Ford EscortFord Escort ZX2 is a hot-looking compact coupe with a rakish design. Yet its handsome interior reveals a roomy back seat and surprisingly large trunk. ZX2 provides responsive handling and good road manners and its engine delivers decent power. At the same time, the ZX2 is a practical car, with plenty of room in the back seats for friends.
I need some direction or instructions with a 99 Ford Escort that I have. It is running very rough, so I've changed all the wires, plugs and coil on the vehicle. This had resolved a similar issue with my 97 F-150. So...
The vehicle will idle fine, I can even rev it up, but the second I put it in gear - it bogged to the point of stalling. The further I press the pedal - the more it bogs. Fuel pump maybe? or throttle body position sensor?
What really has me concerned is that I found a ring of oil around the top part of the threads of the old plugs. Would this be head cover gaskets or valve cover gaskets? And would this possibly lead to the rough idle?
How many miles does the car have? It could be a combination of a number of things. The first thing I do in cases like this is run some seafoam through the vehicle:
If it's the TPS sensor, try unplugging it and see how the car runs without it. If there is no difference then it may be a possibility, you'll need a multimeter to test it.
If it's the fuel pump, you can do a fuel pressure check. You can get fuel pressure check kits from any auto parts store, but the cheapest ones are from Harbo Freight (same junk from China, just 1/2 the price).
The car has about 96k on it, not back for a 10 year old vehicle. I'd like to get it up and running either we a weekday driver or to give to my oldest as he'll need a car soon.
Someone had suggested that I look into the cat, could that have anything to do with this?
If the cat is stopped up it will cause a loss of power. I would suggest cleaning the MAF sensor to see if that helps any. Do you have a check engine light? If so have the codes checked and post them, it will give us more to work with.
Man, I wish there were codes, then I would have an idea where to begin. But unfortunately, I'm not getting any... I'll be changing the fuel later today, I'll report back any findings.
I checked the MAF - it looked pretty spotless. The air filter was decent, I'll be checking the fuel PSI tomorrow when a friend brings in his schrader valve.
edit - Just changed the fuel filter... seemed to be good ... a first. As the car heated up, the bogging came on. I noticed that the wires from the 2 cylinders (1 & 2) were very hot. They were very close to the valve cover, so that made sense, I've since positioned them away (using the clips, etc) so once it cools down I'll see if that made a difference... Anyone else have any other ideas?
__________________
97 F-150 4.6L
99 Escort
Last edited by 97Red150Ext; 10-18-2009 at 12:40 PM..
Ok.. nightly update... ;-) I was talking to a friend on the phone about bringing a schrader valve to work when I decided to "show" him a few things while the car was running.
Item #1 up for discussion - when disconnecting the Fuel Pressure Sensor there was no real change in the idle. so... hmmm could that be faulty?
Item #2 - there's a definitive vacuum leak. I'm not sure how I missed it before but when I hit the throttle I can quick 1/2 second sucking of air sound. How do I determine which hose is leaking? I've heard of smoke testing, how do I do that?
Sounds like a fuel pressure regulator. the vacuum hose may have cracked, or the regulator itself may have gone bad. pull the vacuum line off the regulator and check for gas in it. it should be dry. i've had them leak, and swell the rubber line since it's not rated for fuel.
Is the fuel pressure regulator the same as the fuel pressure sensor? The hoses coming up to that value seem alright. I did notice that the hose coming off the bottom of the Throttle Body is all cracked and decaying looking. I've taken that off and will replace that tomorrow. Although, I did remove that hose and plug the bottom of the TB, but I could still hear the quick sucking sound when I hit the throttle. So while that hose will be replaced, I do not believe it was my end all be all culprit leak. I'll post my findings over the next few days...
OK - so I seafoamed the car tonight... the smoke was immense...and cool for the kids... I replaced the hose from the bottom of the TB, sprayed Carb cleaner in the TB cleaned that a bit. The car ran decent enough, however once up to temp, when I would bump the throttle, the car's RPM would plummet and then seem to accelerate but only after I let off the throttle. By repeating this process I can climb the rpms but that initial bump of the throttle seemed to flood the car.
Shopping for new Ford can be a stressful experience especially if you don't have the right information. Our new car research center at CarEverything.com can help relieve this stress and bring the joy back to new car buying!
The Car Blog, or TCB for those who are acronymically inclined, is alive because some of today's top Web designers needed a place to drool and bitch about their motor vehicle obsessions.
Read the auto blog at Automotive.com to get the latest news and opinions, view the newest concept cars, and join discussions with auto experts from around the world.
99 ford escort questions... 
Hybrid Mode
