Thanks for the tip about holding the brake pedal down to avoid draining
the master cylinder when a line is open. I hadn't thought of that. I
usually put a golf tee in the open line to plug the leak. What kind of
brake fluid did you use?

I've also had very little trouble with my 94' Escort wagon. I rebuilt
the alternator at about 60K miles. This was before it actually had any
problems. I like to do preventative maintenance on some parts to avoid
break downs. The alternator lasted another 40K or so until the pulley
bearing seized up on a hot day while I was on the Interstate. That was a
real belt burner! I don't know why the bearing went bad. I replaced it
when I rebuilt the alternator. Next I got a factory rebuilt alternator
which only lasted about two years. The brushes started to float at high
rpm causing the charging light to come on. They gave me a another
rebuilt one under the lifetime warranty.

The 1.9 (Ford) engine is still going strong at 110K. Only about 3% of
the 90's Escorts came with the 1.8 DOHC Mazda engine. I've never seen
one. A few years ago I started using Valvoline 10W-30 'Durablend'
semi-synthetic oil along with a Fram-3600 heavy duty filter. Some time
later I noticed that one or more of the hydraulic valve lifters would
tap for a second or two after a cold start. I assumed this was caused by
leak down in the aging lifters. I decided not to do anything about it,
providing the noise kept going away within a few seconds of starting the
engine. Recently, just for the heck of it, I installed a
Motorcraft-FL400 filter instead of the Fram. The cold start lifter noise
has gone away! Apparently the Motorcraft filter has a better anti-drain
back design which reduces the leak down in the lifters.

Here's a short run down of other parts that were changed because of a
failure or required maintenance.

The timing belt was replaced at 50K and 100K. I changed the water pump
and belt tensioner with the first timing belt.

The ignition coil began failing at about 90K. The 'miss' got worse over
a period of several weeks. I changed the plugs and wires first but the
problem was the coil. I'm using Autolite Platinum AP-5143 spark plugs.
They're one heat range cooler than the Motorcraft OEM ones. I did this
to minimize a tendency for engine pinging. The computer has an input for
a knock sensor but the 94' 1.9 engine doesn't have the sensor. I'm not
sure when Ford started using one in the Escort. The plugs always look
good when I change them, so the heat range must be acceptable.

I haven't had to change any other engine control parts (yet) such as the
MAF, TPS or EGR. The gas filter has been changed twice. I'm starting to
check the vacuum hoses more carefully as the engine gets older.

The radiator leaks a little while the engine is warming up in cold
weather (winter). This is caused by the seal which is used between the
aluminum core and plastic end tanks. The seal is not resilient enough
when it's cold. As the engine and cooling system warm up, the seal
becomes softer and the leak stops. I've tried tightening the crimps
around the end tanks but it didn't improve much. Since this problem only
occurs during the engine's warm up time after a cold weather start, I
haven't replaced the radiator. Perhaps I should from an environmental
stand point. The cooling system has been flushed several times over the
years, including two new thermostats. I changed the radiator fan
temperature switch because it seemed to be taking too long for the fan
to come on when the car was idling. The temperature gauge would get up
to more than 3/4 scale before the fan came on. Now it comes on at about
2/3 scale. I haven't had any problems with the AC. It's never even
needed a recharge.

The rear springs were changed because the bottom of the coils broke off
in the lower mount. This is a common problem with 90's Escorts,
especially the wagons. Most owners wouldn't know the springs were
broken. It doesn't have much affect on the ride quality and there's
usually no noise associated with it. There are probably many 90's
Escorts still on the road with broken rear springs.

The exhaust system between the converter and muffler has been changed
twice. The muffler is still the original. I'm beginning to wonder if
it's made from stainless steel.

I recently changed (flushed) the power steering fluid for the first
time. The automatic transmission fluid gets partially changed every
year. I use a hand pump to drawn about three quarts of fluid out of the
dip stick tube. That's all you can get with that method but it's enough
to replenish the fluid. The filter has been changed once. The tranny has
never had any problems.

I replaced all the light bulbs in the instrument panel. I waited until
several of them had failed because I knew it was a pain to do. The
steering wheel/column has to be lowered on to the seat to access the
panel and the speedometer cable had to be disconnected from the
transmission so the panel would pull out from the dash. I used long life
bulbs so I won't ever have to do that job again.

The power door lock relay module started acting up about a year ago.
Sometimes the doors wouldn't lock when the driver's side button was
pushed down. The module has two relays, one for locking and the other to
unlock. The module is not available new and I couldn't find a used one
at a local junk yard so I did some micro surgery on the locking relay.
This required removing it's small (appx. 20-mm x 15-mm) plastic cover
and cleaning the contacts. It's working fine now.

The front brake pads and rotors have been changed twice. Haven't had to
do the calipers yet. I clean and lube them every year so they work
freely. The rear drums and shoes were changed once.

The main issue with the car now is keeping up with the rust. The body is
still in good shape but it's an up hill battle in my area with all the
road salt they use in the winter. I've replaced a two foot section of
the rocker panels in front of the rear tires on both sides. The 90's
Escorts have a tendency to rust out in that area and also above the rear
wheel wells. You can't buy the rocker panels separately. They're part of
the complete rear door frame which costs at least $500. I wasn't about
to pay $1000 for the privilege of cutting out two new rocker panels, so
I made new ones from 22-gauge steel. The first one was a b*tch but the
second went much faster. If you're interested I can describe the process.

That's all I can think of for now. Maybe this info' will help some other
Escort owners with the same problems. I sometimes wonder if it's worth
keeping a car of this age going but I really like it. It has a sun roof,
power windows, power door locks, cruise control and a great DIY sound
system. The car has cost almost nothing to maintain over it's life so
far. I wouldn't mind finding another one in great condition (body wise)
and keeping it running for another decade. ;-)