2000 Ford Ka from UK and Ireland - Comments

I have Ford Ka 1.3i, which oil type should I use for this kind of engine? I heared that 5W/30 is recommended? I guess it's semi-synthetic! Thanks in advance.

My partner runs an '04 plate base model with approx 53,000 miles under its belt.

The steering rack and front wishbone bushes were replaced under warranty by the main dealer while the car was being serviced saving us small fortune; they want £800 for the rack alone!

The car under her ownership has performed faultlessly thus far, and no body issues either. Main dealer servicing is way overpriced; £170 for an oil and filter change and a little bit of screen wash(!?).

Now I maintain the car; parts are cheap and servicing is simple. I will however coat the underbody in waxoyl, as Ford has been a scrooge in this area.

My only concern with the car is the rubbish brakes, but this seems to be commonplace, as other Ka's I've driven have been the same.

Sum up: Bargin basement motoring, much, much better than some French offerings of the same ilk. Address the issues mentioned and the Ka will soldier on happily.

Hi, I own a 2002 Ford Ka, recently my fuel economy has gone down, and quit a bit, I've replaced Air filter, plugs and oil and filter, I've been told it due to my lamba sensor, would this be the case? please help...

I Have a 54 plate KA Style with 23000 miles on the clock it is a very cheap, economical car. I have owned this car from new and have not had a problem with it until now, 2 months after the warranty ended.

It now keeps over revving which I have seen is a common problem on here. Also the battery light has been on the past couple of days and after driving it today my airbag light has been on and when using my lights, wipers or indicators my stereo cuts out. This is obviously an electrical problem & I'm taking it to be looked at. I just wondered if anyone else had experienced this? My boyfriend has had a look, but I know it needed to go to a garage. I just hate the ridiculous costs.

I'd be grateful for any info, thanks.

Hi, I have the same prob, have you sorted this?

My daughter purchased a 1997 Ford KA as she was 17 and just passed her test. All-in-all it has been very reliable.

We already knew of the common KA problems before we got the car and this one had a few of them but weighing up everything it still works out a reasonably priced car.

Every car I have owned from small to large have had common faults. Although the Ford KA has a fair few common faults, most of them can be sorted easily and cheaply if you go to the right place and stay away from Ford dealerships.

The wishbones on the front do not last very long, but they can be got for £25 for the pair from Ebay and fitted yourself in less than 30 minutes per side. Their lifetime will very much be determined by the type of roads you go on and style of driving. The plugs do seize into the head (this one had seized plugs) but can be got out without snapping them with a bit of patience (most garages will not have that patience and will just snap them and send you the bill for repairing them). It took me 2 hours to get 4 plugs out with a lot of patience and a couple of cans of WD40. The steering racks again can be got reconditioned for around £80 for a power steering one and £15 for a manual one and again they can be fitted DIY quite easily. The over-revving and cutting out can be easily fixed by cleaning out the idle speed control valve and replacing the throttle position sensor. Again these are really easy DIY jobs and even brand new parts can be got from Ebay for as little as £25.

The noisy engine is usually tappet adjustment and again this can easily be done by the home mechanic and only takes about 15 minutes if a garage does it. This engine was used in the Ford KA because its the only one that would fit given the space limitations.

The biggest problem with the KA is the rust. Luckily this KA doesn't have much of it yet but I intend to get it sorted as soon as possible to keep down future costs.

I have had cars with a lot less common faults but the faults they have had have been very expensive to repair and beyond the scope of the DIY mechanic. The Peugeot I used to have had a common fault of the spark plug threads stripping (alloy head), basically the plugs would pop out while you are driving. The Ford Mondeo V6 has a similar problem. This is hundreds of pounds to repair if it happens and there is nothing to say it won't happen again.

All-in-all, the Ford KA is a cheap affordable car aimed at people who want a reasonable car on a budget. Coupled with the cheap insurance and cheap parts, it an ideal car. Even with the common faults, most people I have spoken to have never doubted the Ford KA for realiability. It is always known to get you where you are going even if there are a few bangs and creeks on the way.

For anyone buying a second hand Ford KA, you have to remember that a lot of Ford KAs are purchased by first time drivers on a budget that really cannot afford regular servicing and looking after it so a lot of them arn't very well looked after (the one we got wasn't). The KA was never designed to be a luxury car. The only cars I have even worked on that are as easy as the KA I owned over 20 years ago. If you take a similar sized modern car you will find that labour charges for various small jobs are 3 times the cost of the same job on a Ford KA.

I own a 2000 ka and regret the day I bought it in November 2006.

The week after I bought it the driver door stopped working from the outside so for months I was getting in through the passenger door. Until one day the passenger door stopped working so I actually has to get in through the boot! This is when I decided to get it fixed. But now the passenger door has went again.

All along my doors are completely rusted, in the boot, under the bonnet. The spare wheel holder is also rusted so I have to keep my spare wheel in the boot. Its everywhere. I wouldn't know where to start with the rust.

Every so often the car over accelerates which is very embarrassing when people think you can't work your car properly.

And today was the final straw when the exhaust fell down because it had rusted away. The car is getting sold. I wouldn't advise to buy a ka, I personally hate them, I know there are some benefits but its not worth the aggro!

I bought my KA from new, and its on a 03 plate. It's a Collection, and for the first year all went well. Then the problems started. My steering fluid ran dry. Then it would over rev all the time. But non of that really shocked me until the rust started to show. I had the boot repainted under warranty but now its back again, and spreading. The brakes are terrible, always have been and even though they've been replaced, always will be.

Is anyone else's thirsty? Mine drinks fuel like nothing else and its only a 1.3. Its started making a dreadful noise from the engine, and loses power at strange times, then picks up again.

If you're looking for a good first car, go for a fiesta, they are cheaper and easier to run. I won't be buying Ford again, I've always driven ford, and found that after a year or two at most, you've got problems.

Their moto is "Engineered for life", what a laugh.

My wife's owned a 2001 KA from new. I think it's a great car, as long as it's looked after properly. I think people are being a bit unfair on the KA here. But the key thing is to *get it serviced often and properly*.

Mine's had an oil change every 6 months from new, regardless of mileage, and had everything serviced at least as often as the Haynes manual says. The only 'out of the ordinary' repairs have been the front wishbones every 3 yrs and a new heater valve (both common things).

It's never broken down and has near enough no rust. It's easy to service (although watch out for spark plugs) and parts are cheap.

Only bad points:

- having to take it to a dealer for its first two services. My experience of Ford garages is that they are terrible. I wouldn't ever go near a Ford dealer ever again. Ever. Ever! They invent their costs (eg charging for 4.5 litres of oil one service - much more than the KA's capacity) and don't respect the car (breaking plastic clips etc).

- the spark plugs get stuck. I take them out every year, and they're still a nuisance. I recommend large amounts of WD40/plusgas and even more patience.

Got a Ka Trend for the missus. done 60 000 kms and no problems except irregular idle. due to our dry climate we don't have rust problems.

Does the newer Duratec engine still have ICV problems?

If so, where is the ICV? its not in the same position as on the older Endura engines. Thanks.

Having been an avid Ford driver for many years, my best car was a Sierra Sapphire, I decided to go for a brand new KA when my family decreased and they left home.

What a mistake, I took the car back because of poor braking, they are still bad, then the engine became lumpy, so they deleted the error code from the ECU; it cured it but there was nothing in the memory to relate back too.

Then.... and you won't believe this... I took my car for its first service and they lost the keys... they said it was my fault as I left them with the service dept instead of the main office... ermmm don't you leave them with the service dept? They are the ones doing the service after all... then they have said I have to pay £137.00 for a new set of keys, that's if they can find the car on their database...

Do I look a mug... nope... added to that if they have to break in, remove the lock to get the barrel code, I'm looking at £359... methinks not... got a meeting with the MD on Monday... cos I ain't paying... and the managers attitude was appalling... talk about chip on his shoulder, and customer service; I got a rubbish service from day one... well Ford, you just lost a long standing customer..

I bought a Ford Ka 5 years ago, and apart from someone smashing into my side two days later, I have had so many problems I hardly know where to start!

After said incident - not my fault by the way - I had the car serviced after repair, which cost 300.00.

I then had a problem when the car two months later started chugging on my way home from work and crawled back home. Called an AA man, he said head gasket; I looked at him dumbly and said is that bad? Garage said very bad and you have put diesel in the engine??? I said I am not that stupid and they charged me 250.00 for a flush. Car drove well for 10 minutes and was returned to garage who re-flushed and then decided surprise surprise, the head gasket was gone. 600.00 replacement later and two or three weeks later, chugging began again.

Garage said oil leak; I said is that bad? 175.00 later I began to wonder.

After said oil leak returning and sparks replaced 3 times that year, the rust dawned on me. I now have to decide whether to fork out 500.00 for my mot and welded sill, but can someone tell me - is that bad?

For the person above: from what you say, it seems like a very simple common fault which your garage failed to detect (or they just got a lot of money from you). It sounds like the coil pack has gone; that's the thing that makes the spark, and when it goes it misfires and runs like a tractor and they are about 25 quid. Is it still running badly?

We have purchased a Ford KA2 for our daughter - engine is making a screeching sound. We were told maybe the idle pulley? We thought maybe water pump?

After checking it's neither - the noise seems to be coming from bottom end pulley bearing? Any one with any experience of this or any other ideas. Noise gets louder as you rev - sort of screeching you hear with a water pump.

Thanks.

I have a problem with the dash board lights. When you turn on the headlights on the lights that illuminate the speedometer doesn't function. I find that a tap on the light switch arm at the end helps to light the dash up, but Ford dealer garage want £50 just to investigate the problem. that's before the repair that's just to diagnose the fault. has anyone had this problem and if so what was it as I don't feel like getting ripped off by ford if its something simple.