'm positive it's a fuelling too, or lack thereof due to a failure in the fuel supply system...that could explain the air sucking noise at the cylinder too...as it's drawing air rather than fuel?

Also...I was able to slowly (and I mean slowly) increase the revs to a couple of thousand, but if I then blipped the throttle it'd splutter again.
 
The car will be using (as above) the Ford Kent engine and in the Fiesta/Ka/Escort the Endura-E. It's really prone to issues with the Idle Control Valve so it's always worth a shot as the chances are if it hasn't been replaced it probably will need it at some point in the near future. As you say in the OP, the Throttle postion sensor can also cause troubles and it should have MAF and lambda sensors which cause even more issues. The MAF (the Ka should have one) can cause a variety of running issues, so I guess it can't be totally ruled out and the lambda sensor would cause poor general performance (sometimes stuttering) and it may fail any emissions tests badly.

Also, there could be a split pipe - check the one that's near the oil filling cap for splits/wear etc.

In short there's a lot of issues with this engine and it can be a ballache if you only know so much (like me) and have to try and figure it out. You also have the problem whereby if you take it to a garage it'll cost a fair chunk more to sort out than doing it yourself, and the car must only be worth £500-£700 anyway.
 
alexhull24 said:
In short there's a lot of issues with this engine and it can be a ballache if you only know so much (like me) and have to try and figure it out. You also have the problem whereby if you take it to a garage it'll cost a fair chunk more to sort out than doing it yourself, and the car must only be worth £500-£700 anyway.
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That's the thing, I don't see it as being worth the time/effort/money to get a garage to look at it due to costs being silly and the car being old a cheap, just to find the exact fault, then parts, fitting etc. My friend will be getting someone else to look at it today/tomorrow and he knows a well priced garage and also knows cars...but I expect parts and labour would make it like a £150-£200 bill, whereas if I could identify the problem and get the parts it'd be parts cost only.

Cheers for all the help lads, will (well, have been) passing on the information. :)
 
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