Seem to have a problem with my escort rs turbo. I changed the plugs, leads and fuel filter about a month ago now and since then it seemed to be holding back when driving and sort of missing. This has now got worse and when driving along the ignition seems to cut out as the revs drop to 0 and then the revs come back up. As this happens i get a pop and a flash from the exhaust so i assume its something to do with the ignition. If anyone has had this problem or who knows wot it could be could help it would be much appreciated as the mrs thinks the car should go anyway. lol

 

Does it do it when on boost or all over the rev range?

 

are the plug tips where the leads go on tight also are the gaps right and have you fitted the leads on tightly

 

It does it all over the rev range and on or off boost just the higher up the revs the bigger the bang. When i stopped at the humber bridge tolls today it just cut out. Restarted fine though so havent got a clue whats wrong.


yeah the plug leads are all on tight and plugs seem fine

 

when you fitted the leads you havent disturbed (spelling ) the dizzy cap at all
you have put the leads the right way round fella
check the tips of the plugs fella as the gaps might be wrong

 

have checked all that mate. was running ok just sort of holding back slightly when low down in the revs and has only started to really mess about this week. did it on thursday n cut out every 100 yards at any revs then ran fine untill today when started playing up again.

 

Right........your dizzy is fucked mate.

The rev counter dropping to 0shows there is ignition cut in the low tension side.

Nothing new on an RS at all

 

cheers mate will try and get a dizzy for it this week. is there anyway i can check the dizzy first? also does it have to be an rst one or is xr3i the same?

 

Well you could check the wiring isn't damaged on the dizzy plug or whatever cos if there was bare wires that could also be a problem.

but being as every RS on the planet suffers from this at some point i'd be willing to bet its the problem.

best way would be to see if you can borrow one to try before spending your cash.

And.........bad luck, has to be an RS one mate

 

ok mate. will ave a butchers at the wiring tomorrow. Thanks for the help though. might be able to keep the car after all.

 

Keep us posted

 

i had exactly the same probs with my car safechav advised me it would be the dizzy, changed that and it was sorted

 

Theres cheap dizzy's on ebay (brand new one's)

 

just taken the dizzy off and the wires going into it are fine.

The wires inside look in good nick but cant get it apart properly to find out.

Anyone know how to get the dizzys apart so i can check the wires

 

what is dizzy???

 

If you look on the end that locates into the cam, there is a spring type clip effort wrapped around the adapter that locates to the cam, remove that the clip, pull the pin out, the adapter that locates to the cam will come off and then it should all pull apart.

 

right the car finally gave up today and i had to get the aa out.

They tested the dizzy and said that it was fine. They seemed to think that the problem was the fuel pump and tested this. Aparantly the fuel pump is priming and then losing its live feed.

could this be due to the fuel pump relay been faulty?

 

The fuel pump relay doesnt operate off a live feed.

The ignition feed to it makes it prime andd thats all, the low tension ignition signals operate the relay, if the dizzy is fine it must be the ecu then

 

changed the rotor arm and the cap today and seemed to make it slightly better.

Checked the fuel pump and relay which the aa claimed was faulty and i couldnt find a problem with it.

Think your right mate, the dizzy must be past its best. lol

 

As i said above, the rev countr going to 0 shows the ignition signals are being lost!

 

mine was missing on load and on boost it was the coil on mine got a group a on it now and it has never run better, its a cheaper option than a dizzy

 

yes, but the best coil in the worl wont rectify a shagged dizzy,

as safe chav said, the rev counter dropping off show that the igniition is being lost,
im pretty sure a failing coil wouldnt run the engine at allplus hes said he has problems all over the rev range,

you could try changing the dizzy gasket as a cheaper option to test it, as i had one piss about where the dizzy cap was getting oil in it, cheap test to at 81pence