Hi,
Firstly, I know very little about cars, so please go easy on me :)
Recently we've been having problems with our '95 fiesta. The battery/alternator warning light was coming on now and then. After a service they replaced the fan belt but said the alternator was 'a bit dicky' and would eventually die. We still had the odd problem so took it in again, and they replaced the voltage regulator.
Could this be related to having problems starting the car? I know it's an old car and cold weather is often a problem but it's getting pretty bad, sometimes taking 10-30 minutes of starting before it revs up. When starting, the motor whirrs fine, and the engine seems to 'catch' now and then but it just dies soon after that. Usually the way to start it is holding the accelerator down fully, then eventually it will putter away on the verge of stalling for 30 or more seconds, then eventually roar into life!
We had the plugs changed in the service.. anything else to look for? can we rule out the alternator (not sure if it affects starting or just charging the battery - we get no warning lights anymore and being able to spend 30 minutes trying to start the car makes it look like the battery is very capable!).
Hope this is enough info to give you something to work on, as I said I don't know much, but after being in 2 garages and still having the problem I'm wondering is a little cleaning or something simple could fix it without spending another small fortune!
Cheers, Chris