Ford Ka Engine Over revving

In message , anneke writes

Its usually the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) which causes this on the Ka. With a 96 model you will have to replace the TPS harness as well, I think because they changed the connector.

Thanks for the advice, this sounds expensive?

anneke wrote on 20 Jan 2006 12:05:00 -0800:

If it's the same thing which went wrong with my X-reg Fiesta (identical symptoms) then it cost me just over ?100 for the parts and fitting.

I _think_ it was the TPS they replaced (and they definitely replaced some wiring), but I've lost the sheet and can't recall exactly (went through about a million possibilities before giving in and just letting the Ford garage fix it, so I get a bit confused).

Isn't it the ICS sometimes too on these? Or is that stalling?

What causes these kinds of problems?

What causes these kinds of problems?

ahh yes this is a known problem(engine flare up during gear changes) and the TSB has been modified about 3 times since it first came out. originally the TPS and wiring but now they've done some testing etc and now we just change the wiring multiplug with a short harness soldered into the main loom further back at the baulk head its to do with the resistance in the wiring between the PCM and the TPS

ford_technical_ wrote on Fri, 20 Jan 2006 19:20:40 -0500:

That'd be it. A "TPS wiring harness" plus 0.6 hours labour.

Ford Motor Company.

It's probably either the TPS or the ICV. Throttle position sensor or Idle Control Valve. :)

It could be either at this age, on newer machines the TPS and wiring loom was modified (actually several times) so as to improve matters. That's a Ford dealer issue, shouldn't cost *too* much to fix, maybe £150 or so all in.

The the idle control valve, they gum up with crud and a cleaning is in order. Not difficult! There's a picture of the idle control valve on my website (several actually) - log on to

Actually, browse the site anyway, there's a little bit of Ka information available *cough little bit? cough*

Muppet.

You've had a FIAT, a Mini metro and a bunch of Fords. Now you've got a Honda. Within a few months you will realise that the Honda is vastly better built and that Fords are actually shit and made mostly of cheese. You blather on about how "some" Ka's sound like a bag of nails - they all do given enough miles, it's a known weakness of the engine that the cam doesn't get enough oil and that it's heavily loaded. All Ka's seem to get rattly dashboards and interior trim. They all rot like hell if a bit of paint gets chipped off. You don't even own one anymore FFS.

You're forgetting the tens of thousands of miles on the fleet I helped manage.

That's utter drivel.

What's rattled your cage, just out of interest?

How many of those were older Fords, then?

Fleet cars are generally new and within warranty. HTH.

Not really, no. My dad swears by Hondas, and I can see why. Although he was tempted by Subaru last time.

Yes, but you were obsessed with ensuring it didn't rattle.

Either you won't admit to it, or, see above.

You're obsession with those chopped down MkIII Festers, possibly?

They're s**te - you can admit it now you no longer own one.

In fairness, Derv's obession with ensuring the engine didn't rattle basically extended to getting the oil changed every 5k, and getting a proper service done every 10k. Not "obessision" in a major way, IMHO. Not that he wasn't obsessed with that car, mind..... :-)

Erm, that's "your". :-)

Heh! Maybe rallying helps keep the engine quiet? :)

Three were Fords older than three years. We bought cars between one and two years and ran them for another three to five years.

See above. "Generally" and "Norwich" don't always go together. HTH.

As Pete said, nope. He received regular servicing on the dot. That's not obsession, that's manufacturers recommendation. He also had interim oil changes. That's a generic recommendation for something that spends a fair amount of time in the city.

He also received time on track and on the drag strip.

Neither. He wasn't rattly.

Mark four, for goodness sake.

They're not s**te and I'd have another one without problem.

Whoopity f*ck.

Tell me that when you've had the Honda a while...

With 5k oil changes for it's entire lifetime. My Golf's 16 years old, has had 10k oil changes and doesn't sound rattle like hell.

Squeaked over bumps, if not rattling.

Fanatical support for cars that aren't that well screwed together...

I've a feeling I've said this to his face...

.. ooh dervy - I'm in leeds tomorrow...

Leeds? Not sure I'll make it in, there's a rattle from the dashboard.