1995 Ford Escort LX 1.9 Acceleration problem

When I am sitting at a light or stop sign and go to pull out quick my engine putts. Once I am going it is fine even at highway speeds, I have no problem hitting passing gear, it is only when i go to pull out, or if the car is in park and I rev the engine it cuts out a little. I chaned the plugs and wires,pcv valve,air filter and fuel filter and it still does it. can someone help me? Thanks!

Your idle speed may need to be adjusted. That depends on your type of car though.
You also may have a vacuum leak. Check the hoses at the top of the intake manifold for cracks or tears. Listen carefully for a hissing sound coming anywahere from the air intake area.... manifold gasket, idle control valve, hoses...

Thanks I will check that. I thought I heard a hissing sound when I reved the engine.

I just went throught this problem with my 95 escort. It turned out to be the MAF sensor - Mass Air Flow sensor - Its about $99 bucks at autozone or discount auto parts.. There is a defect in the part from what I understand but Ford will not put it on the recall list. It takes less than 5 minutes to install. You can always bring it back if it doesn't work. I bought mine from autozone and they let you return that part, always ask though... I couldn't believe that this stupid sensor was causing my acceleration problem and general running problems... Most people/mechanics do not no about this problem and it usually it cost most people hundreds upon hundreds of dollars and still they never get there car fixed right... It took me a month of digging around until I finally found the info I was looking for. Saved me a ton of cash..

Good luck!

I just replaced the MAF Sensor yesterday it is still doing it. I was told it might be the Idle Air Control Valve, where is that located on a 1995 escort 1.9. When the car is cold and I start it the RPM is bewteen 1100 and 1500, once it warms up it drops to 750, when I put the car in gear the rpms drop bewteen 350 and 500. Will the Idle Air Control Valve do this?

The IAC is on top of the intake manifold, where the large hose from the air filter connects to the manifold (basically, right on top of the throttle body). The part is pretty cheap and can be replaced in 5 minutes. Be sure to replace the gasket as well.
If you are experienceing high RPM's right when the engine starts up, the IAC is likely to blame. This could possibly be where the air leak was that was causing your acceleration problem. It still sounds like a vacuum leak that is causing that.

I just replaced the IAC Valvel today it is still having the same problem, check for vaccum leaks there are none. Check plugs and wires they look good, the last thing I can think of is changing the Throttle Postion Sensor. If this doesen't work I don't know then. I have changed everything I could, Fuel Filter,pcv valve,MAF sensor,air temp. sensor,plugs wires, Iac Valve. There are no warning lights on in the car either.

Also I had the timing belt change in december 2003, And had that checked also and it was good.

Still sounds like a vacuum problem to me. Your engien is likely sucking in air from somewhere. However... it might be possible that you have a bad head gasket... to a compression test and see what's going on inside.

I am having a similar problem only worse. My Escort is a 95 w/ 1.9 and when I start it the idle shoots to 3500 rpm's and it gradually reduces itself until it finally rests where it is suppose to, it takes about 2 minutes or so to settle. My check engine light is on. I have replaced all of the popular parts to no avail. There are no vacume leaks. Also no head gasket problems. I have heard that the egr vacume regulator and the evr solenoid might be responsible. I also cannot pull the codes off of this car I have tried three different ways to get codes with no success. Have any of you guys heard about these parts?

You resurrected a 6 year old thread. It is sometimes best to just start a new one with your own symptoms.
Anyway... you say you changed the popular parts. You will have to say what those parts are.

Your description sounds like the Idle Air Control valve.... you have checked that?

Yes I changed the iac. Here are the following parts: map, tps, the sensor in the air box, (I forget what it is called) fuel pump, there is a sensor along the firewall with one vacume line running to it that was changed with a flat top, and I changed the coolant temperature sensor. I was thinking about changing the fuel pressure regulator, but I really wanted to know what the other sensors are evr solenoid and the egr vacume regulator. Any help here is greatly appreciated.

Do you get any communication at all from the ECU when you try to pull the codes? I had a similar issue with my '88 Pony several years back where the idle speed would go to about 2-3K rpm's and wouldn't settle back down until the engine was shut off and restarted. My problem was a bad ECU and if I remember correctly I couldn't get the ECU to read out any codes either. Another thing to check prior to changing the ECU is the PCV hose, there's a rubber elbow in it and it's very common for it to split causing a vacuum leak. If you're sucking raw air the ECU will richen up the a/f ratio causing a high idle speed.

Thanks for the input. No I dont get any type of response at all. Every time that I shut mine off hot or cold it always revs to 3500 rpm's and over a period of 2 minutes or so it settles at or around 500/750. The car actually would die when I would give it gas and then I tried a tps sensor and that has seemed to cure that problem. Now the only problem that I have left is the high idle at initial startup. Today I am going to try and change the egr valve and the egr solenoid and or the egr vacume regulator, then the fuel pressure regulator because it is vacume related. If none of that works I will try the ECU. On ford ecu,s do you just change the prom chip and install or do the need to go to the dealer to be changed? Anymore input here is greatly appreciated.

You are changing a lot of parts... slow down and think things through.
If you aren't able to read your engine code then you might want to tune into the comment above. Those symptoms sound like a good match.
A code reader should be able to test the sensors on the car too... lots of information available to you without changing all the parts.

Thanks for the input. No I dont get any type of response at all. Every time that I shut mine off hot or cold it always revs to 3500 rpm's and over a period of 2 minutes or so it settles at or around 500/750. The car actually would die when I would give it gas and then I tried a tps sensor and that has seemed to cure that problem. Now the only problem that I have left is the high idle at initial startup. Today I am going to try and change the egr valve and the egr solenoid and or the egr vacume regulator, then the fuel pressure regulator because it is vacume related. If none of that works I will try the ECU. On ford ecu,s do you just change the prom chip and install or do the need to go to the dealer to be changed? Anymore input here is greatly appreciated.


When I changed the ECU in my '88 Pony I just bought a used one from a salvage yard and changed out the whole ECU. It's plug and play. The ECU on your '95 is located behind the passenger side kick panel of the console up near the firewall. (much easier to get to than where it is on my '88) The plug bolts in and if I remember right the ECU just slides into the ECU bracket without any fasteners. Another thing that makes me think it may be the ECU is the fact that it revs high at start up like the ECU is losing it's memory just like when you disconnect the battery and restart it, it will idle at a high RPM for a couple minutes while it begins to relearn the engine parameters. There are also a couple numbers or letters on the ECU that is supposed to match your old ECU, but I don't remember which ones they are. I'm thinking it was the last two letters in the part number, but I'm not sure. Maybe someone else can help you with that.

Actually I am thinking things through. As I said before I am unable to pull the codes off of this car. Even a code reader will not pull the codes nor can you pull codes by using a paper clip the system is non responsive. I have viewed evryones comments on the subject of this car. So far I have tried them all with the exception of the ecu which is next on the agenda.

Please let us know how it works out.

Hey fordman59 My escort turned out to be the same problem. ***ECU*** !!!
Thank the Lord that the hunt is over. I should have known. Anytime that your onboard computer wont connect with a code reader you should automatically assume that is where your problem starts. Either that or change the test wire harness on your car first. I started to do just that but I moved the wires around quite a bit when I was trying to pull the codes with a code reader but nothing ever changed. Anyhow all of the parts that I changed I had easy access to, so I guess I will have fun taking all of that stuff back where I got it. I hope this info helps someone down the road.

Just remember that this was a high idle problem only for the first two minutes or so , because this car would settle down and drive perfectly after that. It just goes to show that your car can still run great even with a messed up ecu. Thanks for all of the input everyone!!!

Look for any residue in the area around and on the ECU. If some is present, that might be an indication that it's getting wet. If has gotten wet, that would most likely point to the heater core.

Interesting story FordMan59, MDJR. FordMan, unlike MDJR, I assume you never got a check engine light correct ? The ECU just refused to communicate...

Look for any residue in the area around and on the ECU. If some is present, that might be an indication that it's getting wet. If has gotten wet, that would most likely point to the heater core.

Interesting story FordMan59, MDJR. FordMan, unlike MDJR, I assume you never got a check engine light correct ? The ECU just refused to communicate...

No check engine light and no communication from the ECU when trying to pull codes.

Hey fordman59 My escort turned out to be the same problem. ***ECU*** !!!
Thank the Lord that the hunt is over. I should have known. Anytime that your onboard computer wont connect with a code reader you should automatically assume that is where your problem starts. Either that or change the test wire harness on your car first. I started to do just that but I moved the wires around quite a bit when I was trying to pull the codes with a code reader but nothing ever changed. Anyhow all of the parts that I changed I had easy access to, so I guess I will have fun taking all of that stuff back where I got it. I hope this info helps someone down the road.

Just remember that this was a high idle problem only for the first two minutes or so , because this car would settle down and drive perfectly after that. It just goes to show that your car can still run great even with a messed up ecu. Thanks for all of the input everyone!!!

Glad you got the problem taken care of. Where your car would idle high at start up I could be driving down the road and mine would suddenly start accelerating, but when I shut it off and restarted it everything was OK. Maybe we should call this "Toyota Syndrome". Personally I have thought ever since Toyota started having uncontolled acceleration that it was an electrical issue with their cars. I guess time will tell.

This thread is 6 years old. OP probably long gone.

MDJR revived the thread a few days ago to ask a question about a current problem.