G'day fellas, i have currently got a 1.6 MK2 and lately it doesn't want to start when it is cold, just keeps turning over, wasn;t too worried, but my oter car decided to throw a harmonic balancer, so i need this to be a bit more reliable incase i get called into work. any ideas what i could do to try and fix it? new plugs? leads? i have no idea when it comes to electrical stuff.

There might be some washer fluid around the spark plugs. They leak when frozen, but only in cold conditions. You can put a couple of cable ties on the connectors which could help. You'll probably have to take it in, to get the fluid dried off.
Really hope this helps.

oh ritio thanks, i'll suss it out tomorrow.

Hi Daniel,

Have you put a 32/36 webber with an auto choke on it ? They auto chokes are a real pain. If you have one, open the air filter case and flick the choke flap closed and give it a go. I've just had that problem with mine.

Cheers,

Mark

or you may evenhave moisture in the points

Hey mark, i haven't done anything to the car, its all original, but i just went out and closes the little butterfly thing, and yeah it pretty much started straight away! how do you go about fixing it properly?

The best repair I've heard of is to take the whole auto choke off and put a cable choke kit on it. I've still got the same problem with mine but I'm going to try and work out where it's binding up, I'll let you know how I go.

Don't mean to be rude but can you change an automatic choke to a manual choke. I have just put a 2l in my Capri and the mechanic left the water line to the auto choke blocked off as he said "that $hit causes to much trouble", but it makes starting difficult.

Repco used to carry a generic kit to convert auto chokes to manual. I've been told the same thing that they are a nightmare and converted one of my Escorts to a manual choke. That was over ten years ago though. Ive just put a 32/36 on my mk1 and the auto choke worked fine for a couple of weeks but is now sticking..... I'm determined to nut it out though and get it working properly....after all Ford fitted enough carbys with them so surely they aren't a lost cause???