as above,sis boyfriend and me are going looking at one tomorrow,any basic things to check? apart from rust etc

 

Worn wishbones
dodgy idle

 

what can the dodgy idle be down to,seen that on a couple of si escorts.

 

Usually the Idle Speed Control Valve, which normally just needs a clean, but if that doesnt work then it will need a new one.

 

nice one dude.

 

Go to the back and get on your knees ... Look at the rear chassis legs next to to Rear suspension struts.

 

+1 and along the floor by the front chassis legs too as you should ne they rust inside out so might look fine but probably not, also along the sill lips i find these the main hidden spots of rust.

i always thought the rear chassis legs on my escort where ok till i had someone shunt me they just crumbled to dust

 

i had one for a couple of months mate. they love to rust. look the arches, chassis legs, sills. dodgy idle is usually ISCV so not major. bar that, just the usual checks, running gear, clutch, gearbox etc. bottom arms are cheap enough aswel. there not bad little motors tbh if you can find a good one.

 

from experiance mate the obvious rusty arches rear the chassis legs and the bulkhead behind the plastic cover as thats a bad rot area the idle speed control valve as mentioned as they idle like a bag of spanners also there is sometimes the boot release fooks up and the fuel temp gauges check they work ok

thats basically it really

 

Make sure it has seats engine and wheels mate

 

I been running one as a daily driver for the last 3 years
Good and cheap little cars to be honest mate
As above, the Idle control valve WILL go but they are only Ł30 new so not to worry and funily enough i carry a spare one in my Love box for when the one fitted fucks up
Hatch button will go but just needs the conections inside the switch cleaned and while you are at it clean the window ones as that will go the same way. If the heated screen packs up, get your 10mm spanner on each of the earths by the screen corners to sort that one
Front wishbones are also cheap so no worrys there
What isnt however is a Cambelt, so have a dam good look and if in dought chage it.
Brakes are worse than shit at best so be warned and dont expect the Handbrake to hold the car either if its on drums
Both the above can be sorted by fitting escos discs and calipers and the rs2k beam

 

or just put rs2k fronts on straight swap thats what i had and worked a treat

and cheap i had the cam belt changed and as said was very expensive but when i enquired about a iscv they were 78 pound ??

 

Rust is definately the biggest thing. Check everywhere, battery tray and bulkhead, chassis rails, sills (especially on the GTI), arches. Also pull back the rubbers on the a-pillars to check for rust, as that's getting to be quite a hot spot.

Outside that, the engines are pretty robust if looked after. Idle valve is the only annoyance, and is a bit of a git to replace, you need bendy wrists

Bolster wear on the driver's seat is dead common, and the gearknobs wear badly too. It's all standard Escort fair mechanically though, except the all have ABS. The above is correct, the brakes are a bit on the rubbish side, but it's easy to upgrade. RS2000 stuff bolts straight on, though the Cosworth/Mondeo 24v stuff is much better. The rears are ok, my handbrake on my Escort with drums holds the car just perfectly, it just needs to be well maintained. Many just have knackered cables or need the rear brakes replacing. Fitting the MK5 RS beam can make them sit funny, and the MK5 rear beam doesn't support ABS. If you want rear disks, you can use the Focus ones and keep the ABS, but it's a bit more fiddly.

They are dead cheap to look after though and can be good fun. Think the only problem nowadays is finding a nice one that hasn't been raped to within an inch of it's life!

 

so they rust then?

cheers for the advice lads,ill see if its a shitbox or not

 

of course they rust wouldnt be a ford without some ginger paint somewere lol

 

Whats the Mileage on this GTi?

The miles tend to take there Toll ..

 

I can't add much to what's been said already. All I can say is if you get a good one they are cracking little cars. This is my brothers girlfriends car, was making 155bhp before we took the engine out in preperation of something a little different.



Rusty arches are proving a pain as it's been in to a couple of different bodyshops and it only ever seems to last for about 12 months before blistering again

 

well he's bought it,its a 2door,we couldnt see any rot on it underneath,back arches have slight surface rust but other than that it seems a sound little motor,tidy inside,driver leccy window doesnt work though,think it needs a new switch unless anyone else knows what could be wrong?

 

Idle problems are very common, and it's not always the ISCV that causes it. Can be a number of sensors or spilt pipes. (MAF, coolant temp sensor, lambda etc etc etc)

The engine itself is pretty bulletproof, but at the age they're at now, pretty much all the sensors are prone to wearing out.

 

it idles very well,so it must be ok at min,fired up from stone cold no myther aswell.

 

I'd try the window switch first off, as they can be a bit dodgy, the one in my RS2000 gave up the ghost.

If it isn't that, you can pick up new motors and regulators pretty cheapy cheap these days.

Not bad cars at all really I don't think, prices seem to be at rock bottom now too!

 

yeah he going to try a switch 1st,it looks quite a nice car,got a laguna splitter on and lowered,didnt give that much for it either like.

 

It wont be the switch dude.
What to do is to pop of the suround and spin to one side exposing the switches.
Prise out the Switch and remove it from the loom
Then get a Thin file or similer and close the bullet conectors a little

What hapens is the conections become a little crap from time to time and when they do the windows stop working

The same can be said of the hatch so just run a bit of wet and dry paper over the conectors on the both the hatch and the slam

 

nice one me howd,ill tell him that