Relatives under serviced basic petrol T reg Escort starts sometimes but not others. Not seen it yet. Apparently turns over and sometimes catches and sometimes not.
I used to do all my car maintenance but a bit rusty now. Plugs and leads the first place to start?
Anything else I should be looking for?
It used to run OK and apparently still does on the rare occasion it starts.
TIA for any ideas
Is that fool injected? or carburated?
Typically if the temp sensor (injected) or auto choke (carburated) is naff, you will only be able to start at one temperature..
I am assuming even T reg is well beyond points on a contact breaker.
Starter motor, fairly easy to change on an Escort, 2nd hand one from scrappy may cost you a tenner though.
When someone is trying to start it and it's just turning over and over, give the starter motor a crack with a hammer, sometimes (quite often) this will free up any sticky mechanisms inside and it will fire up. If it does start this way, it's a sure sign that you need a new SM
Yes. This time of year, everything gets covered in condensation. If leads are dirty and cores going high impedance and insulation not what it was, much of the energy will leak away (sometimes looks quite spectacular in the dark with the bonnet up). Clean them with a rag wetted with WD40 solvent, let it evaporate, and then try again. Coil top and distributor cap too (inside and outside), and possibly even rotor arm if necessary.
When I wash my car, I'll usually pop open the bonnet and give it all a good spray. Then check it starts OK. Best to find out that it won't when it's at home, rather than when you're miles from home and just drove though a large puddle. Be careful not to direct the water into the engine's air intake though.
Given the limited information you have, spark plug gaps and general condition would be my next check. If the gaps have all gone wide, that's another factor which will reduce the spark in the face of old dirty ignition leads.
Gosh - ages since I used to play with this stuff.
It used to be summer...
I think cats came in at about H reg and they needed electronic ignition and fuel injection? I kept a few old bangers on the road in the seventies. One died on me on the M1. Fortunately I found the heel on the contact breaker had almost broken to the point that it was flapping about. Still giving a weak spark but at all the wrong times. Found an old set of points in the toolbag and drove off without incurring the recovery charge I could not possibly have paid. I guess its: See if it starts See if it starts with jump leads Clean and gap plugs Clean and spray leads Check for sparks If then won't start Check for fuel Check all leads from sensors Give up cos I'm very cold by then.
Invisible Man gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Cats started to come in through the late '80s, but were compulsory from the start of K-reg, with a few exceptions (old stock, mainly).
I doubt you'll find points on anything much later than about the mid '80s, but carbs hung about into the cat era - a few oddities from manufacturers who couldn't really afford the development to do it properly stuck electronic control onto carbs.
Thanks Adrian
Wait - which T-reg is the OP talking about? The Escort's been around for Donkeys - late 60s IIRC. 'old' T-reg must be about 1981 or so I think, just into Mk.3 territory.
Not sure when cats really came in - late 80s?
cheers
Jules (who had a '74 Mk.1 Escort that was blindingly good fun :-)
Latter t reg. About 1999 I think.
At least one of my cars had no letter for its reg year but I have been driving since 1968. Original A came in for London regs in 1963. Rest of country started with B in 1964 I believe. Anglias, Consuls and Zephyrs were around. Believe the Cortina started around 1963.
A new car I should think. Under serviced and built in 1978 - its 31 years old!
Scrappage scheme?
"The Medway Handyman" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
No, 10yo. T prefix.
A solid Mk2 (T suffix) Escort would be worth a chunk more than £2k.
I thought it was C reg before it went country-wide. Parents had a Mini Cooper at one point, ABL 270B, but not from new.
it could actually be either, the Focus replaced the Escort in 1998, R/S reg but there were still unregistered unsold escorts around in late 1999/2000, which would have bosch electronic ignition and injection+Cat.
If it turns over, its not the starter motor.
Plugs will give you uneasy firing - iregeluar.
Sensor issues will give you too weak or too rich a mixture. Low power, high fuel consumption and may be hard to start when hot, or cold, depending which sensor has gone.
Fuel filter is a classic. Engine just dies on you, then mysteriously restarts later.
Change plugs and fuel filter as first priority. Cheap and easy.
I would, whip the plugs out and be prepared to replace them. Along with cleaning of the leads distributor gap (inside and out). Also check for any cracked, split or disconnected hoses. As it's "under serviced" chnage of filters and oil probably wouldn't be a bad idea, depends how involved you want to get.
Friend came up from the deep south and said his car wasn't running very well, started OK, idled well, just a bit lacking in "go". Took the plugs out and every one had a little bowl of deposit around the outer electrode (should have taken a photo) and a gap approaching 75 thou. Tried to get a new set from local garage but no luck, so cleaned and regapped as best I could as there was a lot of errosion. Report after journey back south was that he had trouble keeping it below 90, it ran out of puff on the hills coming up...
Don't think this car was as old as T reg and it was injected but it shows that the computer can keep an engine running under conditions that would be hopeless with carb and points.
Less the computer than proper electronic ignition. The spark is good irrespective of battery voltage or engine speed or any gap stuff.
I made the change to injection about 1985, and was delighted by it. So much more reliable.
The trouble is when it goes wrong its a total bitch to diagnose.
I've had one failure that was almost certainly a blocked fuel filter. another that was a dysfunctional water temp sensor, and another that was a dead fuel pump.
I've also had some nasty 'stalled just after starting cold and flooded' scenarios. The trick here is to crank with the throttle floored to celar the excess fuel.
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote
That may be true of pre-engaged starters, but IIRC some starters (going back donkies) had a worm gear on the end which engaged via inertia. In this case, if the gear on the starter had stuck, it could spin over merrily but never actually crank the engine.
Phil
I had a B reg Reliant (pre Trotter) van at one time. Earliest car I ever owned was a 1963 mini with a largely glass fibre rear subframe and an engine held in by the exhaust pipe and not much else. Bought it for £70 with a year's MoT and sold it a year later for £30 for parts.
well yes, but you could hear and know that. A squirt of WD40 through the bell housing...before unpacking the angle grinder..
Our first car was pre A - Morris 1100. 1962?
IIRC the second was a G, Mk1 escort. total crap really.
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