Discussion
I had one of these brand new back in 2000, I thought that they were great little cars that handed very well and were good fun to drive. I liked the steering feedback and I found it very quick through the lanes, the engine could have done with more power though. I did a track day in mine and although it was slow in a straight line, it was quicker than most things through the bends. It's also a shame that the traction control couldn't be turned off and they were torque limited in 1st gear.
Personally I found gearboxes and clutches to be the weak link, I used to drive mine very aggressively and I tore the friction plate from 2 clutches and destroyed 2 gearboxes. I did love it though and it was one of my favourite cars that I've had.
Personally I found gearboxes and clutches to be the weak link, I used to drive mine very aggressively and I tore the friction plate from 2 clutches and destroyed 2 gearboxes. I did love it though and it was one of my favourite cars that I've had.
i've had a 1.7 for a daily/local for about a month now.
was very cheap but it is good to drive and the handling is as good as the reports suggest.
mine has the usual puma faults, in spades, including the bothersome, yet comedic, "digital dash crashing leaving you with no instruments until it reboots".
it idles too high, a new iacv fixed it but introduced some quite alarming hunting at idle so it's back to the 1k rpm tickover.
no heat from cabin heater - this will have been the heater control unit when it first happened but when i looked it had been bypassed, probably years ago. haven't fitted a new one as weather's a bit warmer now and i hear bleeding it can be a bit of a chore ?.
remotes are intermittent at best, i'm not brave enough to try a new battery and attempt a recode.
wibbly parcel shelf i can live with, the squeakiness less so. it can live in the boot for now
having said all that, arches not too crusty. and, man maths tells me that the heated front screen and TCS justify the price on safety grounds
paul
was very cheap but it is good to drive and the handling is as good as the reports suggest.
mine has the usual puma faults, in spades, including the bothersome, yet comedic, "digital dash crashing leaving you with no instruments until it reboots".
it idles too high, a new iacv fixed it but introduced some quite alarming hunting at idle so it's back to the 1k rpm tickover.
no heat from cabin heater - this will have been the heater control unit when it first happened but when i looked it had been bypassed, probably years ago. haven't fitted a new one as weather's a bit warmer now and i hear bleeding it can be a bit of a chore ?.
remotes are intermittent at best, i'm not brave enough to try a new battery and attempt a recode.
wibbly parcel shelf i can live with, the squeakiness less so. it can live in the boot for now
having said all that, arches not too crusty. and, man maths tells me that the heated front screen and TCS justify the price on safety grounds
paul
paulmakin said:
i've had a 1.7 for a daily/local for about a month now.
was very cheap but it is good to drive and the handling is as good as the reports suggest.
mine has the usual puma faults, in spades, including the bothersome, yet comedic, "digital dash crashing leaving you with no instruments until it reboots".
it idles too high, a new iacv fixed it but introduced some quite alarming hunting at idle so it's back to the 1k rpm tickover.
no heat from cabin heater - this will have been the heater control unit when it first happened but when i looked it had been bypassed, probably years ago. haven't fitted a new one as weather's a bit warmer now and i hear bleeding it can be a bit of a chore ?.
remotes are intermittent at best, i'm not brave enough to try a new battery and attempt a recode.
wibbly parcel shelf i can live with, the squeakiness less so. it can live in the boot for now
having said all that, arches not too crusty. and, man maths tells me that the heated front screen and TCS justify the price on safety grounds
paul
Get yourself a new heater control valve, piece of cake to fit and you've got heat sorted(hopefully). No trouble with air in the system, it will just need a little top up with coolant, air makes it's way to the highest point the expansion tank, just check you have no leaks near the new hcv when fitted.was very cheap but it is good to drive and the handling is as good as the reports suggest.
mine has the usual puma faults, in spades, including the bothersome, yet comedic, "digital dash crashing leaving you with no instruments until it reboots".
it idles too high, a new iacv fixed it but introduced some quite alarming hunting at idle so it's back to the 1k rpm tickover.
no heat from cabin heater - this will have been the heater control unit when it first happened but when i looked it had been bypassed, probably years ago. haven't fitted a new one as weather's a bit warmer now and i hear bleeding it can be a bit of a chore ?.
remotes are intermittent at best, i'm not brave enough to try a new battery and attempt a recode.
wibbly parcel shelf i can live with, the squeakiness less so. it can live in the boot for now
having said all that, arches not too crusty. and, man maths tells me that the heated front screen and TCS justify the price on safety grounds
paul
Regarding the erratic idling could be down to Lamda sensor, get someone to check CO levels and if they are high as well I reckon it will be the Lamda.
i have the heater control, will sort it sometime soon. when i trialled it in to see how it fixed to the bulkhead it seems like its higher than the expansion tank though, must have had it fixed wrong. i bailed at that point, will do it when i can leave it to self bleed for a goodly amount of time !!
didn't consider the lambda for the erratic idle - with the new iacv it's fine until it hits normal operating temp, then horrendous. i'm guessing that's when it goes closed loop ?
i must be liking this little car more than i expected to; i'm asking questions about it and eyeing up some quick cosmetic fixes !
OP, did the red one come from near Clacton ?, i saw a very nice looking red one over there on gumtree last week - seemed good value and it's a good thing the ATM destroyed my card or i would have been chasing it for myself (logic being that i bought a very cheap one and liked it so now i'll buy a better one and like it more)
paul
didn't consider the lambda for the erratic idle - with the new iacv it's fine until it hits normal operating temp, then horrendous. i'm guessing that's when it goes closed loop ?
i must be liking this little car more than i expected to; i'm asking questions about it and eyeing up some quick cosmetic fixes !
OP, did the red one come from near Clacton ?, i saw a very nice looking red one over there on gumtree last week - seemed good value and it's a good thing the ATM destroyed my card or i would have been chasing it for myself (logic being that i bought a very cheap one and liked it so now i'll buy a better one and like it more)
paul
paulmakin said:
i have the heater control, will sort it sometime soon. when i trialled it in to see how it fixed to the bulkhead it seems like its higher than the expansion tank though, must have had it fixed wrong. i bailed at that point, will do it when i can leave it to self bleed for a goodly amount of time !!
didn't consider the lambda for the erratic idle - with the new iacv it's fine until it hits normal operating temp, then horrendous. i'm guessing that's when it goes closed loop ?
i must be liking this little car more than i expected to; i'm asking questions about it and eyeing up some quick cosmetic fixes !
OP, did the red one come from near Clacton ?, i saw a very nice looking red one over there on gumtree last week - seemed good value and it's a good thing the ATM destroyed my card or i would have been chasing it for myself (logic being that i bought a very cheap one and liked it so now i'll buy a better one and like it more)
paul
You might be right about the height of the hcv but the loss of coolant is minimal and when I did mine it was just a little down in the expansion bottle so it did manifest itself there. As pointed out they used them on KA as well.didn't consider the lambda for the erratic idle - with the new iacv it's fine until it hits normal operating temp, then horrendous. i'm guessing that's when it goes closed loop ?
i must be liking this little car more than i expected to; i'm asking questions about it and eyeing up some quick cosmetic fixes !
OP, did the red one come from near Clacton ?, i saw a very nice looking red one over there on gumtree last week - seemed good value and it's a good thing the ATM destroyed my card or i would have been chasing it for myself (logic being that i bought a very cheap one and liked it so now i'll buy a better one and like it more)
paul
When the black puma I had started the erratic idling + high co levels I bought a tool to undo the lambda sensor which was useless, it bent when I went to undo it, they can be tight mind you.
I did buy it in Essex in Brentwood
That's, er, a lovely pair, Raygun. 
They are fabulous little cars - one of Ford's better moments, I think. Mine is now on 120,000+ miles, but is a little like Trigger's Broom these days. It is at that age where things stop working, but I get it sorted asap.
Still a few too many poor examples around at the moment, but once they start dying off and the better ones are left then interest may increase beyond the 'cheap runaround' image they still have.
They are fabulous little cars - one of Ford's better moments, I think. Mine is now on 120,000+ miles, but is a little like Trigger's Broom these days. It is at that age where things stop working, but I get it sorted asap.
Still a few too many poor examples around at the moment, but once they start dying off and the better ones are left then interest may increase beyond the 'cheap runaround' image they still have.
I think you're spot on. These are certainly going to be very popular once they've become a bit harder to get.
I bought this for the missus to use through winter. It's been reliable and great fun. It even feels well built with the nice solid thunk as you close the doors.
I'm a bit too tall for it and you'd not want to go far on a motorway; but on a and B roads they're just brilliant fun.
I bought this for the missus to use through winter. It's been reliable and great fun. It even feels well built with the nice solid thunk as you close the doors.
I'm a bit too tall for it and you'd not want to go far on a motorway; but on a and B roads they're just brilliant fun.
One of my all time favourite ads. McQueen and Gibson jazz guitar in the background!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2OV7Zz4VsM
J
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2OV7Zz4VsM
J
my door "thunk" is only slightly spoiled by the rattling of the door card on closure, secondary to the trim clips being mostly absent along the top edge of the door card. on my own vehicle, this feature appears to have been applied to the bottom of the door card on the nearside though.
my heater matrix is completely devoid of water so that'll be a big chunk of air to expel once i do fit a valve. i'm thinking of pre-filling via the inlet hose and then fitting the valve and bleeding the residual
on a brighter note, the dash has only had to reboot twice on a journey of 6 miles today. this has the potential to take filling station roulette to a whole new level as i use the car infrequently and never remember how much fuel was in it pre-crash.
paul
my heater matrix is completely devoid of water so that'll be a big chunk of air to expel once i do fit a valve. i'm thinking of pre-filling via the inlet hose and then fitting the valve and bleeding the residual
on a brighter note, the dash has only had to reboot twice on a journey of 6 miles today. this has the potential to take filling station roulette to a whole new level as i use the car infrequently and never remember how much fuel was in it pre-crash.
paul
Hi Paul,
The failure of the Door Clips is a common issue. Basically, once they have been undone once they don't really ever fit correctly again. I had the same issue when I bought my Puma a few years ago, and Mrs.T66 would regularly pull the Inner Door Panel off when closing the left door. The only answer, I found, was a set of new clips. Got mine from my local Ford dealer, and they have never been loose since.
www.projectpuma.com is a great source of info - there might be some useful advice regarding the Instrument Cluster issues on there. You do need to sign up, though, to get access to some of the forum threads... but I find it invaluable for Puma-related stuff.
The failure of the Door Clips is a common issue. Basically, once they have been undone once they don't really ever fit correctly again. I had the same issue when I bought my Puma a few years ago, and Mrs.T66 would regularly pull the Inner Door Panel off when closing the left door. The only answer, I found, was a set of new clips. Got mine from my local Ford dealer, and they have never been loose since.
www.projectpuma.com is a great source of info - there might be some useful advice regarding the Instrument Cluster issues on there. You do need to sign up, though, to get access to some of the forum threads... but I find it invaluable for Puma-related stuff.
MrMoonyMan said:
I think you're spot on. These are certainly going to be very popular once they've become a bit harder to get.
I bought this for the missus to use through winter. It's been reliable and great fun. It even feels well built with the nice solid thunk as you close the doors.
I'm a bit too tall for it and you'd not want to go far on a motorway; but on a and B roads they're just brilliant fun.
Couldn't agree more!I bought this for the missus to use through winter. It's been reliable and great fun. It even feels well built with the nice solid thunk as you close the doors.
I'm a bit too tall for it and you'd not want to go far on a motorway; but on a and B roads they're just brilliant fun.
Like yourself I'm a bit too tall for the puma but rides so good I put up with it, the 'A' post can sometimes be a pain but a great little car nonetheless.
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