Help with my girlfriends old Ford Escort

[Justin]

Its a 98 and she just sold it to her sister. the car always ran great when she owned it but recently its started idling like shit and dying at stop lights....

I was thinking a dirty MAF? anyone have any other ideas? there are no codes ( no check engine light ) but about 3 months or so ago the CEL came on and it was a running lean code.... one of the symptoms the website listed was a dirty maf but the code has not came back yet....

 

[foreverpsycotic]

idling low, or like it has a cam thats way too big?

 

[Disced]

leave it for what is was designed.

Found
On
Road
Dead

 

[89Joe]

Fuel pump maybe? Plugs, plug wires? Check the timing. Maybe its distributer related, because I know my Supra would die randomly at stop light and stop signs until I replaced the distributer.

 

[OneJoeZee]

don't help her. make her buy a toyota.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

yep, its all signs pointing to the maf man. Replace it and if the problem still persists, get a toyota

 

[Jayhall]

my girlfriends did the same exact thing, i found the problem in the distributor. Hers is a little older though. Its a module in the distibutor that gets fried. Aparantly Ford made a recall regarding the issue, check it out with a ford dealership, they might fix it for free

 

[Aaron J Williams]

First off, the 98 escort doesn't have a distributor, its DIS. The lean code could be from a contaminated MAF sensor. It would also have low power at WOT and possibly pinging or spark knock if the MAF is bad. If it's just an idle problem then I would look at the idle air control solenoid. It is common failure on fords with idling problems. Usually it sets a code though, so maybe you have an intake leak somewhere. Does it smoke or smell gassy out the tailpipe at idle? When was the last tune up? how many miles are on the engine? Does the coolant level go down without any visible leaks?

 

[Finnon]

do you guys have a pic of your escorts? are they the same as uk escorts? i have a 1996 i think with a 1.6 zetec engine

 

[Justin]

First off, the 98 escort doesn't have a distributor, its DIS. The lean code could be from a contaminated MAF sensor. It would also have low power at WOT and possibly pinging or spark knock if the MAF is bad. If it's just an idle problem then I would look at the idle air control solenoid. It is common failure on fords with idling problems. Usually it sets a code though, so maybe you have an intake leak somewhere. Does it smoke or smell gassy out the tailpipe at idle? When was the last tune up? how many miles are on the engine? Does the coolant level go down without any visible leaks?

So aparently I was wrong, there has been a code since she owned it... she just never told me. I worked on the radio today for her, it was the first time i've been in the car for a while. The idle is like ASS, far worse than when my g/f owned it.

The two codes it throws are

p0717 (Input Speed Sensor Circuit Low Input)
p1506 ( Idle Air Control System Overspeed Error)


There's about 100k on the engine, no smoke or coolant loss that I know of.

Is this the type of MAF you can just spray with carb cleaner?

 

[Finnon]

if its the same as a uk car dont sp;pray th emaf. itds a hot 3ire typr e si it wuld fuck ityup

 

[Justin]

if its the same as a uk car dont sp;pray th emaf. itds a hot 3ire typr e si it wuld fuck ityup

That's what I was wondering. I know alot of people try and clean the AFM on the supras and then its done after that...

 

[Aaron J Williams]

So aparently The two codes it throws are

p0717 (Input Speed Sensor Circuit Low Input)
p1506 ( Idle Air Control System Overspeed Error)

The first code is a transmission code unrelated to the idle problem
The second code is related to the idle problem.See the attachment for diagnosis. If you make it past KE22 the next step is to install a breakout box between the PCM and wiring harness and check circuits for resistance. I'm assuming that you don't have a Ford breakout box so I didn't attach the procedures. The picture below KE22 is the IAC solenoid. I'm still betting it's a bad IAC solenoid or vacuum leak.

Is this the type of MAF you can just spray with carb cleaner?

NO! But you could take the IAC off and spray it and the air passages in the throttle body with carb cleaner.

 

[garagefujimoto]

Perhaps PIITB