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[JamesV6CDX]

Currently I'm driving around in my grandads car, a T reg 1.6litre Escort Zetec with 30k on the clock.

Lets just say it's been a good experience - at telling me how much I miss the Omega!

Observations are

Good

1) Reasonably easy to maintain
2) Cheapish to insure
3) Nice gearchange (But poor clutch uptake)
4) Quite pokey for 1.6, but engine is loud over 90mph  

Not so good

1) It seems to drink fuel as fast as my Omega! (although I'm blasting the cobwebs out of it a tad)
2) Although it handles quite well for a FWD, the steering is hugely over assisted at any speed, there is way to little feedback.
3) The brakes, I've not much confidence it would pull up square if you had to hammer 'em on
4) The heating takes ages to warm up, and even then it's not that warm.
5) No option for re-circ air when in traffic (found that out last night when stuck on A417 - cough cough)
6) Common ford rattles
7) No rear speakers
No RCL

Very simelar to the 53 plate Focus at work really, I think it's the same engine still.

The only ford engine I ever liked was their HCS / OHV pushrod engine. I spent many a time working on one of those!

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

Found
On
Roadside,
Dead!

Bit of string, bit of board, throw it together and you have a ford!

I shouldn't really be taking the michael, I'm very grateful to have some temporary wheels. It will be going back with some new tyres, a full service and a full tank of fuel

[Kevin Wood]

If it's the old 1.6 Zetec you have my sympathies. Build a 2 litre engine and put tiny bores in it to make a poverty spec model out of it. Sometime I'll give you a ride in the Westfield so you can sample what the 2L one's like when breathed on a little!

The newer (all ali) Ford engines are quite good, I reckon. Emma had a 1.25 16v Fiesta and it was a cracking engine. Really free revving and plenty of poke. Not too noisy and pretty frugal too. Quite possible the larger capacity ones weren't as good though.

Whilst I find most Ford mechanicals are at least tough and quite well put together, if agricultural, it doesn't extend to the rest of the car, I'm afraid. Well, maybe the agricultural bit does. Still, when the bodies rot away or get bent they provide a good source of parts for us kit car types.

Never driven a Ford of the focus era. Can't say my life feels incomplete as a result. They should bring back the Escort Mk 2 IMHO, with a Duratec I4 engine.  

When you service it, the Zetec wants a 30 viscosity oil ideally. Some of the early Zetecs get problems with lifters pumping up on thicker oil, although mine seems happy on VX Semi.

Kevin

[Markie]

Sounds likea fairly realistic assessment.

SWMBO had a 07 focus when her car was repaired last week. Pops had a 06 Astra when his was repaired earlier this year.

And the difference in style, build quality etc was enormous. Focus still sounds like a ford  

[Marks DTM Calib]

Those Ford pushrod engines are awful....should have been phased out 20 years ago, not 2 years ago....

[JamesV6CDX]

Those Ford pushrod engines are awful....should have been phased out 20 years ago, not 2 years ago....

But they never break down

[Kevin Wood]

But they never break down

Emma's 1.1 fiesta ended up with a hole in the block the size of her fist. Does that classify as a breakdown?

Granted someone probably should have cleaned out the breathers, which were woefully inadequate for an engine with such heavy breathing!

Oh, and then there's the alternator cable that burns out if you've got the cheek to drive it with the headlights and the wipers on at the same time.

Kevin

[Marks DTM Calib]

Those Ford pushrod engines are awful....should have been phased out 20 years ago, not 2 years ago....

But they never break down

They do....along with.

Tappets that wear at a ridiculous rate meaning you cant get them quiet.
Spark plugs with taper fittings (yes, even in this day and age) which have a habit of snapping off.
Bores that wear faster than the tyres on them.
Timing chains which rattle and require the engine out to replace.
They idealy want 3K oil changes to keep the intenals clean and stop the ever advancing black death.
A breather system based around the oil filler cap which when removed looks like a second exhaust.