hi folks, i'd really appreciate a diagnosis for my 97 escort estate:

it has developed a judder, loss of power, generally feels like its struggling under acceleration. the problem isnt all the time, sometimes it frees itself up and drives ok, other times it really struggles, it feels like something is binding somewhere. it happens equally in every gear, and is more pronounced at higher revs.

if i depress the clutch it stops juddering and rolls along fine, so i dont think its the brakes binding. also when rolling with the clutch depressed the engine revs fine so i dont think its misfiring either. im guessing its transmission? also read somewhere that spark leads can cause this sort of thing?

i think the clutch is ok, problem seems to be something binding rather than slipping.

thanks for taking the time to read this, i'd really appreciate any help as (like most people these days) im on a shoestring budget and would like to do as much as possible myself rather than booking it in.

by the way the car hasnt had any mods such as lowering etc which sometimes cause problems, and i drive like a granny...