Self service and other questions!

[Shimmyhill]

I have decided that i will be doing as much work on my car as i can - services and basic jobs (i have no experience to speak of, changed the HCV and battery on Puma and that is all i have ever done on a car!)

I have some basic tools but will be building up a collection as i need them - from fellow Puma owners what should i be getting (thinking torque wrenches, incidentally is there a guide with the various torque settings about?) I have a Halfords advanced set of spanners/sockets etc and will be getting feeler gauges and tools needed for basic service.

Something i will not be tackling myself is the rear brake pipes, advisory on last MOT and look in bad shape - what kind of cost should i expect from a garage for them to be replaced?

Another question i have is relating to the Aux belt - ford have quoted £223 for parts alone for the belt and tensioner, ford parts not cheaper but still 160+ any tips to find cheaper prices, europarts dont seem to carry the tensioner?

Any help and advice is most welcome, i am a beginner but happy to learn as i want to keep the costs down and my knowledge up!

 

[ScubaSteve]

search for gates timing belt kit, the same as what ford use but sold seperately cheaper

 

[red]

@Steve he's asking about an aux belt though? Surely the belt is about £20 at most?

 

[ScubaSteve]

oh yeah, teach me for reading quickly, saying that i think my aux belt is gates too, might be wrong

 

[Shimmyhill]

The belt is cheap everywhere but the tensioner not - Ford Parts want £124+vat cheaper than Ford but still!!!

Ebay seem to have them for £80 but say its for the setup with AC, mine is without...

 

[Shimmyhill]

Me again

Firstly - any guide to torque settings around the car?

Also i have been looking at the guides to change pads and discs up front - there is mention of a hex bolt method but no further info? Does this negate needing to remove the spring that i see is a total arse? (i will be getting a fiesta haynes book for general guide purpose)

I had a good look to see what i will need and when checking if the spark plug socket i had would fit i found all 4 plugs had a pool of oil around them - black so looks to be not overfill from topups, looking at the rocker gasket it looks to be perished and in a horrible condition. I guess this will be where the oil is leaking and probably explains my cars like of a drink of oil! Gasket will be ordered and changed to - with sealant as per the excellent guide on here!

With the Aux belt, i am confused - i called a car parts place and they said i would need a belt for about 20 quid (contipart) and a guide pulley for about 35 quid as these were the parts that usually go - now i am confused????? (FWIW - the cam belt and tensioner was done by a garage when i bought the car October 2009) I am trying to solve the noise from aux belt area, there is also a nick in the aux belt hence replacing.

 

[jacko]

wouldnt have thought the tensioner needed doing....

mine sheared and fell off!!! went to get one from a scrapyard!!! if yours is making a noise i bet its a bearing in the pulley....which is what i reckon the pulley above is. ie not a an expensive bracket with a new bearing and pulley as per ford, but an aftermarket pulley with a new bearing; keeping the costs down, because the metal bracket bit should never need replacing.

torque settings as per haynes fiesta manual.

seems like youv got a good head on you for solving problems; just keep at it and youl find fixing cars is quite easy, and saves you a hell of a lot of money

 

[Shimmyhill]

Cheers, i think i will get the belt and pulley and replace them and see!

Been out getting parts and tools today - looking forward to cracking on and as you say saving a bit of money over time!

Edit, another question - 1.3mm plug gap on the 1.7?

 

[Shimmyhill]

Right, i have started the works on car - have done the rocker cover gasket and starting the service items.

I got a belt from eurocarparts in end as ford didnt have one, its a continental belt but the longer one was marked up as without aircon and shorter without - i bought both but surely its the shorter one for my car without aircon?

I also bought the pulley so will go with that to see if solves it!

 

[Shimmyhill]

I did the pads and discs today, chickened out and got a calliper rewind tool after lots of faffing and did it in 2 mins, expensive but brilliant tool!

Really chuffed as first time and they appear to work ok, bit spongy and smelly but they obv need to be bedded in - they stopped me is main thing!!!

That bloody calliper clip thing is the work of satan, esp when as i guess the new pads were miles thicker and the discs not lipped it sat further out so not 100% same as pic i took so that worried me for a bit until i saw that the calliper obv slides in as the pads wear...

Thanks for the guides, between them and my Haynes book it made it a straight forward task really!

Aux belt next!

 

[syne]

I'm in much the same boat as the op, not a mechanic but am determined to do as much as poss myself.

W\s the haynes guide useful for replacing the rocker cover gasket?

 

[yippeekiay]

Syne, check out the how to section as ScubaSteve has done an in depth guide that a lot of people have found extremely usefull k:

 

[Severio]

Hey people, as alot of you are interested in self servicing I found a checklist for you to use as a reference (Not ment for your vehicle records) enjoy..

 

[martinthrapston]

iirc the spark plug gap is 1mm as it was 1.3 but ford decided it was better to reduce the gap as it kept killing coil packs,or if you have no feeler gauges a debit/credit card is 1mm thick k:

 

[yippeekiay]

Does that include the raised number/letters or not Martin