2001 Ford Fiesta 1.25 Engine Problem

[lynx636]

Driving to work this morning after about 5 miles (work is 8 miles away), i noticed the engine was juddering and i had a serious loss of power but no warning lights or high temp.
On the return journey the engine warning light came on after about a mile so i pulled over and look under the bonnet, there was nothing obvious such as leads or pipes that had come off so i carried on.
At higher speeds/revs the engine light was flashing but i carried on anyway and made it home. I was thinking this may be a misfire on 1 cylinder and something to do with spark but i wanted to ask on here before spending any money on it.
Thank you

 

[aldan]

when the check engine lite flashes its warning against catalytic converter damage,usually a missfire thats pouring unburnt fuel into the exhaust.if this is a coil over spark plug engine,try switching the coil from the missfiring cylinder to another cylinder.if the missfire moves to the other cylinder it is the coil.if it isnt coil over check your plug wires or plugs.

 

[cactikid]

common problem on fords as they sell complete kits now-coil-plugs-ht leads,also make sure no water in or around plug leads,one other thing to check under plastic manifold is a breather pipe which inplodes causing air leak and hissing on tick over front of engine between cylinder 2-3

 

[lynx636]

Cheers for your help, I borrowed a diagnostics tool off a mate and its showing a misfire on cylinder 3 so at least i know where to look when i get a chance

 

[lynx636]

Finally got a chance to work on the car today and upon changing the spark plugs, cylinder 3 and 4 had a fair bit of oil in the spark plug wells. I soaked up this oil and when removing the spark plugs there was also oil on the other side of the spark plugs (the spark bit) inside the cylinder. Is this a bad sign? Im debating whether this is worth digging into as the car is only worth £500 at best.
Thanks again

 

[cactikid]

gasket gone hard around r/c causing oil leakage to swamp plugs.ford only sell r/c with gasket,silicone gasket maker if you want to do it yourself.

 

[lynx636]

theres one for £11 on eurocarparts, may be worth trying for that price

 

[cactikid]

stick the coded link up ,is rocker cover metal or plastic?

 

[lynx636]

its plastic, a friend has offered me some gasket sealer in a tube so i may try this

 

[cactikid]

ah good clean all surfaces and smear r/c gasket with it and assembly.