Yet-to-be-named 2016 Fiesta SE

[econoboxrocks]

An honest mechanic is a rare as a youth pastor who doesn't molest kids.

 

[Handy Andy]

Tensioner?

Should have been replaced anyways as part of the cost - so this is a "cleaning" I too - don't appreciate.

As a delivery driver, I've seen many "kits" - these tensioners come standard in them so I don't know why that they needed a part separately - the parts required, usually come as a required condition of the repair - not optional. (They do have bearings in them and so that makes for a limited lifetime - so it's required.)

It's also why I like forums - for the participants leave behind their experiences like footprints to follow a trail to get to the destination - only the journey is a small book they leave behind for others to read - we all get a little smarter about it because of that effort.

It's getting to a point that Warranty is not a thing anymore to be used to enforce the shop to stand by their work, it seems more like a passing notice that you should do this, but it doesn't always mean it's required. That is the part I don't get, definitely fishy.

And also good to know that many a shop - to save time and turnaround costs - will drop specific items from the list as long as the main repair is completed - only that small detail can put you back into that shop to have them fix all their work plus repair the part that caused the fail due to it not being repaired/replaced at that time because of lack of time to wait for it to arrive.

It's like a time bomb they put in your engine - they have it set to go off, only you're not sure exactly when it will happen, only that it will and do you want to be there when it does?

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I think the mechanic FILLED up my oil. I noticed today that my fuel mileage seems to suck, so I set to try to figure out why. No drips on the driveway, so it's not an obvious leak. The exhaust smells a little rich, so I pulled the spark plugs and the two plugs closest to the coil pack were bathed in oil. I also saw that two of my plugs were eroded down to the insulation, so I re-gapped them just to get by until payday then I'll replace them. None of the spark elements looked wet, but they were definitely unevenly gapped for some reason. Checked the oil and it's definitely full; I may need to pull out a few ounces.
I'm not sure about getting into injectors with this car. I have no problem on an old mechanically injected diesel, but this electronic whiz bang is a different beast altogether. I usually run a high octane fuel and have never gotten so much as a knock, but is it worth it? Is there anything I should run through the tank to clean varnish out of the lines and injectors? Is that even a thing? I miss my old carbureted Beetle and Corolla. Anyways, after I sort out the plugs (wires were replaced 18k miles ago) how else could I improve the efficiency of this car? Yes, I still need shocks, struts, and an alignment, I'm sure the latter would definitely help. But as far as the motor goes, anything else? Thanks all.

Phil

 

[Handy Andy]

To have the exhaust smell rich - there are two types of "rich" in the smell - a type that means fuel enriched mixture or an oil-burner heavy odor type - can even leave smoke and a residue on the tailpipe.

The Fuel-rich means either unburned, (sour-stink of gas and leaves a residue of odor on your clothes.) or running rich (heavy burned odor of burned fuel like rotten egg smell from heavy acceleration onto a freeway on-ramp).

The fuel side, means injector problems - while oily odor ones means oil is getting cycled back into the motor.

Check the Dipstick - has to be UNDER that upper level mark - else it will suck in oil.

You did check the wires but so you know, the oil-soaking the wires may have gotten from the work being done, may have compromised their insulation - making them crossfire or even arc to ground - you may be able to see it in a dark room with the hood up and the engine running - to see if you can locate blue-ring arcs from the crossfire.

Did he add any additives? Might need a drive off and drive it out to drain out the tank.

Else, water or ethanol-gelled fuel in the tank, affecting the pump or what got thru; is in the fuel rail waiting to get pressed past the injectors to be burned.

Some have suggested that you unbolt that fuel rail box above the injectors and try to drain and clean out that box then reseal it back onto the injectors to see if the gelled fuel or dirt in the rail got flushed out so the injectors can take care of the rest.

Else use a HEET gas-dryer with Isopropanol based additive on a 1/4 tank of gas left in the car - to help thin out that gelled fuel to clear out the injectors and that fuel rail - for there is NO FUEL FILTER in the USA Fiestas past 2011 - for the pump itself uses a screen, but little else to hold back debris from getting into the fuel rail and it's plumbing.

If that doesn't help - it will need to have the intake and the injectors inspected.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

No fuel filter!?!?! That's insane. I believe you, but I still think it's insane.
Thanks for the tips!
Phil

 

[Handy Andy]

Found that out when they had to take apart a fuel tank in a fleet fiesta - no filter, it's a screen and to stand it off from the bottom of the tank - it uses a"shark-teeth" design in the bottom of the plastic housing to hold it up and keep dirt out of the way of the pump.

​

The canister itself may contain a media in a cartridge - but if it gets plugged, there is no way to change it - you have to change the whole pump.

• Many may not understand this: look at this from a time and use standpoint. The pump being housed inside a container and it's float - suffer a lot of abuse from temperatures, vapor losses and pressures during those changes, as well as formulations, moisture and driving and that vibration and torque against the unit - places the assembly in a weaker state after such time. So it really should be swapped out for a new one.

Has anyone done a fuel pressure test on the pump? That may be all that it is. A plugged pump...

To Add:
The smell you get may smell like it's running rich, but it may be from Misfires, causing a wavering idle speed and hesitation.

So a plugged pump can cause a lean condition, making it smell like it's rich.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

That's excellent information, many thanks!
I'm changing out my plugs today, then pulling a bit of oil out. I remember when I first got the car I had the same oil issue and you let me know about how the engine will pull oil into the combustion chamber if it is filled. Ever since then, I've been religious about my oil level and only after the visit to the shady mechanic, has the oil been topped. I may just do another full oil change since I don't know what got poured into the crankcase.

So, how difficult is the fuel pump removal? That replacement will probably be on the menu coming up in the spring, once the weather gets reliably warmer. I'll do it at the same time as my shocks and struts.
Until then, I'll run some Heet through the tank in an effort to clean the injector rail and injectors.
Thanks as always!
Phil

 

[Handy Andy]

Just got done looking at several vids about how to do just that.

Why? Ever have a time when you needed to drain out fuel? O at least wonder why it can be running so rough?

You take out the lower back seat cushion and it will reveal a gasket that has wires running into it, that's the pump housing.

Pull it off...Look it over you might find a spare set of car keys from other people - possibly even road salts...mice, spare loose change you wondered where it went because it wasn't buried in the car seats...

Remove the electrical connector (pinch then pull).

Start the car a few times to pull out fuel from the line to help drain the line - pump doesn't have power now so it would be a good time to help it purge...using Injector and vacuum...

Might want to loosen - not remove the strap bolts to loosen the tank from the undercarriage - to give you room to loosen the locking ring.

Fuel connector - use a hook-pick to loosen the pinch points on that connector and bring towels to mop up.

A locking ring you turn counter clockwise to release from the tabs.

The ring turns - letting you lift, and push it aside - dropping the tank down - leaves room, so it slides away.

Gently pull - pry - and note location of tabs that seat the pump a specific way...

Pump lifts straight out - it's been immersed in fuel nearly all it;' life, so let it drain out back into the tank - the sender float usually goes to the bottom of it's stop.

• so if it gets stuck look for where the float and it's arm are - it may have jammed against the opening - hence the tab/notch-seat orientation helps here...

Might want to inspect the tank and -if needed- siphon hose if you need to let the fuel drain and take some of it's debris out with it.

You can also see if there is any gelled fuel - shows up as blobs - sometimes of a darker different color - or since the tank is plastic and black - can often rest on the bottom as gooey rusty blobs - that's from the water in the fuel that got past the pumps own fuel filter. It can be sucked out - just can't use a motorized vacuum into a tank - but you can fabricate one using a bucket to hold the fuel before it arrives to the vacuum itself - like how they bleed brakes on a one man operation - you just have a bigger tank or bucket to do this.

The vid I found that does the best job of showing you how to do this is from the UK side - they're from those 1A Auto (Produced by TRQ) Auto clinic vids.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Again, many thanks for the fuel pump procedure, as well as everything else!
I picked up the iso Heet this afternoon and I'm just a hair below a quarter tank, so I put most of the bottle in; of course, the neck of the bottle isn't quite wide enough to unlock the little cap in the filler, so a bit spilled down the filler neck hose that collects all the potentially unwanted stuff and drips it onto the driveway.
Anyway, started the car up (it was already warm) and figured a few minutes would be enough to get the additive in the lines.
Tuned the car off, removed the plug wires, pulled the plugs and put in a set of new NGKs. The local Autozone had those (Iridium) for about as cheap as can be found locally. If I wasn't in a hurry to get these changed, I'd have ordered them online at half the price I paid, but they needed changing, so here I am.
Plugs got changed, wires cleaned and placed back on, then I started the car.

After a bit of warming back up, I noticed a regular noise. I think the #4 fuel injector (closest to the battery) is making noise. It, or something right there will audibly click at idle with engine rotation, differently than farther down the engine, then stop clicking. I got the stopwatch on this and started the watch when the clicking stopped. It took 14 seconds to begin clicking again, and 18 to get to full volume, would click for a few more seconds then stop, and the 18ish seconds starts over again.

I turned the engine off, disconnected the injector electrical plugs, cleaned them, then reseated them. Started the car up again and after a minute or so, the clicking resumed.
So, it's sitting now, soaking in a concentrated mixture of Heet and remaining fuel. I'll be picking up the wife in a couple hours, so I'll see if there's any difference in sound when I start it up.

If I need to change an injector, do I swap out all 4 or just do one at a time? Can they be cleaned? Tested? For 10 years I was used to mechanical injectors in my old diesel Benzes, I had a few sets rebuilt and matched over the lives of those cars. Are these little gas injectors at all similar? They look like electromagnetic/mechanical switches, more than injectors.
Anyways, thanks for all the info, as always!

Phil

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Ok, the car has had two warm-up cycles and an overnight soak with Heet in the tank, lines, rail, injectors.
And at idle, it is SUPER QUIET.
Regarding the cyclic ticking I mentioned in my previous post, that may actually be the tinnitus reducing wave setting I have built in to my hearing aids. Whoops. It has a noise cancelling waveform which cycles about once a minute, not unlike what I thought/think may the fiesta engine.
So it's quieter, which is nice. Hopefully that points to more efficiency and better fuel mileage, we'll see. I still need to do an oil change, I think, but when I pulled the plugs yesterday, none of them had any oil around the threads or the hex flats.
When I do that next oil change, what is the consensus on additives? I still have a bunch of stuff from my diesel days, a can of which is some LiquiMoly molybdenum disulfide oil additive. Should I add it? Is there any reason to do so, or not to do so? I've been running Mobil 1 5W-20 a long with good filters, for my ownership of the car.
Now that I'm past the hump of the timing belt change, I'm hoping to get another 100,000 miles out of her and want to do what I can to effect that. The engine in my first W123 Benz had over 400k miles on it and was running strong when it and the transmission decided they wanted to be in another car with less rust. That reminds me that I need to wash this car soon.
Phil

 

[Handy Andy]

There are ways to clean injectors - using the fuel rail and the injectors installed on it - but do you need to? That is a personal choice.

Better to give the HEET (Red bottle) some time to do the job while everything is still mounted to the car. I have a fear that once more parts start coming off, the more problems you may encounter.

Do not overdo the HEET additives, or any additives at this time, for they may cause bigger issues with the dirt and gunk, now loosened, further damaging or getting thrown into the cylinder to be ground up. Which on the surface may be a good thing, but remember the debris in there - may stay a while and work down the cylinder walls leaving a scratch or two on the walls while it works its way down past the rings into the pan and then maybe trapped by the filter - else it will just lay there not doing much except being a threat later.

There are several methods - but once again, the issues are around the injectors and their seals. Which this may make them reveal you have a seal leak...that would be a different problem but solvable - and something that can be done by yourself if you're up to it.