First car - need advice!!!!

[Kate_uk3]

HI, Ive just bought a 1991 ford fiesta (1.3 engine).

I know nothing about cars so there are a few things that are worrying me.

1- Rust around the rear wheel arches is pretty bad, some of it crumbles off in my hand - theres also some quite bad bubbling and rusting around the petrol cap - is this something i can fix myself or do the panels need to be replaced??

2 - Oil - there seems to be oil on my driveway under the car, is this safe, or does it mean something somewhere is broken? the driveway is slanted slightly downwards - also, what is the best type of oil to use in the car?

3- Sometimes cuts out when idling, its annoying!

Any answers would be appreciated as i dont know much about cars- luckily it was really cheap so if it ends up needing to be scrapped its fair enough

kate

[Deore]

Id scrap it tbh the rust crumbling is bad enough its a big job to fix that alone and it sounds like its got some major engine props if its chucking out oil and cutting out. If you pay to have those probs fixed it will soon overtake the cost of the car if you got it cheep.

[pj200010]

I also recommend scrapping it! If you are not DIY then its not worth getting it fixed. Might get more by selling it in bits and then scrapping the remains. Good luck

[Buenchico]

Ask around your friends for a recommendation for a good local garage - the sort which is happy to give free advice. (They do exist. If you happen to be in East Anglia I can recommend the guy who's always giving me advice without charge - and does good quality work cheaply).

The rust isn't necessarily a big problem but get a garage (or a mechanically-minded friend) to look at the places which you can't see so easily.

Engines aren't meant to throw out oil but just because it's happening doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything too serious wrong. (I had a Fiesta for years which got through about a litre of oil a week but still ran like a dream!).

The one thing which engines definitely don't like is running without oil! Everybody should check their oil level weekly but it's particularly important to do it if you know you're losing oil.

You ask what type of oil to put in. With a car as old as yours there's one simple answer: Whatever's cheapest!! Just head into Asda and look for anything cheap which says it's for internal combustion engines (i.e. not diesel). It won't matter whether it's 10-40, 15-40 or whatever. (With a new car you want to take care of the engine. With a really old car you just want it to go!).

The Fiesta I mentioned, above, also had the same problem of cutting out when idling. Eventually, this was the reason that I finally got rid of it but only because the simple solution of advancing the idle speed finally ceased working. (It'll probably work for you. It only takes a garage about 2 minutes).

Hoping this helps,

Chris

[banana]

I too have an old Fiesta . It had a lot of rust bubbling under the petrol filler cap. Apparently this is a very common problem with these fiestas as the filler spout tends to chuck petrol back out if you are not very careful -this strips the paint away and then  rust pops up.So you can DIY it with some filler and a spray of paint if it offends you-or just wipe away any drips if you dont want it to get worse.
Mine too cuts out when idling but Ive gotten used to it - listening for the engine sounds and using the clutch to shock it back into working again. (This can be a bit of a  nerve wracking moment if its at a roundabout though).Nothing we have tried has made an 'apporth of difference though .

And I buy 5 litres of oil from Asda for about �3. I always have some at the ready - but dont keep the part used container in the boot as the caps dont fit well . This is from bitter experience which resulted in a trip to the breakers yard to buy another boot liner.

 

Have fun -just dont expect too much from it.