A friend of mine has kindly given me there Low mileage Ford KA Millenium Edition

Which means it gets A/C, Electric windows, PAS, ABS, CD player and even LEATHER INTERIOR. so not a bad spec tbh for a free car.

But it's head gasket has gone, now it's the older Endura engine but any advice or tips on doing a head gasket change, or would it be simpler to buy one of the many KA engines for sale at breakers for sub £100

or does anyone know if the Duratec engine fitted in the 2002 onwards models will fit straight in or not?

The 1.3 ohv engine is very basic so its very easy to work on,if you have done a head gasket before you will have no problems with this one! the later engine is a ohc one & would req to much work to fit it into a earlier ka.

Get a copy of the haynes for your car and yes the 1.1 and 1.3 are very easy to work on.

Head gasket can be done without too much effort but you have to make sure that the head isn't damaged and also find out why it went in the first place.

Poor gasket, overheating etc etc.

If it's overheated, then a recon engine isn't that much fitted, and you'd probably still have a car with a "new" engine with change from a grand.

Get yourself on FKOC (ford ka owners club) there's a lot of owners on there and everyone is helpful. (old car was a ka and got some good info on there)

All the best

How much would you sell it for when it's fixed? Need a cheap runaround.

Put a zetec in it 18/2000 will fit strait in and fit the ka box then u got a real sleeper

A 1.8 zetec engine was a favourite. A lot also had the 1.7l puma engine in!

Head gasket on these is a piece of cake - shouldn't cost more than about £40 in bits to be honest.

As long as its not rotten underneath it will be worth fixing!

Head gasket on these is a piece of cake - shouldn't cost more than about £40 in bits to be honest.

As long as its not rotten underneath it will be worth fixing!

The thought of a puma 1.7 litre did come to mind

But a Yellow KA is a Girls car through and through, i intend to fix it up, it's got like 39,000 miles and a full service history with ford, 1 owner from new and MOT till APR,

So i figured use it till apr(6 months tax needed) garage my Felly, enjoy the lower fuel costs, cheaper tax and CD player on my drive to work.

Put a years MOT on it in APRIL and sell it for £600-£1000 for a quick sale.

I don't like Fords per se,

OKay so plan is keep the 1.3 standard engine, do a head gasket change, and fingers crossed nothing else is wrong! and enjoy(in relative terms) for 6months and pass on car to someone else.

Sorry Republic not looking to sell it.

But i'm purchasing my freedom membership today so i can put my Red Fabia up for sale this week.

Well i was gonna get the head skimmed to be sure, buy new bolts(even though there not stretch bolts) and new water pump(only £20)

head gasket set(£25)

So should keep the cost under £100, and will take it for a service after i've done a few hundred miles in it to check the head has sealed properly.

Well i was gonna get the head skimmed to be sure, buy new bolts(even though there not stretch bolts) and new water pump(only £20)

head gasket set(£25)

So should keep the cost under £100, and will take it for a service after i've done a few hundred miles in it to check the head has sealed properly.

Make sure you get the right coolant, depending on the material used for the radiator matrix etc.

It's pretty cheap from ford, so I'd just clean the whole system out and get it done. An oil change on these things is a doddle and a filter about £4, plus 10p for a copper washer. Might as well do that too, just to keep the car all happy and in a good place to go.

Oh and while I remember, put a new breather pipe and cap on, they gunk up so easily and cause no end of trouble when they do.

Edited 6 October, 201114 yr by cheezemonkhai

The thought of a puma 1.7 litre did come to mind

But a Yellow KA is a Girls car through and through, i intend to fix it up, it's got like 39,000 miles and a full service history with ford, 1 owner from new and MOT till APR,

So i figured use it till apr(6 months tax needed) garage my Felly, enjoy the lower fuel costs, cheaper tax and CD player on my drive to work.

Put a years MOT on it in APRIL and sell it for £600-£1000 for a quick sale.

I don't like Fords per se,

OKay so plan is keep the 1.3 standard engine, do a head gasket change, and fingers crossed nothing else is wrong! and enjoy(in relative terms) for 6months and pass on car to someone else.

Sorry Republic not looking to sell it.

But i'm purchasing my freedom membership today so i can put my Red Fabia up for sale this week.

Fabia would be worth too much I'm afraid mate, I need something to runaround in the cheaper the better! Please reconsider your offer as I have a rather nice headunit I could throw in as a freebie (would fit the Fabia double din) too .

Okay so i've spoken to my Mum's Partner(the person who has given me the car) and he said that the headgasket went quite badly and he thinks it's cracked the head, and he said the cam followers weren't great either.

Considering all this and the fact that there are 10's of sub £100 replacement engines at breakers, i'm decided in replacing the engine rather than repairing the existing one.

I'm far from an experienced mechanic, but i feel confident to do the job, just concerned i don't have the right tools!

It should be a nice little project for me that i want to complete before end of October and have it on the road.

Signed up to KA forum so i can get all the info about the coolant etc

How much would it be to drop the Pump engine in ?

Zetec engines are a doddle to fit - 2 of the engine mounts are on the gearbox and marry up perfect, and there is an off-the-shelf engine mount available for the inner wing, then its just a case of marrying looms up, it really is an easy one.

But to be honest I'd stick another Endura lump in, should be under a days work with basic tools, just douse everything in PlusGas a few days previous!

Yeah come on guys it's a bright Yellow KA, hardly a car i want to attract attention to myself in. it's a free car and cheap transport and road tax and insurance.

lets keep it that way and sell it on in Spring, once i get the S2000/mk2 Fabia vRS, because 3 cars is too many for me.

i wonder if a haynes manual will be any use if i'm changing over the engine?? or probs just best use a camera and take pic of everything before i take it out so i can remember how it goes back in.

Sourced a 39k Endura engine still in the 2000yr car at breakers in East Grinstead so only a 50mins drive and agreed a nice low price of £85

Just a case of buying a trolley jack, got 2 axle stands already and finding somewhere to rent a Engine crane from!?

i hope i can beg, borrow and steal any other tools i need from various sources.

i wonder if a haynes manual will be any use if i'm changing over the engine?? or probs just best use a camera and take pic of everything before i take it out so i can remember how it goes back in.

Sourced a 39k Endura engine still in the 2000yr car at breakers in East Grinstead so only a 50mins drive and agreed a nice low price of £85

Just a case of buying a trolley jack, got 2 axle stands already and finding somewhere to rent a Engine crane from!?

i hope i can beg, borrow and steal any other tools i need from various sources.

Bargain,

Change the rocker gasket, sparks, water pump, breather pipe/cap and the drive belts on that engine while it's out.

The haynes is still pretty useful for that car although do take pictures.

I seem to remember the same swap in a fiesta had a very limited amount of labour.

Yep I agree with Mark (hi mate )

The Haynes will definitely be useful, and do any refresh work to the engine while its out.

Halfords Professional tools are actually really good, and come with a lifetime warranty.

Hire an engine crane from an independant tool hire place, should be about £30 for a week.

Good luck!

Word of warning when changing the spark plugs,it is very common for the spark plugs to snap & leave half the plug in the cyl head which then in some cases req's the head to be removed & the plug drilled out! i soak the plugs overnight with peneatrating oil & try to remove them when engine is good & hot.Thats a good price for a replacement engine!

http://www.hss.com/g/67715/500kg-Engine-Crane-Folding.html HSS do them and they have branches nationwide

Woah was kinda hoping to rent for a week but not at £60. was thinking sub £40

i'm gonna leave everything as it is guys until i've got the engine running in the car.

it's it seems okay after 1 week on the road(400miles) then it will be off for a proper service at the garage, except for coolant as i will have just put that in myself.

That way i keep the full service history, i will get the clocks changed back down too, they are giving me all the reg and v5 details so i can properly document the engine swap and prove that the car had a 39k engine put in it.

Yes i'm confident about changing plugs, always careful with pressure applied and never strip the thread etc etc.

anything requiring more than a gentle twist with be sprayed anyway.

Thanks for all the help everyone, i need to get the car to my house somehow then the rest is easy from there, i'm picking up the engine on Saturday.

I will post some pics up if i can work out this photobucket stuff(haven't managed it yet)

then i will get some pics of my lowered felly up too.

Woop!