1990 Ford Fiesta LX from UK and Ireland - Comments

OK there is a catalogue of problems that I will document on this car, which have ultimately put me off ever buying a Ford again.

I bought this 1.1 blue MK 3 Fiesta LX from ebay for a very cheap price. There were no problems for the first 5,000 miles even though it was very rattly which is to be expected. Needed to replace the head gasket, at a cost of 300. The car also had new sparks put in and general service. Was consistently leaking oil and I couldn't tell where it was coming from. There was no further problems for a while, despite it becoming more and more rattly. The car had VERY poor performance and really had to be pushed to match other 1.1's or 1.2's. Sometimes the engine turned over so lumpily the whole car juddered. Pleased to say it usually started first time, but this is no consolation. Then around 2 months after I had replaced the HG, the clutch started slipping. This was teh final straw as I had spent so much on it already. I drove it till the clutch went completely then scrapped it. I am now looking for either a French or Japanese car as old Fords are not worth looking at!

Appauling, never will buy a car from Ford again no matter what. Going around corners was a nightmare, you felt like the car could loose grip at any point and go careereing off into the abyss.

Also, on top of the major problems, it felt like every working part on the car was liable to fall out or break at any given time. I have not seen cars of this age from other manufacturers which make the rattly tappet noise this one does. I believe the problem is in Escorts and Fiestas this age, using the CVH engine.

With respect, if you buy a very cheap 16 year old Fiesta from Ebay, you can't expect miracles. The engine in question is the HCS, not the CVH that you refered to, and is known as a noisy, slow, but pretty reliable engine. The key to them is to use a good 10w/40 synthetic oil.

good old fiesta's!

The HCS death rattle is common, but those engines are hard as nails, they may be slow, but they take an awful lot of abuse to kill them.