| Most old Fords suffer from bad starting in the cold damp weather The
most common reason(s) being poor servicing, and very badly designed
ignition/starter circuits; on early Fiesta's, Escorts and
the old Cortina's
The 1986-date models, are fitted with breakerless electronic ignition (no
points). The high voltage's produced by this ignition system helped to
overcome the problems mentioned above (older models). Ford specify a
30thou/inch sparkplug gap, I suggest the first thing you do, is have the
gaps reduced to 25thou/inch...it really helps the motor!
Also, the auto chocks that Ford fitted on their carbs are
problematic....better to get a manual conversion if an auto chock is
fitted.
Look out for rusting around the front sub-frame (Fiesta), and the front
inner wings. The engines are reliable enough and can take a fair amount
of abuse. Unfortunately the cooling systems on the Fiesta are prone to
clogging up, which causes overheating. This can lead to burnt valves,
warped cylinder heads etc etc.
Worn wheel bearings and warped front brake discs are other common faults.
Have a listen when you drive your potential purchase. Wheel wobble on many
Fiesta's is due to warped brake discs.
Overall a nice little car if you can get a good one, but rather
overrated. The problem is getting a good one. There are always many for
sale at over inflated prices, so shop around until the right one comes
along.
I'd go for a 1.1 or 1.3 model.
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