My 2009 Fiesta Style
Discussion
Alright you filthy greasemonkeys.
I've read this forum as a non-member for years when I've googled for some car related issues and its cropped up. Well done for all the chatter.
I've had my current car for about 3 or 4 years now out of its 11 year lifespan. It's got 85,000 miles on it and I've decided I'm going to plough on for a few more years if she can. I occasionally look at lease deals for Audi A3s and Golfs or spend hours doing auto trader searches for some elusive bargain beast of modern engineering but then in my more sensible moments I think what is the point. I owe nothing on this car and it's good to "make do and mend" as my elders used to say. No point throwing away a perfectly good working car just try and compete with all the flash giiiiits!
Anyway. It basically runs fine for its age. Always starts first time (touch wood), doesnt get heavy use daily but once a week does a 100 mile round trip with no bother. I respect her and I feel loyalty to her and shes quite fun to drive considering shes nothing flash. Someone told me Fords seem to nail the steering, maybe that's it.
GRIPE:
My uncle who is the family mechanic says a timing belt (or other) snapped and a part of it has bent or damaged one of the pistons in the engine years ago so it has a slightly off putting misfire sound as the engine revs. I would never have known unless I was told, but I'm told it has a slight effect on performance.
Also I dont know if its just the age of the clutch or all fiestas are like this, but there is very slight judder occasionally going to or from a stop as it's around the bite mark.
My question 1)
Is it worth spending anything to get a few more years out of it or considering the age and value just keep using it til she wont be used any more?
My question 2)
Would anyone recommend a particular kind of service or repair or part replacement for a fiesta at this many miles on clock just to improve things a bit if not too expensive?
If you've read all that, well done. And thanks for any pointers!
Lock yourselves down now...
PS I'm no amateur-mechanic but I can do simple plug In jobs like replace cabin filter, air blower resistor, indicator stalk (this week's job).
I've read this forum as a non-member for years when I've googled for some car related issues and its cropped up. Well done for all the chatter.
I've had my current car for about 3 or 4 years now out of its 11 year lifespan. It's got 85,000 miles on it and I've decided I'm going to plough on for a few more years if she can. I occasionally look at lease deals for Audi A3s and Golfs or spend hours doing auto trader searches for some elusive bargain beast of modern engineering but then in my more sensible moments I think what is the point. I owe nothing on this car and it's good to "make do and mend" as my elders used to say. No point throwing away a perfectly good working car just try and compete with all the flash giiiiits!
Anyway. It basically runs fine for its age. Always starts first time (touch wood), doesnt get heavy use daily but once a week does a 100 mile round trip with no bother. I respect her and I feel loyalty to her and shes quite fun to drive considering shes nothing flash. Someone told me Fords seem to nail the steering, maybe that's it.
GRIPE:
My uncle who is the family mechanic says a timing belt (or other) snapped and a part of it has bent or damaged one of the pistons in the engine years ago so it has a slightly off putting misfire sound as the engine revs. I would never have known unless I was told, but I'm told it has a slight effect on performance.
Also I dont know if its just the age of the clutch or all fiestas are like this, but there is very slight judder occasionally going to or from a stop as it's around the bite mark.
My question 1)
Is it worth spending anything to get a few more years out of it or considering the age and value just keep using it til she wont be used any more?
My question 2)
Would anyone recommend a particular kind of service or repair or part replacement for a fiesta at this many miles on clock just to improve things a bit if not too expensive?
If you've read all that, well done. And thanks for any pointers!
Lock yourselves down now...
PS I'm no amateur-mechanic but I can do simple plug In jobs like replace cabin filter, air blower resistor, indicator stalk (this week's job).
Edited by Sheamus84 on Monday 18th May 16:32
Edited by Sheamus84 on Monday 18th May 16:38
Edited by Sheamus84 on Monday 18th May 16:38
Edited by Sheamus84 on Monday 18th May 16:43
Just drive it and service it as normal. Reassess if the clutch goes or the engine develops a problem. There is definitely no point pulling the engine apart and you may be able to learn to drive around the clutch issue and get thousands more miles out of it.
P.S. weak engine mounts sometimes feel like a clutch judder, so if you must fix the clutch issue make sure it isn’t that first.
P.S. weak engine mounts sometimes feel like a clutch judder, so if you must fix the clutch issue make sure it isn’t that first.
Aye, good to know I shouldnt be spending too much on it now.
Me uncle talked me through the options to examine the innards of the engine and depending what was found, what sort of repair costs it could get to (even with him always charging basically nothing for his labour).
Suppose the simple view wins the day - it's still working touch wood so why try to fix it? I hear of so many people paying out megabucks for frequent car problems but I've never had anything like that with this and it flies through the MOTs. Albeit, me uncle's mate does it haha.
Me uncle talked me through the options to examine the innards of the engine and depending what was found, what sort of repair costs it could get to (even with him always charging basically nothing for his labour).
Suppose the simple view wins the day - it's still working touch wood so why try to fix it? I hear of so many people paying out megabucks for frequent car problems but I've never had anything like that with this and it flies through the MOTs. Albeit, me uncle's mate does it haha.
If it has bent a valve badly enough to cause a misfire then that should show up in a compression test.
If the compression is down but the engine runs more or less OK, it's probably not worth doing anything about it.
If the compression is OK then there is nothing to fix.
So, while you could investigate the problem your uncle is describing, there seems no point unless / until the problem becomes obvious.
If the compression is down but the engine runs more or less OK, it's probably not worth doing anything about it.
If the compression is OK then there is nothing to fix.
So, while you could investigate the problem your uncle is describing, there seems no point unless / until the problem becomes obvious.
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