30th Jun 2009, 10:42

My uncle just gave me his 1998 ZX2 a few months ago, and there is not many problems with it. I blew the blower motor fuse, and my sunroof seal leaked, but that's nothing for an 11 year old car.. That's just shy of 100K and still dusts Civics in my town... I love this car.

12th Feb 2010, 21:38

We just bought a 2000 ZX2. With 100,000 miles on it, and I hope we have good luck with it. My sister's friend has one, and it has 289,000 on it and it still runs like a dream. She drives it about 250 miles every 6 days. Gets excellent gas around 35-39. The only thing wrong with hers is that the head lights sometimes shake. However she doesn't have all the problems you guys have had with yours.

By the way, she hasn't had to replace any of the stuff you guys have had to. She just does the regular stuff. Had to have 3 things fixed in 12 years.

2nd Mar 2010, 09:27

Two weeks ago my husband bought me 2000 ZX2 with over 120k. Everything was great until 6 days ago. It stalls when stopping. Last night he replaced the idle air control valve, PCV valve, air, and fuel filters. It still stalls. Any suggestions?

2nd Mar 2010, 20:35

It could be the MAP sensor. The MAP (Manifold absolute pressure) sensor helps the cars computer control ignition timing and and fuel injection based on engine load.

9th Mar 2010, 21:16

Hey, I just bought a 2000 Ford Escort ZX2, and everything seems to be pretty good except for the few minor repairs I need to make to it... it has over 110,000 miles on it... and a lot of people are saying that those cars have really bad transmission problems. And it seems to be OK right now, and no issues can be seen with the transmission.

Now I have read a lot on these cars, and a lot of people say that they have had a lot of major problems with these cars. Has anyone of you guys who have posted had any major problems with this car? Because I don't know what to believe, so far my car runs great, and I really love it... I would just like some answers to my questions about this car being good and reliable.

6th May 2010, 09:13

I am the original owner of a 2000 ZX2 S/R. Had her for 5 years, no problems other than my wife hated the car. Now that I am single again, I bought a used 1998 ZX2 and had it shipped from California to Maryland. All the Maryland cars are too rusty for me. Performed routine maintenance at 100,000 miles along with a timing belt and water pump. She gets fantastic mileage, my best being 42.6 MPG in combined city/highway. Everything on the car works including the CD changer in the trunk. As far as the earlier post about the 98's taching higher on the highway, you can swap 5th gear out of a regular Escort sedan and drop your overdrive ratio from .79 to .71. That is my next mod... ZX2's ROCK!

11th May 2010, 10:30

Reading all these comments confirm that the ZX2 is a great little car.

My girlfriend bought a 98 with a running problem; it was the VCT valve on the exhaust cam, this is a common problem causing the car to stall and run like crap. I replaced that, and while I was in there, I did the timing set, water pump and head gasket. The car purrrrred like a kitten, however, unknowingly I was given the wrong head gasket (fits nice, but leaked oil). Here is where it went south.

I had blown out my back, and couldn't fix the oil leak, so she took it to a "friend's" so called mechanic, actually a horrible grease monkey; he succeeded in fixing the oil leak, but caused more problems; intake leak, exhaust leak, screwed up timing and so on... well he tried to tell her it is fuel pump... so I had to go there and set him straight and give him written procedure and special tools.

Well now after she had already driven from FL to ME and back, we found the intake leak. And then the timing belt belt blew out, so yet another mechanic put his mitts on it and put the wrong serpentine belt on it, causing really rough idle, so we couldn't run the A/C, and causing the tensioner to fail, causing all kinds of noise. So some other goof told her the A/C compressor was cracked, ugh, so guess what I had to do... yes I replaced a perfectly good compressor, but being a parts seller, I got it cheap along with a new belt and tensioner.

So now almost everything is perfect, just a little rough idle, has new motor mounts, so I am looking at the grease monkey didn't put the valve shims back right, like I said, before him, this thing purrrred...

I also did all the common things everyone spoke of here... complete rear brakes 100% new, front brakes, include drilled and slotted rotors, new ebrake cables also. So it is safe and runs good, lots of pep too... So if anyone needs advice on repairs or needs parts, hit me up, I know a lot (not everything) about these cars. You can email me @ kraig@kraigautoparts.com

16th May 2010, 00:20

98 Escort ZX2 5 speed manual transmission; bought it at an auction down South in early-2007 for about $800.00 as no one else was interested in bidding on it. Had approx. 95,000 miles on it when it was purchased - now it has approx. 170,000 miles. Gives avg. 32 mpg on 80% highway, 20% city (@ 75mph highway speed) for approx. 110 miles each day. I have no special driving characteristics; overtake when necessary, etc., without any attention to adjusting for fuel economy, therefore I am relatively satisfied with the fuel economy this vehicle delivers.

Oil (5W20) changed every 5,000 - 7,000 miles for approx. $15.00 (i.e. whenever the local auto parts store has a special for oil + filter). Other big-ticket item, a set of tires, was procured off of Craigslist for relatively good bargains ($140.00 for four new tires) and mounted and balanced at the local gas station for $50.00. Three-year warranty rotors, and lifetime warranty pads from the local auto parts store contributes to the relatively low total cost of ownership.

Overall, I would put this item in the "not a bad investment" bucket.

13th Aug 2010, 10:43

These are great cars overall, but not hardly as reliable as the Japanese competitors. The biggest problems with these cars are:

1.) The PCV valve hose deteriorating, and getting a hole in it next to the intake manifold.

2.) The timing belt and/or timing belt idler pulley WILL fail around 90K - 120K. Have the timing belt and timing belt pulleys and tensioner replaced every 90K or you will be sorry that you didn't. If you notice a rough idle, check the PCV valve hose first thing.