1996 1.6 zetec Misfire

[edz355]

My escort misfires continuously, it wont tick over and under load it pinks noisily. i have changed the plugs and leads and there is no engine managment light on, is it a case of the sticky valve? is it worse?

[qapmoc]

It might be that the timing belt is old and overdue for a change or the tension has slipped, but anyway sometimes the timing belt can ''jump'' one or two teeth and the engine will still run without destroying itself (pistons hit valves etc... type of thing) and then all the timing sequences are out and the kind of thing you mention can occur.
It will need a professional to test for this kind of thing though.

[stanleyman]

Sound like the timing is too far advanced or the distributor if faulty, could also be something like deisel in the fuel.

[bigdaddycain]

There is no distributor on a zetec,its a coil pack which is electronic,ther are so many possible causes that it would be more economical to get a diagnostics check rather than hit and miss guessing.