Ford Fiesta (1995 - 1999) - 1997 1.3 Loose breather pipe and running on 3 cyl

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Mon 23 Jun 2008 22:57
1997 1.3 Loose breather pipe and running on 3 cyl - Rattle
I haver a strange problem with my car sometimes after filling it up with oil it runs very rough on idle but on all four cylinders but after a few minutes the revs drop down to 600 and then it appears to run on 3 cylinders as the engine shakes vionetly.

I have noticed each time this has happened the brather pipe has been loose (it is too short) I need to replace this but can anybody explain how the oil cap breather pipe can cause major idle problems?

Its the old Push rod endura enit btw.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 24/06/2008 at 02:21

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Tue 24 Jun 2008 20:10
1997 1.3 Loose breather pipe and running on 3 cyl - andyp
How much oil is it using ?
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Tue 24 Jun 2008 21:29
1997 1.3 Loose breather pipe and running on 3 cyl - topbloke
possibly sucking air causing it to run lean hence misfire and lumpiness
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Tue 24 Jun 2008 23:35
1997 1.3 Loose breather pipe and running on 3 cyl - Rattle
The emissions always look very clean I never really see any smoke out of it all, in fact its just like what you would expect from a brand new car, nothing visible in this weather. The exhaust at the back is however very rusty but its all surface rust and its not blowing.

It uses I would say about 1 litre per 1000 miles, the top end of the engine sounds very healthy but there is a whining sound at idle which may well be connected to this fault. I would say the oil usage was normal for the Endura unit although my friend had one which had higher milleage and never used any.

Its also using a lot of brake fluid which my machanic told me is to do with the hydraulic clutch system but I think this is an isolated problem.

If it is sucking in air where would this be the manifold? The car also overevs sometimes when slowing down but this was fixed by cleaning out the MAF and idle control valve although my machanic says it will need a new MAF.

So could the MAF cause this problem?

Thanks.

I would half be tempted to get rid of it, but despite its problems its a very reliable car and very very nice to drive (when it works) as its a Ghia X.

Edit there is usualy a miss fire at around 20mph in 2 to 3rd gear and sometimes it reallt struggles to get to 30mph under load but is fine afterwards (e.g that low speed it misfires a lot).

I should add its ideling fine now (at 800rpm) but as soon as I add some new oil I know it will misfire again at idle.

Edited by Rattle on 24/06/2008 at 23:37

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