Can bad HT leads cause hunting?

My dads just taken the car in for a service, they said have taken it for a test drive and the they have checked the shocks and there is nothing wrong with them. However they said one of the wishbones need replacing so that may be causing the the squeek

Anyway the said they will do the service and if it dosn't cure the hunting problem (they said Zetecs need premium quality spark plugs rather than the bog standard ones thats in the car now) it is probably the HT leads but if it was the HT leads surely the car would just miss fire and jerk really badly rather than hunt at idle?

They said if it does need HT leads they would get second hand ones as its pointless fitting £70 leads to a 10 year old car.

They said the rest of the car was in good conditon and would have no trouble passing the MOT though.

Minus the HT leads they said it would come to £170 for the service and wishbone which sounds quite cheap to me.

 

Wishbones can cause sqeaking well the ball joint or bushes that come with the wishbone can.

Running problems i would need to have a listen to say.

 

Wishbone's fair enough on a car of that age and it is a problem that ford have had for a while (espec mondeo's). Hunting could be any number of problems but Im sure they'll have put it on a diagnostic machine to get a better picture. If they say it'll pass the MOT then emission ect are okay meaning nothing too major with the engine. You could always check out what Ford recommend for plug replacement.

 

Yeah I know the engines fine, my uncle did a compression test last year and there was no real where on the pistons etc so the engine is good for another 50k or so, it will the the bodywork which will kill it probably i.e rust.

I'll know more when he gets the car back anyway.

 

Hunting is usually a fuel starvation issue, bad idle setup ect, HT leads wouldn't cuase this. Wishbones, yep comon Ford problem, bushes need replacing on 2 year basis, the Seirra / Mondeo Mark1 are expecailly notorious for this (control arm bushes, etc).

They are right with the Spark plugs, they do need special plugs, bosch normally. Again when I worked in VX dealer we found that Champion plugs would not work in a VX engine for some reason, caused all sorts of problems, misfires ect, awful plugs.

A friend has a Mondeo with Zetec, Fuel inject that "hunts" we cured it temparorly by cleaning out the Idle speed control value, but i think he'll need a new one, not cheap.

 

I had to have the HT leads replaced on my car and the symptoms are the same as a bad spark plug, the car stutters going up hills etc. basically when you are putting power down.

Can't remember how much it cost last time as I have having other work done as well (head gasket) but I think the first time I had the leads and distributor cap done at Halfords for about £40 with fitting.

 

My uncle cleaned out the idle valve a few months back it cured the problem but now its back engine. Maybe my dads needs a new valve then

The 1.6 Zetec found in the Escorts are not the same engine as found in the 1.6 Zetec mondeo is it?

 

Ya fraid so, I think this is my friends problem too, I don't know how much a Ford one is, but I know a VX one was about £110 + vat, ouch!

Yep the 1.6i Zetec found in both models (and fiesta, etc) would be the same, they bolt different gearboxes on.

 

Thanks, the cars still at the garage as they have not managed to fix it today, which means I have to get a sodding train to Hyde for an interview tomorrow morning

 

d'oh that sucks dude, not sorted your own transport out yet? Ya public transport sucks dude, not 2 ways about it. It'll always let you down, so take what you think it take you to get there and double it, at least.

Good Luck! All the best.

 

Well Hyde is only 10 miles away from me so its not too bad, a 25 minute bus journey a 15 minute walk and a 20 minute train.

It would take a good 40 minutes in the car probably though at that time in the morning.

 

Make sure the vacuum hose in in good condition and properly attached. That can cause misfires, particularly at low revs and when pulling away. Get it sorted or you'll destroy the cat.

 

Bad HT leads can/will cause misfires, poor acceleration, flat spots, possible coil damage and general poor running, oh and yes MOT failure. Wm

 

He's still not got the fiipping car back, there excuse is they need to check the breaks as a part of the service. Just how long can it take to replace wishbone and do a service on an Escort?

 

Erm the car is being test driven again and its still not ready, I can see trading standards getting involved at this rate. My dad knows the milleage anyway so we will know if there is suddenly an extra 300 miles on the clock or somthing.

The quote of the machanic was "its still running shit err, we will try a new coil to see if that fixes it" Great so they have had the car nearly two days to come to this conclusion.

It seems fuel injection systems are too much of them to cope with even though they have been around for 30 years.

 

We had something similar om a nova sri......turned out to be a pin hole in the diaphram in the carb.

 

Its all fixed now, the coil had gone which was cuasing the hunting and rough ride,they said it was also miss firing. Cost £220 for the lot including a full service, new wishbone, hand break adjustment, new coil and HT leads, break cleaning and steering tracking adjustment.

The car runs much better now as well, they said they had a good look round the car and they couldn't find anything wrong with it they didn't fix. So if this is true its not bad for £220.

 

Coils can cause a wide range of running problems but can be spotted on the diagnosis machine.