Mk6 Fiesta Zetec Freebie
Discussion
Eyersey1234 said:
Good cars. I had a 56 reg 1.25 Style from new for 12 years and 173k miles, only got rid as it was going to cost too much to get through the MOT, it lived another 3 years after I sold it but now appears to have gone to the breakers yard in the sky.
That's very good going. These cars were seemingly built to last. There are still a two others of these cars (one more went when the owner died) in my road. The only cars of that vintage (other than 2 apparently non-rusty(!) Mk1 Ka. One of which looks particularly immaculate and gets kept in a garage and rarely used, in favour of the owner's old Fiesta).
Got one of these for my daughter to learn to drive in, as others have said, they are super, honest little cars that cost very little to run and keep on going.
Only issue with ours is the drivers side suspension turret fills with rain water, seems common but no definitive answer in how to fix it.
Only issue with ours is the drivers side suspension turret fills with rain water, seems common but no definitive answer in how to fix it.
wormus said:
Got one of these for my daughter to learn to drive in, as others have said, they are super, honest little cars that cost very little to run and keep on going.
Only issue with ours is the drivers side suspension turret fills with rain water, seems common but no definitive answer in how to fix it.
Same issue on ours, still going strong but it's a 55 plate on 65k miles so it's still "fresh"!Only issue with ours is the drivers side suspension turret fills with rain water, seems common but no definitive answer in how to fix it.
There was almost a case for replacing the 16 year old OEM exhaust back box recently. Holes had developed where the pipe entered the silence and driving on a bumpy track had dislodged some of the rust.
A liberal dose of Gun Gum (£4, as the tin I had in he garage had cured solid) appears to have done the trick for now. Phew.
A couple more very minor service and cosmetic jobs and the car is still going, and much quieter than it was.
It still drives and handles brilliantly. So responsive.
A liberal dose of Gun Gum (£4, as the tin I had in he garage had cured solid) appears to have done the trick for now. Phew.
A couple more very minor service and cosmetic jobs and the car is still going, and much quieter than it was.
It still drives and handles brilliantly. So responsive.
Do you have any recent pics of the car?
I've got a soft spot for these era fords, they littered the street while I was a young 'un. The only thing that seems to kill them these days is rust or severe neglect.
Going back to the engine, I really think a lot of these sigma engined mk6s will outlive the 1.0 ecoboosts in later generations.
I've got a soft spot for these era fords, they littered the street while I was a young 'un. The only thing that seems to kill them these days is rust or severe neglect.
Going back to the engine, I really think a lot of these sigma engined mk6s will outlive the 1.0 ecoboosts in later generations.
tomglos said:
Going back to the engine, I really think a lot of these sigma engined mk6s will outlive the 1.0 ecoboosts in later generations.
Our 1.4 is labelled as a "Zetec" engine. They do seem fairly robust and are very simple in comparison with an ecoboost. Not powerful, but a good spread of torque across the rpm range, and responsive in a way that turbo engines are not.Rust may get them eventually, but they appear to suffer much less from rust than many other cars.
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 26th August 11:33
The joint between the exhaust and rear silencer failed complete, so I purchased a new rear section for the princely sum of...
...£35!
Having fitted it (with no noticeable leaks), I suspect that some economies were made in the sound deadening dept, as there is a bit of a burble (albeit not unpleasant) compared with the the OEM.
It's possibly more noticeable inside the car than out, at lower speeds.
It revs nice and cleanly to the redline.
Mrs Bodge says it makes it sound like "a boy racer car"
...£35!
Having fitted it (with no noticeable leaks), I suspect that some economies were made in the sound deadening dept, as there is a bit of a burble (albeit not unpleasant) compared with the the OEM.
It's possibly more noticeable inside the car than out, at lower speeds.
It revs nice and cleanly to the redline.
Mrs Bodge says it makes it sound like "a boy racer car"
MC Bodge said:
The joint between the exhaust and rear silencer failed complete, so I purchased a new rear section for the princely sum of...
...£35!
Having fitted it (with no noticeable leaks), I suspect that some economies were made in the sound deadening dept, as there is a bit of a burble (albeit not unpleasant) compared with the the OEM.
It's possibly more noticeable inside the car than out, at lower speeds.
It revs nice and cleanly to the redline.
Mrs Bodge says it makes it sound like "a boy racer car"
Exactly the same thing happened to ours, £100 to replace including the garage’s time to fit it and VAT. As you say, it’s got a bit of a deep burble now which is not unpleasant. Ours is a 2008 model and doesn’t have a single piece of rust, unlike my brother’s MK6 golf of the same year. That’s had 2 new front wings and now the sills are going. German rubbish! ...£35!
Having fitted it (with no noticeable leaks), I suspect that some economies were made in the sound deadening dept, as there is a bit of a burble (albeit not unpleasant) compared with the the OEM.
It's possibly more noticeable inside the car than out, at lower speeds.
It revs nice and cleanly to the redline.
Mrs Bodge says it makes it sound like "a boy racer car"
alfabeat said:
Love these cars. Our 1.25 is now on 165k miles and still costs a pittance to run. No rust at all, although the bodywork is littered with characterful scrapes and dings.
I get more joy these days reading about ancient Fiestas soldiering on than any of the latest car news...
I get more joy these days reading about ancient Fiestas soldiering on than any of the latest car news...
likewise. I treated ours to a wash and simple cosmetic touch-up: polished out some car park scars, touched up some scratches and painted over some fade/de-lamination of the reg plate.
I removed the original 12V socket as I often knocked anything plugged into it with my knee whilst driving. I fitted a dual usb charger & 3x12v socket unit on the passenger side, which is quite handy.
Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 22 September 22:38
wormus said:
Exactly the same thing happened to ours, £100 to replace including the garage’s time to fit it and VAT. As you say, it’s got a bit of a deep burble now which is not unpleasant. Ours is a 2008 model and doesn’t have a single piece of rust, unlike my brother’s MK6 golf of the same year. That’s had 2 new front wings and now the sills are going. German rubbish!
It is interesting that your replacement exhaust does similar (quite possibly from the same factory). Having driven it locally, it does have a bit of a prominent droning noise at low speed, but we will cope. The noise does seem more prominent inside the car. I may add some extra padding under the boot carpet. Mrs Bodge has commented that the car feels quicker than it did and the speed crept up further than she expected on the motorway -So it's not just me, or even the noise, because the noise isn't noticeable above 2000rpm on the motorway.
For scientific purposes, I tested the acceleration through 3rd gear uphill on the motorway and was quite impressed.
Fit acheapperformance rear silencer, get +10bhp 
For scientific purposes, I tested the acceleration through 3rd gear uphill on the motorway and was quite impressed.
Fit a
Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 13th October 23:37
The handbrake began to require a big heave on the lever and the brake pedal required a longer press, even after a few sharp prods at speed in reverse to attempt to get the adjusters moving.
I wondered whether the rear shoes were worn or the rear adjusters were just stuck.
As the rear bearings are incorporated into the drums, it's not just simply a case of removing the wheels and popping the drums off. I removed the hubs to get the drums off.
Anyway, there was plenty of meat left on the shoes, I gave everything a good clean and rub-down, added a few clicks to the adjusters and gave the drum outers another dose of smooth black Hammerite.
The handbrake works much better and the pedal now needs a shorter push.
I'll change the brake fluid in the near future as it has possibly not been changed in a very long time, if ever.
This car must be the Rolls Royce of bangernomics.
I wondered whether the rear shoes were worn or the rear adjusters were just stuck.
As the rear bearings are incorporated into the drums, it's not just simply a case of removing the wheels and popping the drums off. I removed the hubs to get the drums off.
Anyway, there was plenty of meat left on the shoes, I gave everything a good clean and rub-down, added a few clicks to the adjusters and gave the drum outers another dose of smooth black Hammerite.
The handbrake works much better and the pedal now needs a shorter push.
I'll change the brake fluid in the near future as it has possibly not been changed in a very long time, if ever.
This car must be the Rolls Royce of bangernomics.
The Shed Fiesta passed its MOT again with no advisories.
The MOT tester said that it was in surprisingly good condition for a 16 year old car.
It lives on and still drives very well. Handling great, the engine still smooth and responsive.
I need to give it a service and change the brake fluid, as the brakes are not feeling as sharp as they once were.
The MOT tester said that it was in surprisingly good condition for a 16 year old car.
It lives on and still drives very well. Handling great, the engine still smooth and responsive.
I need to give it a service and change the brake fluid, as the brakes are not feeling as sharp as they once were.
Still going fairly strong... And very cheap bangernomics.
I had to replace the coolant thermostat housing. The part cost <£10, but was a bit of a faff to replace, as I had initially attempted to do it without removing the alternator.
There had been an occasional knock from the rear, which suddenly got worse. There was a patch of oil on the drive. One of the rear shocks had blown.
A pair of apparently reasonable shocks cost ~£45. A couple of hours to swap.
The front top mounts or ARB drop links are making a bit of a noise occasionally.
Oil/filters change next and a brake bleed.
Part of me would like to fit bike carbs, a racier cam and a longer exhaust manifold, but it won't happen.
I had to replace the coolant thermostat housing. The part cost <£10, but was a bit of a faff to replace, as I had initially attempted to do it without removing the alternator.
There had been an occasional knock from the rear, which suddenly got worse. There was a patch of oil on the drive. One of the rear shocks had blown.
A pair of apparently reasonable shocks cost ~£45. A couple of hours to swap.
The front top mounts or ARB drop links are making a bit of a noise occasionally.
Oil/filters change next and a brake bleed.
Part of me would like to fit bike carbs, a racier cam and a longer exhaust manifold, but it won't happen.
Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 10th April 13:38
To complete the thread, the Fiesta has now been sold.
It was still going strongly and continued to be a superb cheap runabout.
We recently did a 200 mile motorway round trip in it and it was superb.
It always handled well and the engine seemed to punch above its weight at low speeds -partly to do with the non-turbo throttle response and well-chosen gear ratios.
In summary,
A car from the greatest generation of automobiles
It was still going strongly and continued to be a superb cheap runabout.
We recently did a 200 mile motorway round trip in it and it was superb.
It always handled well and the engine seemed to punch above its weight at low speeds -partly to do with the non-turbo throttle response and well-chosen gear ratios.
In summary,
A car from the greatest generation of automobiles
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 13th October 07:09
MC Bodge said:
miken2k8 said:
You kept this for 3 years why? You could have tried any number of interesting cheap cars in that time I usually swap cars like this every few months.byou could swap this for a puma 1.7?
It does the job we need it for, 4 seats and a boot for family use, my wife uses it for work and it has cost almost nothing to run/repair. It isn't a hobby (the headlight was a cheap Indulgence) It is invisible and can be left anywhere. As a bonus it is good to drive and isn't disappearing into a pile of rust like a Puma or older Fiesta would. Cambs_Stuart said:
My favourite generation too. Shame so much of that generation is being consumed by rust.
Sorry to see it go?
A little, yes. I doubt that we will have another car that is so engaging, responsive or simple and reliable. I had some great drives in it.Sorry to see it go?
It was beginning to feel a bit tired in some of its fixtures and fittings, though, and it would have required more and more maintenance from me to keep in good condition for daily use.
It will hopefully give good service to its new owner for a while.
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