31st Oct 2001, 05:57

HCS!! Need I say more?!!

Driving down the M25 in my 1991 MK5 1.3 Escort at a steady 85 MPH towards London when suddenly I felt a power loss with a drop in speed to 70 MPH. Not knowing what was going on I commented to my friend when a strange rattling noise took over the sound of my radio. BANG! Without any warning a piston penetrated the head and created a massive dent, almost piercing the bonnet! These old skool engines are a waste of time and money! If you want a cheap car don't fall into one of these sheds to put it mildly.

HCS... What more can I say?

18th May 2002, 13:50

I've also fallen into the idea of getting a "cheap economical 1.3 runaround" with the crappy HCS engine. I had a 1.3 1991 Escort. All looked pretty good until the winter when I'd get in the car and find that it either would totally refuse to start (until bump-started),or it would pack up on the roadside. One day after all the problems with this little shed seemed to be sorted I went on a 70 mile trip. All seemed OK until I was 60 miles from home and the temp gauge started pointing on the danger point. The next thing was that the engine started making tractor noises, then the engine seized and my car swerved off the road and into a wall. And I reckon that that was the best place for it. Could have been worse though, I could have got the 1.1 Escort...

6th Dec 2002, 15:31

I have a 1990 Mk4 shape Orion with 1300 HCS engine, all I can say is fantastic!!! Its now on 160,000 miles and still going strong. I've had the car for 65,000 miles and have never had a single problem. With regular servicing (which I do myself) it just keeps on going. I have replaced 1 or 2 parts, but nothing major. All these engines need is some TLC and they will go forever. After all they can't be that bad if they still fit them in new fords, all be it a fuel injection version.

24th May 2004, 15:05

The HCS engine is a total piece of junk. Mine has only done 53000 miles and the valve stem seals have gone causing the car to smoke on startup, the engine is also very rattly despite gentle driving and 4000 mile oil changes.

9th Jun 2004, 14:27

I used to own a 1989 1.3 HCS engined Escort and would drive it 90 miles a day. It performed faultlessly. It is a cracking little engine. OK it does not have a lot of power, but compared to other 1.3 engines of the same age it is fine. Maintenance is simplicity itself. OK those tappets give a distinctive sound - I can always tell a Ford HCS when it passes without looking, but you get used to it.

It is also highly economical - I got roughly 50mpg out of mine, and I wasn't one to crawl along the road. If you think through how you're driving, the car and engine will reward you. I sold mine for £180 as I needed a quick sale - someone got a bargain.

25th Nov 2005, 10:22

I really do wonder what went wrong with the 1.3 HCS engines as fitted from Mk5 Escorts. I had a 1988 Mk4 Escort with the 1.3 HCS engine and got at least 150,000 miles out of it (the speedo stopped working after that!) but and by the time the car was worth £10 scrap, the engine was still going although the tappets were a little noisy. I then bought a 1991 Mk5 Escort with the 1.3 HCS engine and that was a seriously different story as the engine seized at 78,000 miles. It was the first HCS engined car with fuel injection I've owned so presumably there's been some modifications to the engine, but clearly not for the better. I now drive a 1990 BMW 520 with 203,000 miles on the clock - go figure.

8th Nov 2010, 15:35

Had a 1990 Orion running the 1300HCS engine; simply bulletproof, if not a bit noisy and underpowered, traded it with 174K and still running fine.

Replaced the above with a MK4 Escort 1.4CVH with 60K and FSH, I got 13K out of it before it gave up the ghost.

In short, HCS engines are in my own opinion far more reliable than their CVH counterparts.