Having recently returned from the UK, I have been trying to get my Mk2 Escort up and running again after about six years of inactivity. 


Drained the fuel and cleaned the tank as it was putrid. Fuel line was also cleaned in this. Removed rocker cover and found a broken head bolt (wasn’t sure what the issue was when I stopped driving her but clearly this was what originally caused some issues). Replaced head with a spare I had, spare radiator on as the old one was rusted through. I checked the static timing, but I’m not sure it is perfect (first time checking that) and there seems to be some play in the distributor shaft. 


Anyway, long story short I managed to get her started but she won’t idle and just coughs and splutters and spits through the carbie. If I give her a boot full, same thing but she will hold up around 2000-3000rpm but seems to be blowing lots of oil/air mixture through the oil breather return to the carb. 


Is anyone able to shed some light on my next steps? Is it a timing issue or something more sinister like a buggered ring or both?
 
Thanks in advance!

She’s spitting fire...

Hi and welcome to the forum, 
 
It seems you most likely have a timing issue however if you can, perform a compression test as this will help determine the internal health of the engine.
 
I presume the valves were adjusted correctly when the head was replaced? 
Check the plug leads are on in the correct order?
Does it make any difference while the engine is running if you turn the distributer to advance/retard timing?
 
Start with the basics and hope these ideas help.
 
I have quite a few 1600 engine bits if you need any.

Hi blue74,
 
thanks for the reply, valves were adjusted to 0.20mm (inlet) and 0.55mm (exhaust) as per the Gregory manual. My first time doing this (most of this to be honest) though so will triple check.

Plugs are in order 1243 anti clockwise around the distributor as per the manuals with timing statically at 6° BTDC or there abouts. 


Will try advancing/retarding the timing with it running and see if that changes anything and let you know. Which way is which? Sorry if that’s a simple question that I should know, first time doing anything other than some suspension bush replacement or an oil change! 


Also footage of how she is behaving attached. They say a picture paints a 1000 words, a video must be good for 100,000 at least! https://vimeo.com/507778973


Thanks again!
 
 

Yep, you have a fire breathing monster!
 
The next thing I would try is, while the engine is running and all body parts clear of the flame thrower remove the spark plug leads from a spark plug one at a time and detect any change in engine running then refit the lead.
If you detect no change when the lead is disconnected you have a problem with that cylinder. Remember the spark wants to go to earth so when I do it I use a pair of insulated plyers and avoid touching the car with any other part of my body. It's a quick and dirty way to help pinpoint issues.

any luck PF?
Heaps of people here have forgotten more than I will ever learn, so I can't  give you much.
 
I do have a warm 1600 crossflow in my capri.
When I used to do the nightclub thing, I'd take the rotor out and pocket it to make sure the car was there come close time.
With the standard distributor (id dont know if it was a motorcraft or bosch), you can actually  fit the rotor in out of sync, even though it has the spline to stop idiots doing so. The next day, my car still ran sufficiently well to drive (?), but was gutless to get off the line and kept stalling.
Dumb suggestion number 2, but if you refilled with fresh fuel, did you add a lube additive?
I dont even know if that would make a difference to the extreme you are experiencing, but it would be something i'd probably forget to do.

Carby could have a blockage causing it to lean out. Or could have 2 plug wires on the wrong plugs or timing is way out . Do a compression check on the cyls might reveal a burnt valve . Hope these suggestions help out

Thank you all for the suggestion, have a bit of time today to try and sort it out. 

deano
 
I do have a warm 1600 crossflow in my capri.
When I used to do the nightclub thing, I'd take the rotor out and pocket it to make sure the car was there come close time.
With the standard distributor (id dont know if it was a motorcraft or bosch), you can actually  fit the rotor in out of sync, even though it has the spline to stop idiots doing so. The next day, my car still ran sufficiently well to drive (?), but was gutless to get off the line and kept stalling.

 
interesting I didnt know that, will check!
 

deano
Dumb suggestion number 2, but if you refilled with fresh fuel, did you add a lube additive?
I dont even know if that would make a difference to the extreme you are experiencing, but it would be something i'd probably forget to do.

I did remember that, although it wasn’t quite so second nature as it once was!

Thank you to all who offered suggestions to get the old girl up and running...
https://vimeo.com/509174862
Managed to get some time working on her today and completed all the following:
 
checked all leads and ensured they were in correct firing order
 
set the timing again statically and then bought a timing light and made sure it was correct. Think this was part of the solution to improved running. Easy to make mistakes and I had set it to what I thought was 6°BTDC but was actually more like 2-3. Had done this as that’s what it said in the manual I was looking at but I failed to read on and that was for the auto. Corrected this to the 12°BTDC it says for the manual. Also used a paint marker to make the Timing makes a little more visible, this really helped see how far out I was and when I had rotated the distributor too far.
 
I also checked the valve gaps and not sure what happened here when I previously set them but some of the inlet ones were out by 0.20. I also tested the compression and found some variation but need to recheck now I have the valves 100%. What sort of figure should I be looking for with the compression?
 
Also found a vacuum hose that was previously blocked with a bolt (not sure why, not sure what the hose is even for) but her Fireworks had clearly shot this out. Clamped that off and helped the idle enormously. 

Also rechecked the head bolts and did the recheck after running. Do people drain the coolant and remove the thermostat housing to check the torque on the head bolt underneath?!?!
 
Something still doesn’t seem right, but today’s efforts certainly improved the old girls running. I still can’t get her to idle  below 1000rpm and she is blowing out of the dipstick and rocker cover breather quite heavily plus a few other bits but we made progress so today was a good day! Thank you all! 

Tested the compression again today and after yesterday’s results (even though the valves weren’t quite right) I wasn’t expecting good numbers
 
Cylinder 1: 30, 35, 30 (tested three times to be sure, removing tester every time)
Cylinder 2: 125
Cylinder 3: 120
Cylinder 4: 115
 
Put a couple of squirts of oil in Cylinder 1 to get an idea if it was a valve or ring issue and the pressure came up to 60, 70, 85. As far as my knowledge goes this suggests that it is a problem with the rings which would also explain the increase in sump pressure. Please if I’m mistaken let me know before I pull the engine out and try and learn how to rebuild it!