Fiesta mk5,- water in spark plug well

Iraklis F.C. · 2 Jul 2009 at 20:55

Fiesta mk6,- water in spark plug well

SO today as i was doing my everyday commute to work the engine started to shake violently, at the first traffic lights i stopped, idle and up to 2500RPM. I thought oh not again the distributor , i have already changed the original one 7 months ago. Engine check lights went on and so i decided to head after work to the local ford dealer to check it...but i was sure it was the distributor AGAIN

At the garage the engineer checked the distributor and it was working great , software said cylinder NO1 was not functioning at all. So unplugging the cylinders spark plug we were left stunned, water drops all over it and some in the bottom of the well. The rest 3 spark plugs were in the same condition though not so bad as the first one. Additionally no3 cylinder had almost no compression at all !!!! :eek:

. There are no holes on the bonnet , i have never washed the engine and i live in a country where it rains not that much...The source of the problem was windshield washers , it was leaking a lot and all the water was fallin over the filter and eventually in the spark plug wells.

We replaced the spark plugs but still the engine was shaking violently , at this point the engineer told me we would probably unmount the engine for a valve inspection

. But we left it running for like a minute or two , resulting in a perfect engine operation.

How can you explain this , replacing spark plugs and still rattling for 2 minutes...are the probably burned valves connected with the water leak and what was ford thinking when they route the tube to the washers over the electrical components of the car which could cause a short-circuit and possible set the fire ablaze? pic attached , sorry for long post

Participant · 2 Jul 2009 at 20:59

My leaky washer nozzle was sorted replaced under warranty years ago, I remember it well. They also tried to avoid paying for the spark plugs. It's a famous problem with this model, which btw is a Mk6 not a Mk5

.

Personally I would send the garage bill to customer services @ Ford, as although it's (I presume) out of warranty, pre-existing faults can sometimes be compensated for.

Iraklis F.C. · 2 Jul 2009 at 21:02

lots of famous problems with these mk'6 , water pump , distributor , clutch, horns , plastic parts flying off the car while travelling..

Howard · 2 Jul 2009 at 22:03

Distributor? Surely they're all electronic ignition nowadays?

Lopéz · 2 Jul 2009 at 22:08

Howard said:
Distributor? Surely they're all electronic ignition nowadays?

Electronic ignition uses a distributor. But I would be surprised if this had a distributor, it should be coilpack surely?

Iraklis F.C. · 2 Jul 2009 at 22:10

coilpack it is , sorry

Howard · 2 Jul 2009 at 22:15

Well yeah that's what I meant, lol

Overlag · 3 Jul 2009 at 02:50

i had this problem with my first mk6 1.25, water leaking out of the washer into the spark plug area, plugs 1,2 and 3,4 are in dif sections and my 1,2 was completely rusted up and a right pain to get the plugs out. 3 and 4 were totally new looking. Again mine showed misfire on number 1.

Common problem

oh and mine took its time to re-adjust to the new plugs too so i doubt there's anything wrong with it. If you unplugged the battery (you should have) to fit the new plugs the ECU has to relearn anyway, hence rough running.

i wish people would stop calling those mk5's... They are mk6's!

Overlag · 3 Jul 2009 at 02:53

i ment to edit my last post, delete me

BigglesPiP · 3 Jul 2009 at 03:14

I've had exactly this in a FIAT Uno.

mattyprice4004 · 3 Jul 2009 at 09:01

Never had this with any of my cars, that's a pretty bad design flaw!