Timing belt on Fiesta Mk5

STOP RIGHT THERE!

The 1.4 engine will require a 1.4 ECU, and installing that will mean you also need the PATS chip from the 1.4 car and (if you do the job properly) all the key barrels from the 1.4 car, or new ones.

Tim..

Jezz! what a pile of over-complicated s**te modern cars are, I hope my recently acquired Ford focus isn't going to exhibit anywhere near the amount of horror stories I so often read about on this and other vehicle related newsgroups.

Please tell me someone, does any manufacturer in this day and age manufacture the kind of reliable straightforward vehicle which the Sunday mechanics among us can still easily and cheaply maintain ourselves?

if a car was designed by a mechanic it would be bloody ugly but a joy to work on !

Not fully, no.

But, if you get something like a Toyota in the first place, they are extremely reliable and need little more than an oil change each year.

Mrcheerful

That is a very serious amount out.

turn the crank gently to the stop pin, if there is resistance STOP TURNING. Slacken the crank nut , turn the cams using two pairs of mole grips till the slot lines up and you can put the setting bar in. Tighten the crank nut, remove the stop pin and bar, put the lid on etc. cross your fingers and try it, you have nothing to lose.

Mrcheerful

Apart from around less than a hand ful of common Foci maladies, you should have a very reliable car.

Tim..

In message , Ivan writes

Your over complicated modern s**te Focus should still be good for over

.... I now remember when first tightened the nut up (and I was still only slightly pissed off), that when I rotated the crank to have a look at the valve clearances there was unexplained resistance. I removed the spark plugs. Still resistance... push a bit harder on the wrench on the crank nut... ah there we go.... oh no, and again resistance... Well maybe a couple.

Didnt make sense at the time - before I found the crank sprocket could have moved...

Ivan (ivan'H' snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You want ABS and traction control and windbags and low emissions and high fuel economy and excellent crash protection and transponder immobilisers and remote deadlocking and...

Don't try changing the cambelt without reading the instructions, then...

Don't be silly. They're not allowed to any more.

I'm pretty sure you're right, but you know the type of thing I mean Tim, for instance a spare key for my old Astra meant popping up to the local supermarket and getting one cut for a couple of quid, something which I believe isn't going to be quite as cheap or easy with the focus, which only came with one key.

It does depend on whether you can see the 'new' engine running...

I had no complaints with my old H reg Mark 2 Astra, it was just her indoors who wanted something newer and more comfortable, although I must confess that the £110 per year road fund licence for a 1.8 turbo diesel focus, as opposed to £195 for my old 1.7 diesel plus (allegedly) 64 miles to the gallon on a run is certainly good news indeed.

I'm now faced with the proposition of having to get rid of the Astra estate which is quite sound mechanically and bodily (apart from a slightly dripping fuel pump) its MOTd until November, has got five new tyres (the spare unused) a recent cambelt and water pump and a year-old exhaust system complete from manifold to tailpipe, not forgetting the proper Astra roof bars.. I suppose the upshot is that I will probably have to pay someone to take it away.

Ivan (ivan'H' snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Scrap cars are worth money again.

But your best bet might be to shove it on fleaBay.

The starter motor would have done it harder than you. It might still be fine.

Nope. You need something like my Capri which is on points & carb.

--=20 Conor

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No.

--=20 Conor

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Right, got the engine. Took £251 though which wasn't a givaway. But hey... desperation removes choice.

It comes without manifolds. Is this a problem? Will my manifolds match? It's the same 1.25 as mine, just 2 years younger. Obviously I'll need a set of gaskets for intakes and exhaust. Anything else?

New cambelt whilst it's out the car? ;-)