SportKa MOT advisories question - oil leak

AliceBanned

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

That was my initial thought as well. And as has already been said, if you only do 4K a year the oil really should have been changed long ago.

OP, it would be well worth while learning to change the oil & filter yourself. If you do nothing else, then changing them regularly is the single most important thing in maintaining a healthy engine. It's very easy ( on most cars ! ), and well within the scope of a novice DIY-er.

Thanks. My only fear is working under the car - presume I would need to do this?

AliceBanned

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Fixed that for you. Especially around the lower sill area it may just as easily be a couple of stone chips that have gone unnoticed and started rusting from the outside.

In fact, an area that had got to 2 inches of paint loss starting from the inside is very likely to have failed the recent MOT as any tester worth his ticket will have paid extra attention to that area and thumb pressure alone would have been more than enough to show it as seriously weakened if it was spreading from the inside over that sort of area.

Thanks Joe. I will speak to the garage when they have a look. They are going to phone me after they've checked it over, before they start any work on any of the issues, plus what is needed for the service.

Generally it is in very good condition for its age. At the last MOT and the one before they told me that. I took it to the local council testing centre and the guy told me it was a 'great little car' after testing it. I should really have given it more tlc this past year but have had a lot on my plate, financially and otherwise. I was surprised to hear there was corrosion and a bit sad. . I had a Fiesta before that was only scrapped at 18 years old after someone rear-ended it and skewed the boot a little bit.

The corrosion does look exterior to me, I had a fairly good look at it. Previous owners seem to have kept it garaged a lot, which I can't do as I only have a car park space outdoors. So at 10 years old it had only done 58k miles and was pretty much OK.

Ebe_Scrooge

Usually you only need to wriggle underneath to undo the sump plug, probably don't even need to jack the car up.

Some cars can be a bit awkward to get to ( especially if they have an under-tray fitted ) - I don't know about your car in particular. But more often than not they're very easy.

But hats off to you for being willing to give it a go :T:T
The Haynes manual is usually very good ( even in this day and age where you can see how to do pretty much everything on Youtube, I still prefer Haynes ). Start off by having a go at the very simple jobs ( which are usually little more than basic maintenance ), then you can tackle slightly more ambitious stuff as your experience grows.

What is particularly useful about Haynes - you can see what's involved in doing the job, and decide for yourself whether you think you're up to it or not, or whether it's one for the mechanic.

AliceBanned

OK great, I'll start taking more interest. Often it is a confidence thing. I enjoy problem solving, so that helps. A relative bought me the Haynes but it doesn't cover the SportKa - it is for the 'bogstandard' Ka:p - think a lot is similar though or I can find the right manual somewhere.

Recently I did some plumbing at home by using Utube and being very careful. There were some naysayers on the forum getting over-excited about how I would flood my flat etc. . Saved myself quite a bit of money and more importantly got the satisfaction of learning and doing it myself. And when it was really necessary I overpaid a plumber.

I'm a slim build as well so can fit in small spaces. Who needs strength, being small makes DIY far easier.

Joe_Horner

One other thing to bear in mind as you plan for "another couple of years" out of it:

The Ka was a pretty revolutionary car when it came out, at least in terms of looks. It's also a Ford. It's also been a LOT of people's first car. Most of them are also rusting away to nothing.

That means it's got just about everything going for it as far as future classic status is concerned - look at what even basic model Escorts change hands for now!

So, if you do have a more or less rust free example that's good in other ways it might well be worth looking after

CrazyRed

The StreetKA isn't a difficult car to service, to be fair. I did a friend's one a few weeks back without the benefit of a Haynes Book of Lies and, apart from some of the bits being tricky to access (whoever decided that those spark plugs have to go in at that sort of angle, especially the one nearest the coil pack seriously needs taking out and shooting!) it was fairly plain sailing.

No undertray on my friend's one (2004 model) so no real hindrance to get at the sump plug - tip, buy a new sump plug and washer, they're only a couple of quid from a decent motor factor's - and the oil filter's fairly accessible from underneath, right at the front of the engine.

Air filter's easy once you've sussed that the air box needs to come out (one large hose clip, flat bladed screwdriver, then wiggle the !!!!!! - it 'clips in' to rubber mountings), then undo four catches to split the airbox and remove/refit air filter.

I did find it helpful to jack it up slightly and place on axle stands - although, to be fair, I'm not the world's slimmest any more and I don't enjoy wedging my increasingly-balding bonce underneath a modern car that's low to the ground.

The only real pain in the backside was the spark plugs - to me, they were a bit fiddly, but patience and care got the old ones out and the new ones in without skinning knuckles or cross-threading the plugs.

Sump plug torque is 30Nm and the engine takes the standard Ford Zetec 5W/30 oil (I think the stuff I used was fully-synthetic, but it wasn't dear to buy as most motor factors sell so much of it). Oh, and you'll need either patience or a funnel to get the oil back in - the filler neck is quite narrow and it's blooming easy to spill the oil when trying to refill it without said funnel! If I recall correctly, capacity is around 3.5-3.8 litres with a filter change.

AliceBanned

Great, thanks. Mine is the SportKa which is slightly different - a 4-seater and not convertible.


I'm sure a lot of the same applies.

AliceBanned

Joe_Horner wrote: »

One other thing to bear in mind as you plan for "another couple of years" out of it:

The Ka was a pretty revolutionary car when it came out, at least in terms of looks. It's also a Ford. It's also been a LOT of people's first car. Most of them are also rusting away to nothing.

That means it's got just about everything going for it as far as future classic status is concerned - look at what even basic model Escorts change hands for now!

So, if you do have a more or less rust free example that's good in other ways it might well be worth looking after

MMM ok thanks. . Now you are talking about a car that has been looked after. Not sure mine would ever make classic status but worth bearing in mind. Apart from that bit of rust it was looking good - metallic too. .


My friend with an old Lexus keeps annoying me by dismissing my car compared to his (no heated seats etc) but I would rather drive mine. At least it's not an old man's car.:p. Teenagers sometimes ask me if I want to sell it..:D.


I don't think I'll ever progress from 'first car' type cars..oh well.

benje302

I had a KA for 5 years and they are great run-a-round cars but as said before - RUST is a major issue with them. Another place to watch out is rust around the petrol cap. This is the car rotting from the inside out as they do not have wheel arch liner (StreetKa does though).

A great place to jion and visit is the KA forum at

www.fk-oc.com

They are a great bunch and many of them can answer any question you can throw atthem.

Hope it helps

Ben

AliceBanned

benje302 wrote: »

I had a KA for 5 years and they are great run-a-round cars but as said before - RUST is a major issue with them. Another place to watch out is rust around the petrol cap. This is the car rotting from the inside out as they do not have wheel arch liner (StreetKa does though).

A great place to jion and visit is the KA forum at

www.fk-oc.com

They are a great bunch and many of them can answer any questions you can throw atthem.



Hope it helps

Ben

Thanks Ben that's helpful.

Just realised since driving it last night that it has another problem. Just over a week ago I was parked in dental practice car park while at dentist's..probably not v with it when i came out from treatment. Didn't spot anything wrong but a young guy in next car was looking as I got in car. Ten mins later I parked somewhere else and saw scrape on bodywork..white powdery as though it had been hit and last night noticed rattling sound when I hit small pothole etc. Can't see anything though. Realised I should have phoned my insurer to report it. So annoying!