Ford escort running rough

giannial1985 · 09-21-2008, 09:54 AM

My mother has a 99 ford escort auto with 105,000 mile on it. She takes very good care of it and it has never broken down. We both notice that when she comes slowly to a stop or accelerates slowly, the car will buck or jerk. It feels like the engine wants to come out of the hood, lol. It runs rougher and does it a lot worse when the heat or a/c is running. I cleaned the PCV valve cause it was dirty with oil. It rattles, so it's fine. The transmission fluid is dark red, was just changed last May. Smells a little burnt though and it shouldn't. It shifts fine, though it seems to have a loss of power, even up a little incline. Anyone know what causes this?? Thanks

stylingtwagon · 09-27-2008, 03:12 PM

sure avaccum leak, bad idle valve , spark plug wires, fouled plug,dirty injectors . u need to follow process of elemination and just go throuh it
thats how most people learn to work on cars.

theoldwizard · 09-28-2008, 02:31 AM

Stylin, nice engine bay, but most folks who use a "process of elimination" have deep wallets. Hmmmm ...

Most large auto parts stores will extract the Diagnostic Trouble Codes from your Powertrain Control Module for free. Get those, report back here.

giannial1985 · 10-02-2008, 09:50 AM

There's no check engine light, so I figured that there wouldn't be any codes. Some people say that it could be the transmission itself or a vaccum leak. I do know that the engine shouldn't vibrate as hard as it does, lol. Not the 2.0L SPI

theoldwizard · 10-02-2008, 10:20 AM

Hey, ignore my advice. You didn't pay anything for it ! I still say get your DIagnostic Trouble Codes and report back here.

Also re-read you initial post

Quote:

Originally Posted by giannial1985

The transmission fluid is dark red, was just changed last May. Smells a little burnt though and it shouldn't. It shifts fine...

For now ! Your living on borrowed time on that transmission. It is not a matter of "if" it is going to fail, only "when and where" it is going to fail