as title, my lovely lady friend has one in her possesion (Ford KA) but is currently declared SORN as it has failed its MOT on a number of things and she can't afford what her local dealership has quoted her to fix it. Only problem I'm facing when I look at the MOT certificate is I can't really work out what the problem so bar buy random new parts and stick them on I can't do a lot else...

...so I'll put a list up and see if anyone can help me (PLEASE!!!!).

Main issues:

Nearside rear brake recording little or no effort
Parking brake recording little or no effort
Service brake efficency below requirements

Surely the above must be something to do with the drums/shoes/rear cylinders?

and then pretty self explanitory:
CAT Cracked (looked into it, its part of the manifold like on the 1.6 mk2 brava) and is easy enough to get hold of from cats-direct.
Front shocks leaking (sorted, buypartsbuy )
Exhaust blowing in multiple places (again, cats-direct)
Lower Suspension arms failed (looked and found a DIY guide for it)

Nearside Driveshaft, is that easy for me to do?
Front light not working on dipped beam all the time (she knocked it so I'm guessing get another unit from the scrappy?)
Bumper not attached properly at wing (caused by the above )

Any help would be greatly recieved, I know its a Fiat forum but still...I want her to be able to come visit me and be able to get about without using local transport services (Crap!)

So with that in mind...PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Cheers,

Dan

What year is it?

If they used the fester rear brakes then they do leak after a while. New rear pistons are daftly cheap. (~£5 each) Do both while you're at it, if ones gone the other will follow.

Whats wrong with the driveshaft? (I'm guessing CV joint)

thats just it chap, thats all it says :s

Needs a new drive shaft.

The place which MOT'd it also gave it a once over prior to doing it and flagged the driveshaft up as an issue so god knows and I can't really go look at it as the car is situated 125 miles away from where I am

in all fairness its fairly old now for what it is (S reg 50k miles) so if its more than a grands worth of work (which the garage say it is and then some) it may as well be an economic write-off

Dan


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

one things for sure, its fooked cause of the mass of speed bumps in guildford

So would CV joint be a good guess?

Dan


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

Quite likely. What engine size?

1300cc, as they all are bar the sportka and street car which are 1600 duratec units I believe.

Next time I go down I may just have to take it for a drive and see for myself how bad it is but you think the parking and normal brake faults will be caused by what you mention above ^ ?

Will it not be a faulty proportioning valve (if it has one like the bravo does)?

Dan


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

Normal brake = cilinder, pads - look how worn are the drums

Parking = new pads and check the steel cable, if its tightened inough

sven

I thought they did a 1.2 version as well. The 1300 is the old crossflow engine

If the wheel cyl has leaked then the drum will be full of brake fluid, brakes don't work well like that.

@Tom - you are wrong!!!! Thats the way to get rid of the squeling brakes

sorry Dan

Just to say, you wont get any clear answers until you get it apart


sven

correct, my old man said that the engines used in them are based on the ford Anglia engine due to its size and the way it fitted into the bay with the odd shaped front end.

Nah, they are all 1.3's

her's is the Ka'3

Are driveshafts expensive and hard to fit yourself?
May need to get me a ford Ka hanes manual

Dan


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

If Im thinking about the right thing, they are usualy just held by a security ring and can be pulled out after you taken out the CV joint of the bearing

sven

Dan log onto msn, if u can

It amazes me how long that engine lasted, BL was always the joke for using old engine designs (A series in the metro for example) yet ford did the same.

Spares should be plentiful, a CV is only £30+VAT from buypartysby and I'm pretty sure they share a lot of components with the escrote and fester.

Well they did basically make the KA out of spares left from the fiesta etc. I know for a fact that the suspension etc

Dan




Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

When my mot failed for the rear brakes, similar to what that sounds like the garage had to totally strip the brakes down and look into them, wasnt just a little job, didnt cost me much at all though so if no luck comes of it might be worth taking it to a garage for that.

I'm pretty confident in doing the car myself and will defo work out cheaper if I can source the parts for her and then take them down 1 weekend and get it done. either that or get a trailer and drive it back to Peterborough for me to work on in the evenings...don't think I could tow it behind my bravo

Drums are a pretty easy job to do right?
Maybe worth getting hold of a Haynes manual for it if they made one?

Dan


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

Does anyone think that getting this would be worth it?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ford-workshop-manual-Fiesta-Focus-Galaxy-Ka-Mondeo_W0QQitemZ8005727541QQcategoryZ18414QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Could save me a fair bit of hassle and money not getting the haynes.

Dan


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

Bump


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05

Cheaper than a haynes. Worth a try.

Tom or whoever,

What am I looking for to diagnose the CV Fault?

I've asked her again and it seems that it hasnt failed on this at all but has been flagged to need replacing in the near future. whats the worst that could happen if I don't replace it and just do the stuff to get it through the MOT?

Dan


Skate2create & "Bluebeastie" Angeltuned 1.2 16v - 9.8 0-60 @trax '05
Angeltuned, Iridium spark plugs, enclosed airfilter & heavy right foot =