1997 Ford Escort GTi from UK and Ireland - Comments

The problem with the boot lock not working maybe the same as my problem. The lock jams up and will require removing and treating with WD40 firstly and then a thin oil. There is a hole in the top of the lock to allow entry to the workings. Simple job to remove and re-fit. Hope this helps.

Hi.

I'm having a similar problem to some of you, with my airbag warning light.

I drive a 1996 1.8 Diesel Escort, and the airbag warning light flashes 4 times, with a pause in between.

I mentioned it to a mechanic not so long ago, but at the time I hadn't taken note of the number of flashes, so he couldn't help me. He said that it would be either:

flash - pause - flash - pause...

flash - flash - pause - flash - flash - pause...

or

flash - flash - flash - pause - flash - flash - flash...

He didn't even mention the possibility of four flashes!

So does anyone know what it means, or, most importantly, whether it's serious - I'm not too bothered about it not going off when it should, I just don't want it to go off in my face while I'm driving along the motorway!

If it were my car I'd just pull the fuse out. This will stop the airbag from being triggered, although you might want to pull the instrument panel out and take the bulb out of the warning light which will probably stay on permanently when you take the fuse out. Less irritating than the flashing though I suppose.

Some experts estimate that as many as 50% of airbags in all makes of car are duds and will never go off in a shunt anyway. I T-boned a myopic 3-series driver at 40 mph in a 2 month old Peugeot 206, and the bag didn't deploy. Seat belt and crumple zones did their job and I walked away. Airbags are marketing nonsense, and not much else.

Airbag light flashing 4 times is 99% of the time seatbelt pre-tensioner fault, the way to repair this it two locate the 3 pretensioner conections (one on each seat under the plastic base trim and one behind the o/s kick trim) the conectors will be yellow, cut off the connectors and solder together elimaniting the connector. WARNING :ALLWAYS DISCONECT THE BATTERY FOR AT LEAST 15 MINS BEFORE DOING ANY WORK TO THE AIRBAG / PRE TENSION SYSTEM.

Boot electrical fault : allthough it is worth checking the 3/4 pin connections on boot, the most likely cause is poor earth, the main earth for all tailgate systems is the tailgate hinges. simply with a drift and hammer knock the tailgate hinge pins back and forth many times spraying with wd40, you will notice when you start to move the pins the rust.

Idle problem / surging : either idle speed control valve as previously suggested or air bypass / crankcase breather valve (on all 16v engines (located at front of engine just above sump,silver in colour.

If it cuts out useually idle speed control valve

if it surges, but doesn't cut out suspect breather valve.

Squeeks and rattles and creeks on front 90% of the time bottom suspension arms, but worth disconecting and checking steering rack arms.

I have a 1.6 16v 1998 finesse, I found that the car does like to rev hi, this is I found due to the car being cold, one trick is drive until the car starts to get warm then come to a complete stop and keep your foot on the break, you will hear the engine revs drop dramatically, hope it helps.

Also I was told this was due to the automatic choke.

I've got a 1997 escort Gti, mine has just started to over rev, on tickover it is reving between 2000-3000. Very annoying. I also had to replace the indicator and wiper stalk control as the main beam was sticking on or coming on when indicating. Also my bootlid doesn't shut first time if I open it with the key, if I open it with the switch in the car it shuts first time.

I have an escort gti and when you start the engine it just keeps revving up. in panic you would switch off the ignition. if this happens leave the engine and let it rev to 4000 revs and it will quickly fall. this is because as it been a gti it has an improved air flow meter. you wouldn't expect this to happen on a cold engine.

Who ever say that air bags are merketing nonsense wants his head looking at... airbags are not set off by speed of the car, but the g force of the impact...

I have a 98 Escort GTI and am experiencing a really annoying 'squeak' on every revolution of the front drivers side wheel, the faster I go the quicker it gets!!

Any ideas as to how this could be solved as it's driving me crazy!

Apart from that everything is fine with the car.

Cheers.

I have recently brought a 1997 Escort GTi and have found the following 'features' with the car:

- The boot lock is broken, so the car will only open with the electric release switch inside the car. Had exactly the same problem on my old XR2i, these locks must be really poorly built!

- Idling speed varies between about 800-1100 rpm, seems to be constantly hunting around, will try replacing the Idle Speed Control Valve I think at some stage to see if this cures the problem.

- When coasting on no throttle at reasonable speeds, you can feel the car sort of slowly repeatedly hesitating / holding back. May be due to the EFi as fuel is shut off during overrun conditions, but then again I may a problem somewehere. Anyone else have the same problem I wonder???

- Handy tip, when buying one of these cars, try to make sure it comes with the RED Master Key, or at least two standard BLACK keys. Due to the PATS immobilizer fitted to this car, you cannot start the car unless your key has a valid transponder built into it, and cheapish spare keys are only really copyable from the RED Master Key itself.

I brought my car with just a single Black key, and to get a spare key cut/programmed cost me a whopping £65 from a specialist locksmith. A spare key from Ford in the same situation will set you back £100 + VAT!!

Even with the above problems though I am very pleased with the car overall. A lot of car for very little money!

I have a escort gti had since new from 97 every thing was going really gd untill recently I found that I had loss of power wen racing a 1.4 nissan almera as we were both side to side the other problem I have is wen going over 100mph I noticed the ABS light come on n stayed on untill I droped the speed bk untill 70 any suggestions.

Hi I have a 1998 GTi I just bought may 2005 4 2k its mint serviced every 1000 miles since new! it drives like a dream 1 problem tho when I put my foot right to the floor it holds back at 3k reves to 4k revs it juder's then its fine? really annoying I've changed the valve the air filter, but no luck? its like a blockage somewhere can anyone help me thanks.

Great car almost. Main problem is stalling when cold and coming to a stop. Another problem is ABS warning light coming on when exceeding 105 mph apart from that got a good one on a 97 plate and only 54000 miles.

I have a Escort GTi 98 model lovely car, but when I start up it go's to 2500 reves then down it lasts for about 40 seconds I no its the idel control valve, but how do I fit this? please some 1 get back to me!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TOO!!!

I have a 1998 gti 36k mint con main problem heated rear window slow to clear other than that pleasure to drive.