2000 Ford Ka from UK and Ireland - Comments

I have recently passed my driving test, and so bought a Ford Ka. I have no complaints with the car, its generally very reliable!

However recently the engine has been cutting out whilst I have been driving.

The car always starts again immediately, but I would ideally like to know whats wrong with it, so that I can have it fixed!!

Has anyone else had any problems like this?

I have a Ford KA 1 04 reg. I bought it with the balancing of the warranty. It developed rust on the boot - I was told this was a common problem with 04 models from the garage body shop (!) and the Ford reluctantly agreed to fix it after much haggling. (they had discovered that the rust had spread over the whole panel) Got a shock the other day when I opened the bonnet to find a MORE RUST - have contacted the garage again. Should an 04 car be rusting this much?!! It says something for Ford's workmanship!

I was interested to read other peoples comments on the Ka.

I'm defending the Ka because I've found it a great little budget car and I haven't had any serious trouble with it yet.

I bought it as my first car for just over £5k brand new in summer 03 and it's still going great. It's serviced every year and wash waxed every few weeks to keep the rust away and looking great. Had it wax oiled underneath too. They rust badly underneath apparently.

Anyway, for a budget car you can't complain if a few problems arise can you? I'm yet to experience any big ones.

Only gripes I have are that the doors dent easily and the Ka rusts badly underneath.

Other thing to mention is that now the Ka is out of warranty I won't be getting it serviced at Ford anymore. They're far too expensive and the dealer stamp in the book simply isn't worth it on a budget car.

I intend keeping the Ka for a few more years yet so maybe I'll write another review then hopefully still defending it.

Remember - cheap purchase cost, cheap insurance, good fuel economy (47 mpg by my calcs) and easy to drive. You can't go far wrong.

Car cuts out, but restarts,it is the idle fuel injection valve a garage will charge you half hour or one hour to fit, buy it your self and it is at the front of the engine two small bolts it takes 5mins and you save £30-60 you can get the part from the scrap yard for £10 it cost me £60 the first time mine went now i go to the scrap yard for most parts , some will fit for you.

I have a 2000 X plate Collection, and whilst I was happy with it initially, I'm not such a satisfied owner now!

Over the last year the door sills on both sides have begun to corrode badly, and even though the 6 year bodywork warranty was still valid when I pointed this out to Ford, they will not touch it, even though I now know it to be a very common problem with the Ka.

I'm now waiting for confirmation from my garage as to whether the lower wishbone arms need replacing as the ride is bumpy, and the steering is making the most awful droning noise, which I'm told could be the power steering pump failing, or worst case scenario the power steering rack - both of these are also known to be problems on the KA. To me, this is all highly unacceptable on a car that's only just covered 30,000 miles and is serviced annually.

Maybe I've just been unlucky, but I have to say that I would be dubious about purchasing another Ford as the aftercare received is poor.

I have to say I am a proud owner of a sportka se, and would also admit to some problems. These were not down to the ford dealers directly, but to the quality of the car in the first place. At the end of the day you get what you pay for, if you want a well made car with loads of extras that costs the earth get a bmw mini. Currently if you buy a new base model ka you can sell it after a year for nearly what you payed for it if you shop around, tell me of another car where this is true and I shall buy it!

I have a Ford KA 02. My engine has always had a droning noise and have been told that is normal for this type of car.It is also rusting around the edges of the doors and around the rear windsceen wiper. Recently the temperature gauge came on, and at that moment the damage was done - a lot of damage. Am trying to find out if anybody else had had this problem.

I have a Ford Ka and the main problem I have is that when I move off from standing (i.e. at traffic lights) quite often the whole car shakes. The only way to prevent it is to accelerate heavily.

Nothing I have had done has helped, (cleaned air filter, serviced air conditioning, new oil filter) does anyone on here have any ideas what the problem could be?

I think the ford ka has its good and bad points. It is a great car for consumption I get a lot for my petrol money - but unfortunatly this has been outweighed by many faults, I have only had the car 6 months - it has done 60,000 miles. Rust is spreading near the pertrol cap, the sensors went, the clutch needed totally replacing, and now the power steering pump and rack have both gone. I thought it would be a really great budget car, but you end up paying more out in repairs than you do the actual car - False economy!!! Its such a shame to because the design is cool and it's a perfect little run a round.

Just bought a 1997 Ford KA from a dealer with 52k on the clock and power steering.All seems OK except the usual rusting just behind the bottom of the door area both sides and a long pedal travel on the brakes. Gave it a full service and parts I took off were all motorcraft including the drive belt. Plugs came out OK so new ones fitted with lashings of copperslip!The tappets had not been adjusted for ages and clattered until settings restored as per Haynes manual. "Antifreeze" appeared to be just water so that was repaced as well. It runs and drives as sweet as a nut apart from the long brake pedal. Any cures anyone??? The front offside suspension creaks when travel is excessive. any ideas?

Hi.

The guide below only works if the brake fluid has been correctly bled.

For your pedal travel it's common to see the handbrake cables 'wound up' instead of being adjusted properly. I see this a lot a the garage I work at. To cure, removed the faux leather gaiter around the handbrake lever where you will see a 10mm nut on the left hand side, wind this off until it is at the end of the cable. Now jack the rear of the car up and remove the wheels and drums, after checking for wear etc clean them up. Now adjust the shoes outwards using two screwdrivers either side of the cylinder, adjust one click at a time, re-fitting the drums each time and giving it a light tap. When the drum can be heard just scraping the drums re-fit the drum. Do this both sides then re-fie the wheels. Back inside the car pump the brake pedal until hard, now adjust the nut on the lever until the handbrake feels how you want it to. Road test the car you'll be surprised!

Hope this helps Lloyd.

P.S. your Haynes will probably say that the shoes are self adjusting and to point they are, but this system is primitive and needs yearly servicing/adjustment to maintain it. this works on 99% of cars with drums from 1901-present.

Hi

I own a 2002 Ford Ka with electric windows etc so deluxe model by all accounts. In the last few days it has gone in for mot and service. Since purchasing it this time last year I have done approximately 4000 miles, now failed mot on front shock absorbers, unusual would you say or did it barely go through the mot last year! Anyway my problem is that since having the car back it has developed a very noisy tapping noise, the harder you accelerate the faster the tapping, especially happens when going up hills! My daughter said it sounds like a machine gun. Can anyone give me advice as to what it is, what has caused it all of a sudden and is it expensive to put right. The garage seem to be at a loss.

I have owned a Ford Ka2 for around 4 years now and the mileage is quite high (75k) so I expect a few things to need doing every MOT. However by a few things I am not talking about continuous problems, I have only had one annual MOT overall cost under £100. For example today a mechanic in Birmingham told me I need to replace the wishbones, this seems somewhat suspect as they were only replaced about 2 years ago! The front discs and pad need replacing, understandably as the car is now 10 years old.

Added to this I have always had problems with the suspension, I believe it was the Bushes and springs last year and the overall cost of that MOT and service was close to £400. This was also down to rear drum brake replacement which was discovered during the service and not MOT. So now I service the car myself with the help of my brother who worked as a mechanics assistant for 2 years. I do find it hard to believe that despite only being replaced less that 2 years ago they have been corroded again. I was told last time that it is perhaps down to driving to fast around roundabouts or speed bumps (of which there are many around Swindon where I live), this was quite possible during my early years of driving, but certainly not now. I intend to view the evidence later to see if they are as worn as last time.

If anyone else has had similar problems please comment as I'm a little concerned that at least one mechanic has done me. Its probably just the car tho, false economy, need to get rid!

On the plus side I have had little problems with rust which may not be any comfort to those of you with cars much newer.

To loud machine gun noise comment, I had exactly the same problem after a service and MOT. You'd think the mechanics would notice, but its the tappets in your engine. You need to take the head off the engine (the bit that says vehicle registration, ford, etc) using an Alan key to remove the 6 bolts (careful not to drop them through any gaps as I did!). Use a depth gauge to measure the distance between the tappets and the cam shaft (there should be a few in there with alternating coiled and uncoiled springs) and set them at the correct level which can be found in a Haynes guide. You have to measure them when the tappets are coiled so you may need to turn the engine over to alternate which tappets are coiled. In my case there was only one tappet that was a problem and it was obvious from the naked eye. From your machine gun description yours may have a couple out. If you are not confident doing this don't worry because it should not a serious problem at all (especially if a incapable student such as myself managed it!) just take it up to your local garage and they'll be able to sort it easily.

However if you have had problems in the past with lubrication (Ka's drink oil) it is possible that the cam shaft has been scored in which case it should be replaced which will be quite costly. You'll be able to tell if the problem with tappet readjustment persists.

I have a ford ka n I think it's a lovely car 2 drive. mines a 03 plate n I have the rusting around the back windscreen wiper, but that's about it until last week when I notice breaking while reversing was making a clunking noise, then today sumthing made a bang underneath my car n my breaks failed to respond. luckly I managed to bring the car 2 a safe stop. I was wondering if anyone has had this problem

thx.