96 escort wagon no power

My wagon has a 1.9 auto and it sometimes has a fit has no very little power. When this happens my fuel milage goes way down and my transmission shifts very hard. Esp from first to second. Does anyone have any ideas on this. Sometimes it runs fine...tranny shifts fine too. Other times...it just has not power. It does not miss and I can drive it but it takes forever to get it up to cruising speed on the hwy. Any help would be great.
Rob

I'm having similar problems with a 96 1.9L wagon. The problem was worse with the a/c on. I checked and then changed the EGR valve and that helped. It was sticking. You might look at that.

However, mine still takes awhile to get up to speed and runs rough. If you crack the throttle open to about 1100rpm, it sputters constantly. I suspect dirty injectors are causing this as I can here them fire, using the screwdriver stethoscope method, but one is not firing as loud as the rest.

I'm curious to see what you come up with.

Bill

I was thinking EGR valve too but I believe it is supposed to be open when accelerating. This might be something as simple a a fuel filter. Next time it does this try removing the gas cap. See if there is a vacuum there. A clogged fuel tank vent can create a vacuum and starve the engine for fuel. :2cents:

I've run into excess pressure at the fuel cap but not vacuum. Where's the vent?

It vents through the charcoal cannister in the engine compartment. Pressure could be a sign of a clogged vent too.

There is no pressure or vaccum at the gas cap that I remember. Maybe a little but not much. It has a new fuel filter on it I'm pretty sure. I will check on that. Maybe the EGR could be the problem. I will have to look at it and see where the egr is at on it. Would any of this make my tranny shift hard when this is happening? It is very strange.
Rob

I'd guess the tranny is another problem.

If it's like mine, the EGR is located on the rear of the intake/plenum. It's near the throttle body.

I pulled and plugged the vacuum line off mine and the bulk of the problems went away. Then pulled the valve off and found it full of carbon. Cleaning it didn't seem to help the way it actuated. FYI, it's $60 part at NAPA.

Re: charcoal canister, roger that.

Bill

OK.

Looking at the evap emissions system, I find the canister and the canister purge solenoid. The solenoid makes a clicking sounds when the throttle is cracked open. Is this normal?

I will try to check out that egr tonight when I get home. So if I plug the vac line it might kind of tell me if that is the prob or not? I have no check light by way either. I forgot to tell you that.
Rob

I had a simular problem and I had to replace the throttle position sensor. Not quite sure how that happened but it worked.

There was no check engine light on mine either. I was just going on experience and the symptoms. I was getting hesitation, rough running and poor performance. I had a Ford mechanic describe the EGR symptom like a horse bucking while under load.

If you plug the vac line and the engine smooths out you know there is a problem with the EGR. In my case it would open, but not in a nice easy motion. I took it off and using my mouth, inhaled on the vacuum connector. It would pop vs moving slowly. This tells me it was probably sticking when closing too. I tested the new one the same way and it opened slowly, but consistently. The idle is better and there is no hesitation/dead spot like before.

It still doesn't have the power it should though.

I am messing with my Racecort as we all call it and I plugged off the vac line to the EGR valve but it really makes no difference. Bad thing is...this is one of it's good days and it has been running perfect all day for me. The weather here cooled off about 30 degrees overnight so I don't know if it has something to do with it being reall hot out or what. We have had temps over 100 for several weeks until today and it is 78 out. Anyway, my wife is picking up a fuel filter just in case that might be it. I tried to take the throttle position sensor off and I was going to try to test it with my ohm meter but I can't get the philips screw out of it so I gave up. With the car off (of course) I unpluged the egr vac line and plugged a new on on and sucked on it and I can hear it moving and sort of makes a pop sound. It will hold vac to it also. It amost always idles fine but it is accelorating and going down the hwy when you notice the fits it has. Sometimes it will sort of buck a bit going up a hill with the a/c on. BUT only when it is having a bad day. It has been having a lot of them lately. Any other ideas. I will put the fuel filter on when my wife gets home in a few. Maybe that will help it. I hate to put much more $$'s in it because I'm selling to my bro in law. I want to know it is running ok though so he don't have trouble with it. I bought a Malibu. I will probably regret it after looking at some of the posts there.
Rob

Dude Ive heard that people have had that same problem and it turned out to be there feul pump.

Oh man I hope it is not the fuel pump. That would cost me more than I paid for the car!
Rob

PS.. ran fine on the way to work again...and wifey forgot the filter last night.

Don't be too concerned. I changed mine to a cosworth model and it was not that hard to do. You dont kneed any special tools and you can do it in your driveway. The only down side is that some pumps are a bit expensive. However shop around you may find one at a good price.

I'm beginning to lean toward fuel pump too. :(

As for the TPS, I used a pair of vice grips to grab the screw head the first time I pulled mine.

Bill

Yeah, its one tough choice. I was out in my GT and it started to happen to it too, same symptoms. Lets us know how it goes.

With regard to the EGR vlave, when I tested mine, the diaphram would hold vacuum OK. But it would also collapse and not pull the valve open. When the diaphram collapsed, it would pop. FWIW.

Bill

I was having the same problem on a 95 Escort wagon with the 1.9 engine. On a cool day it would run just fine, but when the day got hot and the engine was under a load. Especially going up a hill with the air conditoner on, the engine would start missing out, buck and have no power. I took it into the dealer and he charged me $85 to just find out it was bad plug wires. I brought it home, put new autolite 8.5mm wires on it and it's run just fine ever since. Escorts are famous for having bad plug wires. You might replace yours. Not only did it cure the problem, it made my gas mileage go from 38 to 46. They're about 15 bucks a set and well worth the money.

Well, I replaced the purge solenoid a couple days ago and pulled the HO2 sensor yesterday and cleaned it with carb cleaner. The engine ran smooth through the whole power range today.

Well it has new wires and plugs in it. I have unplugged the egr valve and it seems to run fine. Of course...it is because I unpluged it or just because it decided to run fine the past few days. I don't know. I'm thinking it might be that egr valve now. I can't belive someone is getting 38 -45 mpg. I only get about 26-27. When it is running bad then it goes down to like 23-24. It is an auto...does that make the difference. Anyway I'm still not sure about the egr valve. It is $42 at O Riley's. The pipe going to it is so rusty I don't know if I can get it loose.
Rob

Thanks so much for all the help with my escort. I sold it this weekend now I have another junker to work on. I tried a GM this time. I might have made a mistake. I think my tranny is going out on the one I just bought.
Rob

i know this is a late reply, but i'm having similar problems with my 93 lx. no power at highway speeds. looking into bad/clogged catalytic converter as the culprit. at least that what i have been told might be the problem