2000 Ford Escort ZX2 from North America - Comments

Just picked up a 98 ZX2 with 217,000 miles on it. Only needed front tires and and rear shoes. Awesome little car. I was told it's the original clutch and the only other thing ever replaced was the alternator. I would love to get 300,000 out of it!

This is the second Escort I've owned. The first one was a 96 and the only reason I gave it up was to get a car with AC because I was moving back to Ca. I bought a 99 ZX2 hot. I love these little Escorts, they are the right size and speed for me.

I had no problems with my first car at all (except for regular maintenance). My second car I didn't have any problems with it at all while I was in California (5 years).

Now since I've moved back to Oregon, I've had to rebuild the transmission (was expected), the AC shut off and stopped working, then mysteriously started working again and the serpentine belt keeps falling off. I've replaced the belt twice and the tensioner once but it continues to happen. Only have 40K miles on the car. The last time it fell off I hit the edge of a puddle maybe 1" deep edge going slow (10 mph in parking lot) and the belt slipped right off. This happened two months after slipped off the second time.

Both cars had the same problem with shutting down while driving. I found that changing the air filter once or twice a year (whether it looked clean or not) resolved that problem for me. I know I need to change the air filter when the car starts reeving up and sometimes shake or vibrate roughly a little. It's the first thing I do, and then check for any other issues after that. Not saying this is the rough idling resolution, because both of my cars run rough while idling. My current mechanic thinks it might be walking off because of one of the other pulleys that feed into the serpentine belt. He mentioned the AC pulley and belts was one under consideration. There were two he mentioned being in the same area, but I can't remember what the other one was. He said one of the other pulleys is making it jump or jam. He saw it happen when he put the belt back on but couldn't determine which one.

I still love this car and I hate to think of buying a Focus next. YUKE! If I have to get another car, I'm gonna have to look around.

I have had my 2000 ZX2 for six years and I love it. The only problems I have had have been with a sensor that went bad and the car would shut off when I pushed the clutch in. Sorry I can't remember the name of the sensor, but replacing it fixed the problem and that was about 4 years ago. I don't know if that was a defect or the result of one of several deer hits (I'm from Pennsylvania, we have A LOT of deer!). The car runs great and has just over 200,000 miles on it.

I have an 01 ZX2. I had a similar problem with the rough idle; I had to keep it running using the throttle, or else it would die. I noticed prior to this happening that there was a sucking noise coming from the rear of the engine, but it was running fine so I didn't think much of it. I found that the vacuum line from the PCV valve to the intake manifold had come off at the connection to the I/M. I replaced the 90 degree elbow with a Chrysler part right off the shelf from Autozone. Worked like a charm. The sucking noise is now gone, and the engine idles beautifully.

Any questions, comments my email is xsvspd81@yahoo.com