Old Fiesta uneven idle.

Collapsed or split oil breather hose (PCV valve hose)?

On my previous Focus of similar age it was at the front of the engine just beneath the exhaust manifold.

It probably looks like...

- you will find that it has no wall strength.

The PCV valve looks like

Thanks, I'll take a look. This hose actually fell off about ten years ago, and the tickover went very high until I pushed it back. I was considering putting one of those oil mist 'catch cans' in while I'm in that area. Do you suppose that is worth it?

on a 20 year old car? If this is the fault and the current hose has lasted 10 or 20 years a new hose is likely to last just as long. I kept a Ford focus running for 18 years but in the end it got to the stage where the cost of repairs was much greater than the value of the car and a repair in one area only resulted in a repair being required in another area 6 months down line.

Well, I was just thinking if it would be worth putting a vapour trap in the hose (the 'catch can' [not the best name, I guess] looks to me just like a sort of bronze mesh in a jar) to keep oil mist out of the combustion chamber, but I would need to cut the hose to insert it. I put a camera down the plug holes a few years ago, and there's a lot (20 years' worth) of carbon in there. I don't want to take the head off and scrape it off, but I'd be content to stop it getting any worse. Anyway, I have the air filter box off for now - I'll need tomorrow's daylight to do a proper inspection of the hose.

I've heard similar of Fords - they seem to fall apart around the 10 year mark.

My last car - an Audi A3 - was 17 years old when I sold it, after 4 years trouble free. Blowing exhaust aside it had no faults when I sold it. Everything worked perfectly. Saw the new owner the other day. He had a new clutch fitted as a precaution, nothing else to report except some cosmetic rust after 2 years.

I had trouble free motoring from my Ford Focus until the car was 16 years old. However there comes a time when you have to consider to start putting money into repairs or buy something newer. In the subsequent 2 years I had the car I had some wear and tear repairs but the crunch came when I had a fuel pump fail on the motorway and had to be rescued. I had the pump replaced but decided that perhaps I was pushing my luck with regular 200+ mile journeys. I traded it in for little money - cheaper car to buy (at 1 year old) and worth very little at 18 years old.

I once had a Citroen ZX and that was a money pit with lots of things breaking or falling apart at around 4 years old. First major expense was the clutch release arm snapping. That car was scrapped at 11 years when the gearbox exploded leaving lots of oil on the road :(

That clutch and exhaust probably cost a lot more than my car was worth!

Well, I think that hose is okay (it still feels tough), although I'm not sure how well retained the PCV is (it's very hard to reach - I'd need to remove the throttle body to get a really good look). One thing I noticed, though, is that the pipe going to the brake servo seems a bit loose. I can't pull it all the way out - I guess it's the type of connector that resists that, like a push-fit plumbing joint; but it can certainly be waggled in and out a bit. I don't know if that is normal - I've never looked at it before.

As to why I still keep the car going, it's what you'd call a 'runabout'. We have another car, but just keep the Fiesta going for the occasional time when we need to be in different places. It's only used about once a wekk, so the mileage is very low for its age. Also, I've made the mistake of getting attached to it. Plus, it just keeps going...