1996 Ford Escort (Start-Up Problem)

[nhlblues]

I have a 1996 Ford Escort with ~128,500 miles on it.

When I start the engine (either cold or hot), occasionally the engine will sound like it is missing and, if I step on the accelerator to give it more gas, after ~10-15 seconds the engine runs fine and the problem disappears. The engines shuts off if I don't step on the accelerator.

This happens approximately 3-4 times per week and I drive the car every day. I never know when the problem will arise.

I took the car to a Ford dealer to have it looked at and the mechanic, without doing any testing, said that it was either a leaking head gasket or a cracked head. The mechanic later then ran some tests upon my request and confirmed that it was not a leaking head gasket or a cracked head. No further tests were performed at that time, so I still am left without any definitive answer as to what is causing the problem.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem and, if so, what was causing the problem and how was it corrected?

I don't want to have a mechanic just start replacing parts to see if the problem resolves itself.

[denisond3]

A slightly leaking headgasket 'could' be causing your problem, and if that is the case it will get worse eventually. How fast it progresses to worse could be a long time or just a few days. I would be interested to know what sort of test the mechanic ran. If he ran a compression test, it would be nice to know what the numbers were - not because it would give a definite answer, but to check with another compression test in a few more days or weeks, if it is still doing it;and see if the readings change. I think the only effective test to show up a head with a crack in it would be a cooling system pressure test. And even then it might not show anything, since the crack might only let tiny amounts of coolant leak into the combustion chamber slowly, such as overnight. And once the engine warmed up, the crack or leaking headgasket might more or less seal up. This is only a temporary situation, since a feeble headgasket will give out eventually, and even small cracks are going to propogate. But misfirings like this can also be due to a dirty or cracked spark plug, or a failing spark plug wire. With the plugs out for a compression test you get to see if they are all clean and nearly white or a light brown. If one of them is much darker, it could be fouling out at first, then cleaning off once the engine is up and running. In this case the solution would involve learning why one plugs is not as clean as the others. Can I assume this is an LX escort, with the Single Overhead Cam Engine? Or is it the GT engine, with dual over head cams. The SOHC engines have two openings from the water jacket in the head, which are closed off by the intake manifold. The head or the intake manifold can corrode here, allowing some coolant to leak into the engine intake from time to time. This would cause misfiring, but with a spark plug that was not too badly fouled, would likely burn off the small amount of coolant in the combustion chamber after start up, and run fine; till the next time the engine sat long enough for a slow leak to bring more coolant into the combustion chamber. Due to the layout of the water passage openings in the head, this could affect cylinder #3, and not the others. This fix for this kind of problem is to remove the intake manifold, clean up the corrosion, add some sealant to both sides of a new gasket, and reinstall the manifold. But intermittent misfiring could also be an injector that had some crud on its inlet, or even on its outlet spray orifice. Sorry that I dont have a solid answer. I am currently fixing up a 96 LX Escort for a family friend. The car had a bad headgasket (low compression on cylinder #3 and #2), probably due to an earlier headgasket that failed and wasnt fixed for a long time - allowing some corrosion to erode the flat surface of the top of the block. The fix in this case involved pulling the engine out, taking the block to a machinist to have it 'decked', by milling off a few thousandths of an inch. If I hadnt done this step, I image the new headgasket would have failed in less than a year. The mechanic you went to might know all about this stuff - but he isnt getting paid to educate you about your own car. And he knows its not likely the owner of a 19 year old car will be willing to spend $1000-$2000 or more on rebuilding an engine; when the finished product will still only have a market value about $1000 or less. Im a hobbyist, and do all of my own repairs, except steps involving machine tool operations. I even rebuild my own automatic transmissions. I own four of these 2nd gen Escorts, have two others in the family, plus the one I am working on now. The parts to fix them up are not expensive, but if you have to pay a mechanic for his time - its not likely to be a likeable price.