ford streetka 1.6 engine seems sluggish

TheSaint

New member
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Location
gloucester, uk
Car
mondeo 2.0
The missus drives a streetka. It has a 1.6 engine but for such a small car seems very slow. I can accelerate up to 25 mph quite quickly, but then the engine seems to lose all its guts. Is this normal? And is there anything I can do to improve acceleration? I have seen people say they can get over 110mph out of the 1.6 but I don't think mine would do more than 70.
Thanks
 
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First of all what year is it and what's the mileage.
Also when was it last serviced?
 
hi, it is 2004, has done about 50,000 miles and was serviced in the past couple of months. I also put new spark plugs in .. Good Bosch ones which made the engine smoother. I would also add I don't want the car to sound like a boy racers wreck after any mods. Thanks
 
Try one of those decoke sprays that go in the intake, they often help clean up the insides and keep things in tip condition.

If you do a timed 0-60mph run do you get near the manufacturers quoted times? I don't think the 1.6 engines fitted to these are particularly powerful or quick.
 
Could the coil packs be due for replacement maybe? I know an ex Ford master technician & I'll be seeing him Monday, I'll try & remember to ask if there's any common issues with the 1.6 Ka & report back. :D
 
Thanks for the info - I will try to do a 0-60mph run and check that out.
The car itself doesn't seem to missfire so I am guessing it wouldn't be the coil packs (though I really have no idea). One of those engine clean out things sounds like a good idea though. I will try that too :)
 
It's never going to be that fast with just 93 bhp.
Some You want Carb and Choke cleaner.
Just pull off the intake pipe that goes to the throttle body and start the engine and spray in whilst revving the engine slightly.
Do this when the engine is fully up to temperature.
 
I'm not expecting it to be a rocket ship :)
This is just based on the fact that is a 1.6 and a very small car - so the power to weight ratio should be good.

I remember my first car as a 1.3 Proton and that had similar hp but was a lot heavier, it seemed to me that it was a faster car, the engine on that was 16v though.

I appreciate all the suggestions though :) When the weather warms up a bit I might stick an induction kit on it and possible a larger exhaust along with change the coil pack - just for kicks :)
I have read that the engine cleaning treatment stuff probably has no effect on performance and that using a premium fuel for a couple of months can give better results.
 
Not engine cleaner.
Just carb and choke cleaner.
The throttle body can get a little dirty after a while so a good spray of carb and choke cleaner inside the throttle body may help get back some throttle response.
 
Did it start when you changed the plugs? If so, check the gaps.

I would say lambda sensor but get it on a diagnostics machine first to see what codes it pulls up if any.
 
Master - yes it started perfectly when I changed the plugs - solved a mis-fire problem.

Turbo - thanks I will do that, this sort of stuff is all new to me so I appreciate it.

Thanks for all your comments - it has given me plenty to get on with :)
 
No I meant did your problem start when you changed the plugs not the car lol. But clearly not now.

Get it on WDS or simular code reader mate or you could forever be changing bits with a problem like this.
 
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