Rough cold start/cylinder 1&2 misfire

Hi all,

I'm new to this site but I'm hoping a few of you can help me and I hope to be a regular poster!

Back to my problem though, I bought this lovely 1.7L Puma over a week ago:



It ran fine for the first day or two then I started getting very rough cold starts, when I start from cold it struggles for revs and power, sometimes I have to put my foot on the pedal a bit to force fuel into the engine to get it to start! This never happens when the engine is warm, only ever cold.

I replaced the spark plugs and coil pack two days ago, this has not helped. A friend plugged his diagnostic computer into it and we got two error codes that translate to a cylinder 1 & 2 miss-fire.

Can anybody help? I have a video of the start up, you can hear how rough it sounds, I have to give it a couple of revs before it stabilizes, the moment it does stabilize you cvan hear it suddenly sounds sweeter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TiaRUp5UBw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As a side note, it has a full service history and neither that or the MOT have any advisory's/changes that would seem to link to this problem.

I guess it would make sense to check the plug, lead, coilpack connections and if they are secure change the plugs leads and coilpack one at a time in that order to see if that helps. I'm no expert but that would be my plan.

I have already changed all 4 plugs and the entire coil pack, I didn't change the leads though, do you think it could really be them? There was also a bit of oil in the socket of plugs 3 and 4, unrelated to the cylinder 1 and 2 issues but would it also be causing a problem?

It has to be the logical next move to change the leads imo.

Puma rocker gaskets are a known weak point for leaking and can leak into the area around the plugs I don't know if this is the cause in your case but if it is only use a ford gasket not some ebay cheapie.

You need to replace the ignition leads :thumbs:

I have a puma 1.7 , I bought it a few weeks back and it was fine. Lately (after using rede every tank) I've been getting better fuel economy but on cold start I too get a hesitation (sounds like choking or very slight misfire) I've changed all plugs aswell. I plugged in a snap on diagnostic kit with no error codes. Cleared memory and tried again, still no codes. Anybody else ever had this issue ? Cheers :-D

well... do when you put in the key... do you turn to position 2 and wait or just ignite from the start? let the fuel pump prime the car first for 2-3 seconds

I also have this problem and I have recently replaced the spark plugs, coil pack and also the HT leads any help would be much appreciated.

2001 puma 1.7

What are the symptoms of your problem?

Sorry for the delay.
I have a misfire from cold start it has recently had new coil pack, new plug leads and new plugs. The problem goes away after a minute or two of being on and I have recently noticed that I have some oil just under the air intake but I can't see where it is coming from could this be related?

The problem is only on start up apart from that she is fighting fit.

I have that problem too. It got better when I changed the ignition sparks the old ones were oiled up, it got better but after time she still hesitates some times before all change the head cover gasket thats what I'll do to mine when I have time and finances, just to stop the oil getting to the sparks, if you want you can remove them clean them and put them back in, if you still have the problem then as soon as you can you can change the plugs AGAIN because either if you put new sparks with new plugs if oil gets to them it will ruin the sparks and the plugs. Also get a friend in front of the bonnet and try to hear does the car swallow air from somewhere that can cause this too check the vacuum pipes from everywhere I can tell you one more option but I have to take a picture of it as I cannot discribe it, hope you get things right soon!

I have recently replaced the valve cover gasket and it's all good no oil near the sparkies and all vaccume pipes seem to be ok...

New problem cambelt tensioner is just about to die.

If it's only rough running when you first start it then it sounds like it could be the air/fuel mixture so I'd be looking at air leaks as you've mentioned or sensors, which one though I'd not like to guess? Temperature?

Cam belt tensioner is all done, the misfire has now been upgraded to level:catastrophic. It is now sarting with the engine ether hot or cold.
.and it now seems to be using coolant/water but u have no cross contamination between the oil and water.
(STARTING TO GET VERY ANNOYED WITH THIS CAR...
BUT STILL LOVE HER)

Score one for Cheese (AKA, Alan) it was the head gasket that had failed, sorted it and whilst I had it off I decided to polish the air intake system internally, it makes a noticeable difference in power output. 1 step closer to project turbo. (Many more issues that need to be addressed first) any tips on how to turbo a 1.7 puma would be awesome. Thanx

I changed my plugs again (for NGK platinums) rather than not so super 4's, also have a re conditioned cylinder head to fit asap. I will post after head is fitted to see if the problem has resided. !

I also noticed that the intake manifold gasket was full of cracks and broke in many places causing air to be drawn in after all the intake system and directly into the head. So I'd have a look at that too.