1998 Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.25 16v - Power issues

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Wed 28 May 2014 17:26
1998 Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.25 16v - Power issues - parkodrive

Im getting a problem where after starting the engine and driving away, the car lurches around quite badly for a short while, maybe 15 or 20 seconds, before it carries on driving fine. Im also getting an issue where, at 50/55 mph and above i reguarly lose power and have to remove my foot from the throttle and then put it back before I get any response from the engine and the car carries on driving.

Origionally I thought this issue might be due to a blocked fuel filter but as my mileage has tanked since I started having this issue I think I can rule it out. Tomorrow i will be checking for vacuum leaks around the engine and resitting the air filter/airbox as i think there may be an issue there. Is there anything else I should check?

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Wed 28 May 2014 18:04
1998 Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.25 16v - Power issues - elekie&a/c doctor
I would certainly change the fuel filter if not already done.Also check engine breather pipes to inlet manifold.another part to check is the connector to the throttle position sensor ,or the sensor itself could be at fault.very little else gives trouble on these.make sure the correct grade of oil is used,and the correct spark plugs.hth
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Fri 30 May 2014 12:12
1998 Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.25 16v - Power issues - parkodrive

Finally got round to having alook at the engine today, sprayed water over the engine and there are no noticeable leaks there. I also took the air filter out and trimmed the edges down as i noticed it was preventing the airbox cover from seating properly. This actually help somewhat when I took it for a drive as it lost power only a couple of times whereas it was way more frequent before hand. Had a look in the MAF too and it was clean inside, no discernable dirt or gunk. I did notice that only one of the screws to hold the cover of the air box in place works, the others just rotate in the housing not really grabbing onto anything but as I said, the cover is seated more flushly now so this shouldnt be too much of an issues (for now at least I think).
Is there anything else I should be aware of based on the above?

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Fri 30 May 2014 23:49
1998 Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.25 16v - Power issues - parkodrive

So I finally managed to replace the fuel filter (what ab***** task that was. Thing was seized in place). It sorted my problem right out. Stopped and restarted the engine a few times when I took it out and there was no lurching around and at speed on the dual carriageway there was no discernable powerloss.

Decided to spray some carb cleaner through the maff afterwards too just as a precaution.

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Thu 5 Jun 2014 20:10
1998 Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.25 16v - Power issues - parkodrive

Its been about 5 or 6 days now since I changed the fuel filter and athe problem has resurfaced. Its not as bad when pulling off, but now I just let the car idle for a minute or so to stop it lurching around when pulling off. Could the ht leads be at fault here? Ive sprayed water over them and there was no change from the engine so the shrouding on the cables seems to be intact, but could the wires inside have deteriorated?

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