It appears from some reviews and comments that the Fiesta diesel (prior to
2002 I think) was rather poor. Is this a deserved reputation and if so what was wrong with them, engine-wise?Did they also suffer from major rust problems?
Any informed comments welcome.
Cic.
Its the same as the MK1/MK2 Mondeo donk AFAIR and they were terrible. TDCi engines are more powerful, economical and less agricultural.
Mainly just very agricultural by modern standards. Probably just the kind you want if you have lots of chip fat to burn though. ;-)
Tim
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Thanks both for those replies which seem to confirm that rumours are well-founded.
With this kind of reputation they'll probably qualify as 'classics' in a few years time.
Cic.
Although a generation behind pretty much everything else at that time, they are pretty bullet-proof, and much easier to repair/maintain that later technology.
I know of an ex-utility diesel Fiesta van from that era that ran for 200k with virtually no servicing, and with no problems with engine or box. It rotted away to the point of being uneconomic to repair, but the engine was still fine.
Chris
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Same old story then it seems - good mechanics in a rusty biscuit tin.
I have the opposite - a Peugeot 306 diesel with almost no rust and a gear shift that appears to have been developed from a pair of Chinese chop sticks. Gear changing especially from cold is like pumping an hydraulic jack.
Cic.
Truly ancient noisy mechanicals.
Somethings knackered then, they're normally not that bad, slightly better than an Astra.
Assuming it's the boggo 1.8 Diesel as fitted to the Escort etc., it's very dieselly. That said, it'd make a reasonable fist of pulling a tonne of Fiesta around.
I used to see a lot of fiesta diesel vans, they were adequately quick and did over 50 to the gallon, easy to fix too. I still have a diesel fiesta saloon customer, she cannot see any need to get anything newer, it is reliable, cheap to run and worth nothing, straight forward service every year, cambelt every 5 years or so, the odd glow plug, nothing expensive compared to the new stuff. The late diesels have many problems, such as injector pumps, ecu faults, alternators, injectors, DM flywheels, crank pulleys, fuel pumps, water leaks etc. Yes, they are fast, quiet and economical on fuel but the maintenance costs can be horrific.
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