BrianH

Does it have aircon? Be aware the fan will run all the time if it does and you have the aircon switched on?. The ECU as far as i know doesn't have anything to do with the fan - its done off the switch (not really a sensor its a thermal switch that directly controls it), Disconnecting the switch should stop the fan if thats whats causing it to run. Though it may be different on the diesel models.

Seriously look at the water pump then if your getting it fixed as given you don't have the water returning to the tank theres a good chance that was the cause of the failed gasket.

Theres numerous posts on here regarding the water pump impeller becoming detached from the pump - the water returning from the tube should indicate it working, so it sounds like yours may not be. Would suggest whats said above is looked into further about the pipe as it may be blocked, or maybe you have little/no circulation of the coolant, your excess pressure being down to that as well- Until you've confirmed what the cause is driving the car may well make it a lot worse (risking/resulting in the head gasket or other failures if you push it too far). One other possibility - what colour is the coolant (should be orangey/red or blue or purple and in all cases fairly transparent - if its looking different eg rusty coloured you could have a blockage, particularly if you've mixed coolants with the topping up)

I have the same suspicions but worth trying to confirm it before spending money.

The red light is the indicator for the immobiliser - that isn't receiving correct power due to the relay, hence its flashing an error code at you. The VAG number is cheaper as the ford part will be the VAG part with Ford's markup on top!

Check you've got coolant being returned to the tank (engine off and cool remove the top off the expansion tank then start engine - you should see water being returned via the small pipe at the top of the bottle. If not good chance your water pump is not working (impeller broken off). Stuck thermostat is a possibility, though if you have no heat coming through the heater it doesn't sound like the cause. Does the rear heater get hot?

Has it had the windscreen replaced? Sometimes the seal around it can be missing or split allowing water to get round it. It may be worth getting someone to watch inside the car while you have a poke about with the garden hose if your getting really stuck with it. Is this rainwater do you know or does it have a smell to it?

look at the door led when you have the problem occour and compare to when it works, if the pattern is different its indicating the immobiliser isn't happy. Mine still turned over when the relay was faulty as well (both when i brought it in that state, and when the replacement used one failed 2 years later).

The lead posted earlier worked fine on windows 7 and 8, haven't tried it on windows 10 as yet but would be surprised if it doesn't work under 10, Either way given its price I'd be inclined to try it. If that one isn't ok/available any VAG-Com compatible cable or VCDS cable should be fine - install the drivers from the disc if required (I think win 7 manages to find the drivers from windows update anyway) but use the latest version of vcds lite. VCDS lite is free, can be downloaded from Ross-tech > http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds-lite/download/index.html

It may well be bundled with vag-com rather than vcds (vag com being a very old version of the same program). TBH for the cost of it I'd give it a try, I've not got the diesel version to confirm what you can see on those with vcds, but its more detailed than you can get with a lot of other diagnostics for other manufacturers so you should stand a decent chance of getting some info from it, Alot of the time the reason going for a diagnostics session is more useful is down to the interpretation of the tester (IE Him/Her looking at the available data to tell you what isn't right etc). The other possible cause I can think of is it may be the injector loom - though i think this will normally generate an error code when its failing, it is known for some of them to have issues, Not sure offhand if yours is one of the ones where its suspect - posts on here do give some detail on that though,

Not aware of anyone but you may get lucky, nowhere near Wales unfortunately, is there noone you can borrow a laptop from?

Get the vag com lead and download vcds. You need to look at the sensor data to tell. Think you can do this with vcds. Alternatively unplug the maf Will cause it to run with default map and May help diagnose it. Would suspect taking it in will reveal nothing found at present.

Less than ten quid - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Cable-KKL-VAG-COM-409-1-OBD2-II-OBD-Diagnostic-Scanner-VW-Audi-Seat-Skoda-/390665706953 £4.38 including postage. Either way a basic scanner will let you see fault codes - you may have an fault that isn't being detected but can be seen by interpretation of the sensor readings - either the lambda sensor or MAF is a good example of this happening.

Hi Does anyone know where the earth points for the headlights are on the mk1? I've found the one under the cover by the airbox but not convinced the ones i can see on the other side immediately below the battery are for the passenger side light Or any other known causes of the lights seeming to vary between poor and very poor visibility or are the mk1 lights just not very good?

Also if your drawing a blank on the power loss issue then it may be worth getting an obd diagnostic tool of some sort - needs to be compatible with PWM j 1850 though for the Ford Petrol engines. A faulty MAF is a possible suspect, difficult to diagnose for sure without a tool to see the sensor values (This can be achieved with the Torque app and a bluetooth module fairly cheaply, provided its compatible with that standard). You may find a fault code logged to look into though anyway.

Swap your relay 30 or pull it out and resolder the connections on the back of it. If it happens again to verify its that causing the problem with starting look at the led on the top of the drivers door - if it flashes differently when you have the issue then the immobiliser isn't being deactivated properly, usually down to the dodgy solder joints on the relay mentioned (theres loads of info on here about it, ask if you don't understand though). I had it fail for the second time on mine particularly when stopping to refuel, resoldered this time and its been fine since. Temporary loss of power could be a few things, doubtful its the relay though, The leak you can see looks fairly minor (slight seepage though an old gasket) and not significant, though i've had it on a Zetec Mondeo where a significant amount of oil ends up on the plugs - more than enough to see easily.

Theres a reasonable chance the wires in the boot right hand gaiter is hiding some broken wires as well so would check that as well. And whats said above is best plan of action - try to get the solder joints away from where the wire needs to bend wherever possible.

Don't believe it has been, its difficult particularly on the boot to design it out due to the angles involved, doors could have been done much better though.

You might want to consider replacing the gasket if its allowing any oil to leak inside (under the top cover over the coil packs where the spark plugs sit). I've had that problem a few times with Zetec engines used in other fords. And as Paul says its the rocker cover gasket your looking at - should be no more than £20 at most and not particually difficult to do.

Good to hear you got it working, maybe it will help someone else in the future!

These things also have helped with removing stubborn rounded off bolts in the past if you can get enough exposed to hammer them onto and find the size you require http://www.amazon.co.uk/Irwin-Bolt-Grip-Remover-394001/dp/B0000CCXVZ/

Might be a stupid question, but can't you get more to work with by taking the brake disc off first? You might get some luck trying to get a pair of mole grips on the bit you can then grab hold of? I've brought new wheel bolts off ebay before if your struggling to find, though you can find them in the scrapyard if you have time to do so. They won't be a fortune from dealers if you can find one with them available.

Yes it has a chain not a belt.

Depends how bad they are and how soon you want to be back in there again. Probably ok to just replace the broken ones and see how you go.

Before you do that, check if you have an adjuster next to the light control (even my mk1 aspen has one, so yours must do). If so turn it to the fully adjusted position then back to the other end after a few seconds, it could be that the adjuster has ended up altered to a different point than it thinks its actually set to. Adjusting to both ends of its travel should reset it.