1995 Escort - Rough at speed

Hi, I just picked up a 1995 Escort 1.6 yesterday for commuting to work. Test drove just fine, but on the way home (once we hit highway speed) I noticed that it felt a little rough at speed. If I accelerate hard, it smooths off, but takes a second or so to respond. If I simply cruise at say 70mph, it gives a feeling similar to an out of balance tyre - which I very much doubt is the problem.

It also has a habit of dropping revs when I brake for lights, so that when I pull up it is sitting around 700rpm - as soon as I get off the brake pedal it comes back up to a very even 1000 rpm.

Keen to know what steps those of you with Escorts believe would be a good starting point to take?

I have trawled the net today, and noticed a few people talking about resetting the ECU as it is a learning type - what is the normal procedure involved in doing this? Do I need to go through any special process after reconnecting to ensure everything goes as it should?

Diagnosis codes - how do I go about getting diagnosis codes from the ECU? Is this something I can do without specialised equipment (other than what the car comes with, and / or a laptop)?

Thanks in advance!!

Hi, I just picked up a 1995 Escort 1.6 yesterday for commuting to work. Test drove just fine, but on the way home (once we hit highway speed) I noticed that it felt a little rough at speed. If I accelerate hard, it smooths off, but takes a second or so to respond. If I simply cruise at say 70mph, it gives a feeling similar to an out of balance tyre - which I very much doubt is the problem.

It also has a habit of dropping revs when I brake for lights, so that when I pull up it is sitting around 700rpm - as soon as I get off the brake pedal it comes back up to a very even 1000 rpm.

Keen to know what steps those of you with Escorts believe would be a good starting point to take?

I have trawled the net today, and noticed a few people talking about resetting the ECU as it is a learning type - what is the normal procedure involved in doing this? Do I need to go through any special process after reconnecting to ensure everything goes as it should?

Diagnosis codes - how do I go about getting diagnosis codes from the ECU? Is this something I can do without specialised equipment (other than what the car comes with, and / or a laptop)?

Thanks in advance!!
Id start simple tune it up sounds like the plug wires need atttention. as far as resetting the computer you only need to disconnect the battery for about 5 minutes.

:iagree: Just unhook the battery while you do some tune-up work under the hood. Replace plug wires with 9mm wires ($15), plugs with whatever you like (Not Bosch +4's!!!), check voer the old plugs for anything other than normal wear (oil, water, chipped electrode, etc.), check belt tension(s), oil change (esp. since you just bought it), coolant change (cause you just bought it). There's more I'm not thinking of, but do ALL the little stuff now, just trust us. Do all this with the battery unhooked, then re-hook it, and you should be good to go. Let us know!

-Lee-