Ford Fiesta 1.1 turning over but not starting... fuel prob??

[shorn]

My brother has a Ford Fiesta 1.1 (1991 J Reg Mk4) and has been having some problems with it.
A week ago it wouldnt start (he's had the car for a year and its the first problem hes had).

The car would turn over but not kick in or fire and start. A few days later a mechanic came out to look at it but it started! Two days later he was driving it again, left it for a while and it wouldnt start again. Mechanic came back out, took some of it apart and thought it might be the fuel pump relay. When he put it back together (didnt do any work on it) it started again. The mechanic said he now wasnt sure and that the car would have to be taken in for a week to be tested fully and that would probably cost more than the cars worth.

Does anyone know or has anyone had a similar problem to this? Basically if there are some components I can change myself to try and fix it I would rather do this before he considers getting rid of the car. I am pretty good at replacing anything under the bonnet and will tackle most jobs but im unsure as to how to find the cause of the problem!!

Any help/ideas very much appreciated!

 

[^neo^]

Being an intermittent problem, i'd go for something electrical.

First thing to check is if it's getting a good spark when turning over.
Then check for fuel.

If it has both of these is should run

 

[shorn]

Any info on what checks I can do? i.e. how to check for a good spark and then the fuel?

Thanks for the response

 

[foxhole]

Check the plugs for oil fouling, an old engine like that may suffer from minor leaks.My old fiesta needed a plug clean every few months to keep it running.

 

[oldhenry]

Must be electrics, bad contact?. I had a Fiesta and the feed to the starter solenoid was poor, intermittant, just put a new spade connector on that.
just go through att the leads from battery to plug,
fuel problems tend to sputter out rather than be a dead cut.

 

[al-yeti]

is this the old distributor type model? if so look in cap , does this carry points anyone????