Problem With Ford Engine

Gummybr · December 28, 2007

One of my good friends bought this old mark2 Escort 1.3 some 3-4 months back. And I drove it for the first time two days back and found lots of problems with the vehicle engine.

Background is this he had not used it for sometime and the battery was taken out and put for charging. We put the battery in and tried starting, didnt start so pushed and got it running. Kept for sometime and drove it to check air pressure on the tyres, on the way back I drove and found the car to lack power. Even though I planted my right foot to the ground it didnt go as it should (a Maruti 800 would have put it to shame).

And when you let it idle it starts missing and stalls. Problem is when its running no person can stand behind it as it worse than teargas.

One of my friends say it could be that the earlier user would have closed the petrol line a bit or opened it too much. Thing is I gotta go and help my friend take the car home from where it is now, what would be the best solution. I told him to get a garage person as well before taking it.

What do experts with carb engines say would be wrong with this car.

PS: Small matter I forgot to point out is that its got a factory fit A/C which I didnt switch on as the battery was week.

maithri · December 31, 2007

Hmm,

Mark 2 escort-back to my early days I presume it is a 1970's crossflow engine? First clean the carb, make sure float valve is ok and it actually closes. Check the gap on the contact points(Platinum points in SL) and all the spark plugs are ok and in working order. By now it should run with minor adjustment to the mixture screw on the carb-set idle to around 800 RPM and turn in clockwise till the engine starts to run un evenly and then slowly turn it back anti clockwise till smooth again. If all is ok by now it should start to clEAR THE FUMES AT THE EXHAUST END! Oh! I forgot make sure the engine is warm and the choke is off completely before attempting the above adjustment. Now drive it around the local area and see how it runs. You may need to unwind the mixture screw by maximum of a further 1 turn to smooth out the acceleration. This used to be a basic tune up with a check on the ignition timing left out as I presume you will not be able to access a strobe type timing light. AND GET IT FIXED! You have a classic.-I am no Ford fan but these were easy to run and look after. And fun!

Gummybr · January 1, 2008

maithri said:
Hmm,
Mark 2 escort-back to my early days I presume it is a 1970's crossflow engine? First clean the carb, make sure float valve is ok and it actually closes. Check the gap on the contact points(Platinum points in SL) and all the spark plugs are ok and in working order. By now it should run with minor adjustment to the mixture screw on the carb-set idle to around 800 RPM and turn in clockwise till the engine starts to run un evenly and then slowly turn it back anti clockwise till smooth again. If all is ok by now it should start to clEAR THE FUMES AT THE EXHAUST END! Oh! I forgot make sure the engine is warm and the choke is off completely before attempting the above adjustment. Now drive it around the local area and see how it runs. You may need to unwind the mixture screw by maximum of a further 1 turn to smooth out the acceleration. This used to be a basic tune up with a check on the ignition timing left out as I presume you will not be able to access a strobe type timing light. AND GET IT FIXED! You have a classic.-I am no Ford fan but these were easy to run and look after. And fun!

Thanks for the info, I'll do the needful. BTW I once owned a mark1 1300GT.

Supra_Natural · January 1, 2008

Gummybr said:
Thanks for the info, I'll do the needful. BTW I once owned a mark1 1300GT.

what? was yours a 1300 GT? i thought it was a 4 door 1.1?? or have you owned two escorts?

btw, what was the number of the 1300GT? and what became of it eventually?

Gummybr · January 2, 2008

Supra_Natural said:
what? was yours a 1300 GT? i thought it was a 4 door 1.1?? or have you owned two escorts?
btw, what was the number of the 1300GT? and what became of it eventually?

Thats what it says... The registration docs said 1.1, but I checked with DPMC, they confirmed it. It was 10sri.

Sold it to a guy who is supposedly doing some restoration work..

Hey I saw you guys having fun in an old escort? how was it??

mazdaspeed · January 2, 2008

Gummybr said:
Thats what it says... The registration docs said 1.1, but I checked with DPMC, they confirmed it. It was 10sri.
Sold it to a guy who is supposedly doing some restoration work..

Hey I saw you guys having fun in an old escort? how was it??

By the was is this ford a 12 Sri 12## ? with a black spoiler at the rear and a sunroof ?

Supra_Natural · January 2, 2008

Gummybr said:
Thats what it says... The registration docs said 1.1, but I checked with DPMC, they confirmed it. It was 10sri.
Sold it to a guy who is supposedly doing some restoration work..

Hey I saw you guys having fun in an old escort? how was it??

so it was a 4 door 1300GT? that must have been cool..... ah yes, that was fun, that escort is mine actually... a '67 1300GT 2 door.... I think one of the first lot of mk1's produced. Mechanically quite good order, but the rest of the car needs a lot of work....

Supra_Natural · January 2, 2008

Gummybr said:
Thats what it says... The registration docs said 1.1, but I checked with DPMC, they confirmed it. It was 10sri.
Sold it to a guy who is supposedly doing some restoration work..

Hey I saw you guys having fun in an old escort? how was it??

ah btw, if yours had the six dial dashboard (Speedo, Revs, fuel, Oil, Temp and Volts) then its definitely a GT

Gummybr · January 2, 2008

Supra_Natural said:
ah btw, if yours had the six dial dashboard (Speedo, Revs, fuel, Oil, Temp and Volts) then its definitely a GT

Yep..

Interior

Supra_Natural · January 2, 2008

Gummybr said:
Yep..
Interior

nice.... it was a 4 door though, right? and by the way, was the dash fully functional?

thats what mine looks like

Gummybr · January 3, 2008

Supra_Natural said:
nice.... it was a 4 door though, right? and by the way, was the dash fully functional?

thats what mine looks like

Not really, the previous owner who is also a autolanka member had given it for a paint job and the garage guy had messed it up.

Elvis_Pil · January 4, 2008

Hey Gummy & Supra- out of curiosity, how much do MkII Escorts and Capris go for these days?

Supra_Natural · January 4, 2008

Pilawoos said:
Hey Gummy & Supra- out of curiosity, how much do MkII Escorts and Capris go for these days?

depends on the sort of nick they are in really..... escorts: a sound runner with a decent body/paint should set you back no more than 150,000. around 200k for a minter.... but then since very few people buy these cars they can be had for even less with a bit of bargaining. Btw, 2 door versions of the MKII are VERY rare here.... havent seen even one yet.

As for Capris..... quoted prices tend to be higher than escorts, in the 250k - 400k range for decent cars...... the higher prices tend to come from those who dont really know the car, but are looking to make a quick buck.

Elvis_Pil · January 4, 2008

Supra_Natural said:
depends on the sort of nick they are in really..... escorts: a sound runner with a decent body/paint should set you back no more than 150,000. around 200k for a minter.... but then since very few people buy these cars they can be had for even less with a bit of bargaining. Btw, 2 door versions of the MKII are VERY rare here.... havent seen even one yet.
As for Capris..... quoted prices tend to be higher than escorts, in the 250k - 400k range for decent cars...... the higher prices tend to come from those who dont really know the car, but are looking to make a quick buck.

Thanks man.. yours is a two door MkII Escort is it?

Supra_Natural · January 4, 2008

Pilawoos said:
Thanks man.. yours is a two door MkII Escort is it?

you're welcome..... it's actually a two door Mk1 from 1967, I think it's one of the earliest production batch, but no way to really make sure because the car was registered here in 1979, and the previous owners.... well lets just say they weren't exactly enthusiasts

Elvis_Pil · January 4, 2008

Supra_Natural said:
you're welcome..... it's actually a two door Mk1 from 1967, I think it's one of the earliest production batch, but no way to really make sure because the car was registered here in 1979, and the previous owners.... well lets just say they weren't exactly enthusiasts

Good scene Dude- how's the ride? Power and rear wheeling wise?

Supra_Natural · January 4, 2008

Pilawoos said:
Good scene Dude- how's the ride? Power and rear wheeling wise?

well, its only got the 1300 engine, and the original carb (supposed to be a Weber) has been replaced by an ordinary ford carb, and to cap it all off it has LOADS of filler on the body.... so it isnt all that quick, but its still fun......

As for the Rear-Drive..... IMO most entertaining layout on earth, its VERY tail happy, but pretty simple to control too....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1901...mp;id=506251059

Gummybr · January 4, 2008

Pilawoos said:
Hey Gummy & Supra- out of curiosity, how much do MkII Escorts and Capris go for these days?

Dont tell me you want to buy one. Well if you are make sure you have the time, patience and money......

BTW supra, is yours a 1300cc?? I saw one mark1 2 door with a 1600cc engine up for sale in the papers. The guy was asking for some heck of a price..

Supra_Natural · January 4, 2008

Gummybr said:
Dont tell me you want to buy one. Well if you are make sure you have the time, patience and money......
BTW supra, is yours a 1300cc?? I saw one mark1 2 door with a 1600cc engine up for sale in the papers. The guy was asking for some heck of a price..

yep 1300GT, 1967 but on a 10 sri plate....... it isnt in very good nick unfortunately because the previous owner basically used it as a budget runner...... but it runs and can be caned, so it's good fun! hoping to sort it out eventually, either do a proper spec resto, or rebuild it into something wild and scary....

yeah i noticed too.... Devinda had checked it out, its been done up quite extensively apparently, I heard that 300k cash would buy it though...... the quoted price was just ridiculous!

Elvis_Pil · January 4, 2008

Gummybr said:
Dont tell me you want to buy one. Well if you are make sure you have the time, patience and money......
BTW supra, is yours a 1300cc?? I saw one mark1 2 door with a 1600cc engine up for sale in the papers. The guy was asking for some heck of a price..

No man we had some in the family yonks ago and was wondering...Anyway are there any two door ones available anywhere

Supra_Natural · January 4, 2008

Pilawoos said:
No man we had some in the family yonks ago and was wondering...Anyway are there any two door ones available anywhere

two door mark 1 escorts can be found from time to time, couple were at the recent motor show, and there was a heavily tweaked one for sale in last sunday's paper..... MkII 2 doors i'm not sure, as I personally haven't come across any yet..