26th Aug 2007, 01:00

I also have a 99 ZX2... the vacuum hoses look good and I change the oil every 3000... just changed the fuel filter and serviced the tranny.. (yes I know it is a piece of crap) but I'm experiencing power loss and bad gas mileage now and I have replaced wires and plugs... A friend suggested to change the coil pack out... I might do this... and if that doesn't help the crappy idle and rough driving, I guess it's the idle control... this car has been good though...

13th Oct 2007, 20:00

I have a 1999 Ford Escort ZX2 and it has 14,457 miles and haven't had any problems with it at all it is a very nice car and drives smooth and gets great gas mileage, but most of all the trunk is big and the seats are comfortable I only wish mine had a CD player and a sunroof.

27th Nov 2007, 02:14

98 Ford Escort ZX2 w/172k for $1000. Nightmare of my life!

The check engine light was on and the heater was completely not working when I purchased this car 14 DAYS ago. I figured on putting about an extra 2-3 hundred (useless, right?) into getting it running, passing inspection and keeping me warm in this New England winter.

$325 later, with a new right front ball joint, new spark plugs and IAC connectors, a new resistor and harness - I had heat, the rough idle was gone, but the check engine light was still on. A few days later I left the house and made it 2 blocks down the road. Car was revving high, but not moving. I managed to will the car back to my parking spot only to find obscene amounts of tranny fluid on the ground.

I'd really like to push this car off the bridge into the friggin river.

-to the previous owner, I hope you enjoyed your flight back to Poland, which I basically paid for by purchasing your lemony piece of crap.

8th Jan 2008, 18:33

Speedo out, check engine light on??? Help, Help, Help.

I have a 98 Escort; the speedo stopped working and the check engine light came on? I have disconnected the battery for half an hour to reset the ECM and reconnected it. I removed and reseated the speed sensor with dielectric grease with no success, and despite what the book says, there isn’t any speedo cable; there is a plug where the cable goes.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you. Dave.

12th Jan 2008, 17:14

My son has a 1999 Ford Escort ZX2 that the serpentine belt has come off 4 times in the past 6 months. This seems to happened a lot when it rains. Is there anyone else out there having this problem and is there anything that can be done to stop it from happening?

7th Feb 2008, 13:49

I have a red 2000 ZX2 that I bought brand new. I love that car, but right now it is in the shop. It let me sitting because it cranked, but would not start. I had it towed to the dealership and it started for them with no problem...figures.

It left me sit again the day after I got it back. They came and got it and came back with plugs and wires plus the ignition coil. $660.

I got it back over lunch yesterday and it left me sit after stopping for gas. They came and got it AGAIN. Now, they came back with the CAUSE of the ignition coil going bad... the flywheel is cracked which is allowing it to flex and chew the cam shaft position sensor. I'm looking at around $1200 total.

After all that... I will still love my car when I get her back. In 8 years, this is the first time she has left me stranded.

8th Feb 2008, 18:04

Let me say I just bought my 2000 ZX2 about a month ago. And it's a piece of *%#@!!!

It has 89,000 miles on it and the transmission is slipping. I wish I would have known this before I bought this piece from a dishonest a#@hole. I will never buy a ford again.. unless it's a 07 mustang that's black with a hot pink racing stripe down the drivers side.

8th Mar 2008, 22:15

The 99 Ford Escort zx2 is crap!! Went with a friend today to buy a car, and this is the one she picked. 90,000 miles. Got 40 miles from the dealership and the engine started smoking, overheating, running really rough. Turns out to be a blown head gasket. We are hoping it doesn't have a cracked head too. We are just sick about it. I noticed the rough idle while she test drove it, but I assumed ti was just because of being nearly 10 years old and I'm used to a newer car. I wish I had found this site before she considered this car. The snake oil salesman said, "well, it's yours now, you bought it." Nice guy huh! We are pretty sure he knew the gasket was bad to begin with.

2nd Apr 2008, 19:36

I have a 1999 Ford Escort that I purchased new, and it has had the service engine light on for a few years, and no one can find out why. A mechanic last week put it on the computer again and it said the temperature intake sensor is bad, and that it is located around the air filter. He has had the car apart and cannot find this part anywhere on my car. It idles rough at lights and the computer says this is the reason. Any ideas where this sensor is located???

7th Apr 2008, 20:18

I'm enjoying some of these posts, such as the one above about the "nightmare" $1000 zx2 with 170K+ miles on it and he's upset it's giving him problems in the first 14 days. Welcome to reality.

I have a 2002 ZX2 that I bought brand new. Overall the car has been fine. It is a cheap compact car, so of course it doesn't run like a BMW, but it does okay for me. The car does vibrate when stopped in gear. Apparently this is a problem with all of these cars and yes it is annoying. It's not sell-the-car annoying to me though.

I have 65K miles on mine and the only problems I've had was a short in the AC blower ($20 fix), a wheel bearing went out ($100 or so), and I think that's about it.

I recently started putting Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas. I've run a couple bottles worth (4oz to every 10 gallons) now. Some people swear by it, some say it's worthless, some say it's bad for your car, but all I know is the idle is only about half as bad as it used to be, and I recently made a 12 hour round trip and got 38.6 miles to the gallon on the highway. I'm pretty sure it's the Mystery Oil since that's the only thing I've done differently. I used to get about 32-33 on the highway. It's a pretty amazing thing to go 333 miles on 3/4 of a tank.

Overall though, I think the ZX2 is a pretty reliable little car.