sparky Paul

FAQ section, no.45.

You can code remotes to the car, but you must have the right type - there are a few different types of the RF remote keys mentioned above, and I suspect that yours will have the early Infra Red system, which is completely different. Some cars were not fitted with remote locking, it depended upon trim level and options fitted. If your car was not originally fitted with central locking, adding the remote will not work as the car is missing the relevant hardware. It's not difficult to add an aftermarket remote locking kit, all the necessary wiring is available in the rear jack storage cubby hole.

If you don't want a secondhand caliper, another option is Brake Parts - they have new rear calipers for

The idler pulley costs around

It's an incomplete coil spring that PG TIPS has, not shocker - probably snapped the top coil off. It is advisable to replace in pairs, but not mandatory, and garages will often only replace the broken one. Personally, I would do both, or do the other one as soon as possible, but there you go. My MOT tester is happy to adjust the headlights during the test, if needed, FOC.

If your alternator belt looks okay, most common problems are the belt tensioner and/or idler pulley.

I've seen some old shape cars that have been registered very late, but I have never one with a mixture of mk.I and mk.II fittings. Sounds like a mk.I to me, perhaps someone 'improved' it a bit with some mk.II bits. Before you plung into an auto, I would read a few of the woeful tales of failed auto boxes on here. Because of the problems, good secondhand units are hard to find at a reasonable price.

If you haven't got round to these yet... Headlamp could be anything from needing adjustment to a failed reflector requiroing headlamp replacement. A pair of KYB springs is around

Can you select gears easily when the engine is switched off? The gearbox oil is a fully synthetic 75W-90, but would recommend buying exact spec. oil from dealer.

Those Chinese tyres are reasonable on dry roads, but lethal in the wet. Take care.

The winding handle has a collar at the base, slide it out away from the direction the handle is pointing, and then pull the handle off the spindle.

You can't get the correct thermostat from a motor factor, and most catalogues incorrectly list the insert for all 2.3 models. As for main dealers, both 'stats are listed on eCat, the external stat is listed on the radiator hoses page. Unfortunately, even when they punch in the reg or chassis number, both stats are listed for all 2.3 models. Unless they are familiar with the car, they usually pick the more obvious (but incorrect) one.

No doubt the 'stat in the housing will work, but I'm not sure if it may harm the engine in the long run. Stopping the flow to the front of the block is contrary to the way the cooling system is designed to work. What I meant above is why not fit a new external thermostat, as it's supposed to be fitted? By that, I mean the correct external thermostat from the Ford dealer, not the insert in the thermostat housing - this should be left empty. If you are saying that fitting the correct 'stat did not fix it, perhaps you have another problem. A faulty header tank cap is not uncommon and gives similar symptoms, but with a small amounts of coolant loss.

Ditto, same as mine.

Fitting the thermostat in the housing will keep the coolant temperature right, but adding this extra thermostat will block the continuous flow to the front of the engine. The original configuration was carried over from the old 2 litre engine, and was quickly modified for the 2.3... I don't think they would have gone to this trouble for nothing. What's wrong with fitting the proper 'stat and having done with it? B)

The thermostat in the pipe is not a simple single thermostat, it acts as a diverter. With the external thermostat, coolant flows to the block when the thermostat to the rad is shut - it simply takes the rad out of the circuit rather than shutting the flow off altogether. Hope this makes sense.

Welcome to the forum, by the way! B)

On all but the very first 2.3 models, the thermostat housing should be empty and an inline thermostat is fitted in the pipework. You will see that the thermostat has three pipes attached, the thermostat contains two valves and diverts flow around the block when in the closed position. If a second thermostat is fitted it the housing, this flow is cut off. AFAIK, the change was made due to problems caused by uneven heating of the block. Most catalogues list the wrong thermostat, even the Ford dealers sometimes struggle with this one. If they offer you the insert type, the dealer catalogue lists the actual thermostat on the page with the radiator pipework. Ford part no. is 1125023, cost is about

The pics on this thread appear to have been uploaded to the site as attachments, so maybe they went awol when the site fell over... or maybe it's because the original poster is no longer a member. It might be possible that admin could retrieve the pics, but they could be gone.

I did leave my real number first time I used confused, I received several calls from the companies which quoted touting for business. Although confused now have a box to tick to opt out of contact, I don't trust them and now leave a fake number made up of zeros. Once I decide which company I will use, I give them my mobile number.

Well, my renewal this year wasn't much dearer than last, but I did the comparison sites as usual... This year though, I found some much cheaper quotes - ended up paying £266 for similar cover, plus forty-odd quid cashback via topcashback if it comes off. OH has just had her renewal too, up from £290 to £435, and that's with £300 excess and another years NCB! Found 'quotemehappy' on confused for £227 with £150 excess. Going through topcashback for another £30 cashback! ;)

Several suppliers make cheap wind back tools now, you can pick them up for around ten quid, including on fleabay. It can be done without, I used a piece of square keysteel and a g-clamp before, but it's fiddly. The tool is worth every penny.

From what I can work out, ESD-M2C186-A is the original spec. for the mk.1, and is coloured red. WSD-M2C200-C (XT-M5-QS) is a newer Ford synthetic 75W-90 spec. which is honey coloured. You see both oils specified for the MTX75, Ford changed to the newer spec. around 2000 to improve cold shifting I believe.

Just have a feel, make sure there's clearance between the wide part of the spring at the top and the underside of the strut turret. The thrust bearing sits up inside the the bush, with the seal on the underside IIRC, so there's no access to the bearing surfaces from above and no point squirting any oil down there. The only chance of getting any lube in is to jack the corner up so the strut drops down, just giving tight access to the top bush. You might get a spray lube with a long pipe on the nozzle up into the bearing.

Welcome to the forum. B) Unfortunately, floppy gearstick could be the dreaded snapped or lost bolt in the selector mechanism, but it is worth checking that one of the cable ends hasn't popped off the mechanism on top of the gearbox. It's beneath the battery tray and access is tricky, you may have to remove some bits to help you. If that's the problem, a couple of Tyraps makes a good makeshift repair until you can fix it properly.