Hello I have A P Reg Ford Fiesta LX 1.25 16v MK4 and I was driving along last week and the car cut out when I was travelling 55 MPH the car now will not start when I turn the key I get a clicking noise from the starter motor the car will not start at all and when the car broke down I could smell a burning smell from the engine. I thinking that maybe the throttle control maybe be fault But somebody told me that the engine may have seized can ne1 help me im really stuck
Jonathan White
If it seized while you were travelling along it's likely to have skidded the driving wheels unless you de-clutched at that time. So it probahbly isn't that. But it may have seized later for some reason that seems unlikely. But you can tell if it's seized by putting it into top gear and pushing it. If you can get the engine to trun then it isn't seized.
Assuming it isn't seized, it's possible that corrosion has affected the main power supply from the battery, possibly where the cable is earthed, or even the battery connections themselves. This would cut the electrics (althougn I've never known it happen while you've been driving along). When you try to re-start, the solenoid does not get enough current to engage properly and it goes in and out with a clicking noise.
The burning could be from oil on the poor connection which gets hot when you try to start. It shouldn't get hot but might if the resistance is high.
Rob Graham
Well it may have something to do with the throtle position sensor becuase the smell was stronger there when the car stped the wheels did not skid though it wheeled on quite freely for a couple of hundred yards. The car when you turn the key now just sounds as though the starter motor is just engaging and dengaging. So I dont know, How easy would you expect to move the car in top gear.
Regards Jonathan White
How easy would you expect to move
Not very but it's one way of seeing if the engine is seized. Another would be trying to turn it from the crankshaft pulley (in the old days there'd have been a starting handle!). Just try something to see if the engine moves. If it does - which I fully expect - then we'll have to look for soemthing else.
The fact that the car won't start (i.e won't turn over) when you try the starter is nothing to do with the throttle mechanism. There seems to be an electrical fault but just check that the engine is not seized first (being as someone has told you it might be).
Rob
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