dipsomaniac

would car run on 4 cylinders? have pulled two ht leads with no difference in engine beat. popping and struggling under load but runs ok when not under load. i am baffled.

i can't be sure coil pack is ok without replacing it. coil pack looks ok, looked last night in the dark and now can't see any arcing from the leads either. i can't see how the coilpack would have become damaged from the water as it is well protected by a ht lead tray. I was told my a mechanic that if coil pack goes it affects 3 cyclinders???????????? i am a bit stuck as i have tried everything I can think of (except injectors), vag-com lead isn't working with the software and i can't afford to pay ford

yes, i did re-connect the maf. if one cyclinder wasn't firing would it cause the 'popping'?

matrix blew 2 weeks ago. i bypassed it temporarily, went to start the car but would not fire. eventually got it started but was running very rough. the only thing i removed to access the heater hoses was the scuttle drain, whilst removed there was a couple of downpours resulting in the back of the engine getting wet. i have since removed all of the spark plugs, cleaned them and fitted new ht leads. car will start, seems to tick over ok but as soon as you pull away there is no power and car is 'popping' at low revs. can anybody please answer any of these questions: would bypassing matrix cause these symtoms? would a wet maf cause these symptoms? could water damage the injectors if it entered the air intake? it has now been two weeks since engine got a soaking. I would have thought it would have now dried. the only thing i can think is that i have disturbed something - but what. any help would be very much appreciated.

its not the ECU - its the central locking, electric windows control modular. you can replace them for approx

i like the line 'when i took ownership from him'. don't want to sound too harsh but some of you are judging someone on one side of the story. is it a technical thread?? (read it again) should be moved to the 'dear deidre' section.

thanks for your replies. i really don't think it is the coil pack as the cracks are in the outer rigid plastic and not in the epoxy sealed part of the pack. managed to find epoxy resin in Maplin Electronics - comes in 28ml mixer tubes. ended up using a temperature resistant waterproof clear adhesive to fill/seal the cracks.

enjoying cycling so much haven't got around to fixing car. trying to find epoxy resin. found some at my local marine shop but only in industrial quantities. does anyone know where i can find epoxy resin in small quantities? what is the difference between epoxy glue, epoxy weld and epoxy resin. can i use anything else to seal the coil pack?

i am assuming you bought the car privately/auction as you have not mentioned taking it back? insurance against major part failure is the reason you take out a warranty. lets hope that the warranty company doesn't try to wriggle out of settling. good luck. let us know how you get on.

you wouldn't lose that much through the expansion cap. if not head gasket, most likely places that the system is leaking - waterpump, radiator, thermostat housing and heater matrix.

can't see how a water damaged ECU can damage the autobox. Do they mean the transmission control module (TCM). Even if that was damaged I can't see why they would then have to strip the autobox. It is either the TCM or ECU or gearbox - hightly unlikely to be all of them. If the problem was there before you took out the warranty was it there when you bought the car?

on my mk1 galaxy you can toggle between oil temp, miles to empty, average mph etc. on the mk1 the toggle switch is on the end of the wiper controls. just keep toggling and you come back to mileage.

i wouldn't drive further than a few miles until you get it fixed - just to be on the safe side. if you are going to be replacing that tyre in the next year i would put the

i had a look at those bigdaddy. don't think they would even fit as they don't have a 90 deg bend on the coilpack end - you are very restricted for space on that side. they look like the varing size leads your can pick up very cheaply as halfords - don't know about quality. the set i bought last year were from partco -

will also be replacing ht leads. i only replaced them just over a year ago - 2 are now arcing. can anyone recommend a good set? Magnecor look good but i don't think my budget can stretch that far. i was once told by a ford mechanic that i should always put contact grease inside the ht lead cap. Does anyone else do this? i don't know whether it has any effect but it does make a mess of the plug and cap.

gone back to basics to identify misfire. does anyone know if these cracks on the coilpack would cause a problem? did not see any sparks around the coilpack when engine was running (badly). vw quoting

appears to be cylinder no5. (6 was the one that was arcing) pulled the lead and there was no change. tried another lead but still not firing. i only fitted 6 new ht leads last year. how can i tell if it is the coil pack or is it a case of elimination? once all the lead router trays were removed i saw what a mess ford had made last time they had the car. bad lead & cable routing, they had broken one of the lead router trays and not put back all of the bolts - I paid

i can't understand why the car is now not running properly. all i have done is remove scuttle drain, bypass matrix and replace scuttle drain. there was a downpour inbetween which resulted in the back of the engine getting wet but that should have dried out by now. i had most of the left hand side of the engine apart today and can't see anything wrong, the purge valve is making a bit of noise but that shouldn't have the effect of making the car run as rough as it is. the only thing i can see is some arcing on one of the new ht leads but i haven't touched the leads and don't think it would be enough to make it run the way it is. any advice would be very gratefully received as i am supposed to be picking a mate up from heathrow on sunday.

when started from cold the thermostat is in the closed position only allowing the coolant to circulate the block. this allows the engine to warm more quickly. once the engine has warmed up the thermostat opens allowing the coolant to circulate through the radiator, heater matrix etc. you could have an airlock in the heater matrix - i don't think there is a bleed bolt on these engines so you have to remove the expansion cap when the engine is cold and run the car to normal operating temperature to purge the system of air. Some more knowledgable person on this forum might be able to confirm this. i take it you have tried switching the heater to cold and then to hot again?

no dipstick. do a search for 'oil level' as the procedure for checking the level depends on what model you have.

thanks for your replies. I haven't tried it this evening but it did appear to be improving as the day went on (starting was a huge improvement) so I am assumming it was water damage. fitted new plugs and leads last year and am hoping I don't have to do that again.

engine is running a little more even (not perfect) and is now revving above 4000rpm - so can only assume it was water damage.

no more smoke from engine compartment but a smell of burning. looked underneath (havent' looked before when engine running) and the middle section of the exhaust (is it cat?) appears to be glowing (red). is this normal? engine is still uneven. can't rev car above 4000rpm. if i try it goes to 4000 then engine management slows the engine down. can you tell i am getting desperate. have to pick up a mate from Heathrow Sunday. will it sort itself out as water dries or have i cocked up?

managed to get it running, but it is very rough - misfiring and popping. there appears to be a lot of smoke coming from the engine compartment but i can't see where it is coming from. is there anything on the left hand side of engine that i could have disrupted when removing the scuttle drain?

just read what a load of b*ll*cks i wrote before. bypassed the matrix, car now wont start. i only removed the scuttle drains - had a downpour in between.