I'm planning on attempting to sort this problem over the weekend but would like a bit of advice on likely places to look.
Basically my escort (1.6 16v zetec) is getting increasingly difficult to start. In the mornings it's taking a little longer than it used to but ti's being a real pig if it's run for a while then turned off maybe
20 minutes or more, when you try to start it again it splutters and farts before giving up, it does this maybe four or five times before it will start succesfully.It feels like it's being starved of fuel but i'm not really sure why it would be. I had to reaplce the fuel filter and fuel pump earlier this year but it has only started doing this in the last couple of months. It also always seems worse when the weather is hot.
I'm planning on changing the oil and filter this weekend as they're long overdue, could this be the problem?
Lastly, I quite often notice a faint petrol smell when the windows are down coming from the front, it's not there all the time i jsut get wafts of it now and again. The smell is never there when i've had the bonnest up and the engine running only when the car is moving. I've lloked high and low for a leak as have a couple of other people i know and none of us have ever been able to find anything. Suggestions?
Kris