2001 Ford Escape DTC P0300 won't idle when cold

[steve in alaska]

Working on the above car..guy that owns it says it won't idle when cold (and it does have a slight miss) , but after it warms up, it runs great. Check engine light was on, but all I pull with my code reader is P0300, which is multiple misfire detected. This makes no sense to me, since it smooths out and idles great when warm.

I've been doing some research, and Ford TSB # 14780 (NHTSA # 619490) seem to address this, but I cannot get the solution for the TSB..seems I need to pay for that info (??)

I keep thinking maybe the IAC is bad, but wouldn't there be a code for this stored??

Thanx for help everyone.

Regards
Steve

[danielsatur]

1) New air filter
2) Clean Massive Air flow sensor.
3) Clean the throttle plate on throttle body.

The symptoms of a cold start is usually a bad, or dirty MAF sensor.

[steve in alaska]

thanx for the reply! I'll check those things tomorrow. Are any of your proposed solutions part of that TSB Ford issued?

Regards
Steve

[danielsatur]

All Auto's have body, engine, transmission, Computer, and control modules.
It's a Man Machine fossil burner with a brain!

When looking at a problem, just try focus on the symptoms!
There's alot of Makes + Models, that have different personalities and issues.
Auto forums, Google, Youtube auto, and http://www.alldata.com is a good start for getting to the solution.

[steve in alaska]

Actually, I did a lot of research before I posted this problem, and I found a lot of people had the same exact problems, with the same symptoms on this particular model and make. It seems the most prominent problem was the intake gaskets leaking when cold, and they'd expand when warmed up, and the vehicle would run great. Rather than just tear the intake off and replace the upper and lower gaskets, I thought I'd throw it out there and see if by some chance someone else had the same problem with an overlooked easy fix. It happens. I did the obvious beforehand, like look for loose connections, frayed wires, and bad vacuum hoses. I also posted the trouble code and TSB number, hoping someone might know what the solution was since I could not find that info. As for All Data, yes, I've heard it's a great place to go for info, but I looked at the subscription prices, and I couldn't justify it as I do this as a favor to friends and do not charge for my labor. It's not my day job if you get my drift.

Anyway, I appreciate your input, and I checked the MAF and that's not the problem. Sprayed starting fluid around the intake manifold, and at one point, the idle picked right up, so I'm pretty sure the gaskets are the problem. Will post when I have more.

Regards
Steve

[danielsatur]

Consider doing a smoke test when cold, and another when hot.
see http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul....php?t=1040810
Maybe it's too cold in Alaska to throw a DTC!

A smoke test is around $80
A smoke machine is $1200
see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfiQ7qWiG-M

Caution - It already sounds like you pin-pointed the problem with starting fluid, but using starting fluid is dangerous.

[steve in alaska]

Problem solved. I failed to mention that I pulled all the codes from the Escape, and had l P0171 and P0174 (lean on both banks) and the misfire on multiple cylinders. So today I replaced upper and lower intake manifold gaskets and voila! Purrs like a kitten. Starts cold, idles high for a few seconds, and slowly comes down and smooths out. Not a miss. No check engine light. Warmed it up after the fix, then drove it 10 miles and worked the A/C so the ECM could "learn" the fuel trim. Anyway, I have to thank all the other people who posted the intake manifold problems that the Ford V6 engines had, that's exactly what was wrong! The only problem I had was when I released the 6 fuel injector plugs, every one of the broke the clip/tab off! I assume it was so brittle from the heat. I just used tie wraps to secure them all to ensure they wouldn't come loose, as I didn't want to have to take the upper manifold off again.
At any rate, glad to have it fixed, thanx again to all who posted their problem/fix.

[BlackTalonS1]

Frayed Wire from PCM to Coils,,,,,could have been this or might have this problem in near future, I hope not.... went for about a year with a 2001 ford escape slowly beginning to give intermittent idle problems then began to die at stop lights. BTW this was in very hot humid weather most of the year. Car over right about 100,000 miles. kept giving IAC valve problem code. cleaned that and it worked, but for a short time. started doing it again and then started showing one of the coils misfiring. changed IAC, didn't do anything at first. couple of days later coils bad again. then started showing codes for EGR and PCV and various other things but most of the time IAC and/or misfiring coil. ran great for a while, then took dive again. was doing alot of research online and read a handfull of people (especially in cold weather) found out eventually that one tiny wire in the bunch of wires that run into the PCM was over long period of time wiggling just enough from engine movement that it got frayed or corroded and would begin to not give power to the coils at intermittent times. go figure, i took to mechanic and told them to try that first since i pretty much covered everything else it could've been. they took the wires out test each one, and found the one wire. they said they could see with plain eye that it was defective, and they fixed the wire. car runs great ever since. apparently everytime i was working on the car I was moving that bundle of wires when working on various other parts under the hood, contributing to the intermittent codes. been about 2 years since i had this fixed but the bundle of wires is about 1.5 inches wide and is directly above the engine at base of windshield (in engine compartment of course), where it plugs into PCM I think. anyways figure I ought to get this info out there because it was hell for me to find the info since not too many people had it figured out and put online. and Ford dealership dang sure didn't know the answer....