Need Help 95 1.9L Escort Wont Start

95 Escort LX 1.9L wont start,

questions I have
I turn the key on and the cooling fan @ the radiator turns on with the engine cold, is this normal?
It all started while I was on the freeway, everything was fine then all of a sudden the car started jerking, mis firing, then it would speed back up and start the jerking again until it finally died, I was able to start it a few time but it would Idle high like 3K-4K and bog if I goosed it, then died.
I took it home and noticed that the heater core was leaking, and thats where the PCM is at. NICe.
The thing is that I have disconnected the battery for 5 min and been able to restart it Intermittent, but when i did start it I would let it idle (again high 3k-4k ) for 15 min, but idling smooth. Now these last 2 days I have not been able to start it back up.
Battery is charging now and need some advice on where to start.
check engine light was coming on when the keys was put to on and now not comming on at all. Just cranks.
Is it possible the PCM has moisture in it shorting it out, I will recheck the spark today, but I was checking it and it looked weak, after 2 -3 cranks cold it started up. Wierd I did notice the fan comming onwhen the key is put to "ON", the fan does go off when I take the key all the way out.

Let me know I need my commuter. 109K
Any additional info let me know, I just bought the little cheap scanner to see if I can get any codes off of it,.
Any ideas
Thanks
Brice

Hi, welcome to the forum. To prevent any more coolant from leaking into the interior, you can bypass the heater core. In the engine compartment, you'll see the heater input hose and the output hose feeding through the firewall, so you can disconnect those and use a plumbing fitment to connect them directly to each other, back-to-back. That means you would no longer have heat of course, but it will stop the coolant leak.

Heater core replacement involves stripping out the dashboard, so it's a fairly big job. There's a step-by-step guide in this thread (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=206813), this is the Autozone guide (http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/13/da/24/0900823d8013da24/repairInfoPages.htm) to instrument panel removal, and there's an excellent photo on this page (http://www.c-digital.us/work.htm) which shows an early '90s Escort stripped down for heater core replacement - it lets you see the scale of what's involved.

Some more links from Autozone:

Heater core removal (http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/13/c4/77/0900823d8013c477.jsp)
Control cables removal (http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/65/7a/0900823d8015657a.jsp)
Control panel removal (http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/13/c4/bd/0900823d8013c4bd.jsp)

The PCM is responsible for activating the cooling fan when required, and it does that by grounding the low end of the relay coil of either the Low Speed Cooling Fan Relay, or the High Speed Cooling Fan Relay, depending on engine coolant temperature, or when the A/C system requires it. The fan shouldn't be switching on with the ignition on a cold engine though, so something is amiss there. Whoever wrote that step-by-step guide to heater core replacement which I linked to above, they said that the PCM is a sealed unit. I don't know how accurate that is, but if it really is a hermetically-sealed unit, then it would be worth taking a close look at its connector, to see if the pins are damp or showing signs of corrosion.

Regarding the failure to start, I'd guess that it's related to whatever is causing the cooling fan to switch on, and since that's a much easier circuit to work on, that's where I'd start. These are the wiring diagrams:

'95 1.9L Cooling fan wiring diagram part 1 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Escort/95-1-9L-cooling-fan-05.png)
'95 1.9L Cooling fan wiring diagram part 2 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Escort/95-1-9L-cooling-fan-06.png)

Let us know if you retrieved any codes, or if you have any new information.

The high idle problem is usually related to a bad IAC valve on top of the intake manifold.
Even if the check engine light went out, you may still be able to retrieve some codes from it with a code reader.
A code reader can also test all your sensors and solenoids. I think the cheap code readers are about $50 at the parts stores... cheaper for Ebay shoppers.
If the vehicle won't start now it could be related to a few things... I would first suspect a vacuum leak. Check all vacuum hoses for holes and use a pressure tester on the cylinders.

Thanks to all for the quick response, once again this forums has helped me out that to you.
the update is I have replaced the heater core, it was work but I need the heat, second I decided to take the PCM out and yes it was soaked with coolant, your reply just confirmed everything for me. yes the pcm was shorting out causing the fan to come on as soon as the key was put in the "on" position, then the fuel pump relay was not getting a ground fron the pcm, so I changed out the PCM, engine started right up. I did some quick checks just to make sure this was going to be it.
The thing now is that I recplaced it with a unit from the junk yard, the place said they had 4-5 five and there are 2-3 pcm 's that would work for my car. So to try this unit which is not the P/N but could work, return if it didn't for another one. The engine runs perfect, but the tranny is sluggish on the low end and will not go into overdrive. The box says 95 escort but it could be for a 1.8L and I think these had a different tranny. My tranny is a 4AET, I checked the oil and everything is at its level, Am I on the right track, is this a symtom of the PCM not being the correct one .or should I look into the tranny. Before this no issues with tranny. So my guess is to try another.
Thanks
B

Congratulations on changing the heater core. You have more patience than I do. That's a big job!

You are on the right track... you likely have the wrong PCM for your car. Just make a note of the part number on the one you took out and shop around. There are plenty of Escorts out there to get parts from.

I had a quick look at the Ford service manual, and the 1.8 and 1.9 both appear to use the identical 4EAT, but when I look at the wiring diagrams for the transmission and the way it links into the PCM, the 1.8 and 1.9 are very different indeed, electrically-speaking, connecting to completely different pins on the PCM, so it would seem likely that you have the wrong PCM. I'm in the middle of repairing my washing machine so I can't break off just now, but when I've finished, later, I'll post the wiring diagrams so you can see for yourself what I mean.

Agreed... type of transmission is the only difference that I am aware of as well.

And these are the wiring diagrams for the transmission, both '95, with the first two being for the 1.8L and the last two being for the 1.9L. If you look at the PCM pin numbers, you'll see different pins performing the same function depending on model, for example on the 1.8L, PCM pins 12, 25, 13, 26 control the solenoids, whilst on the 1.9L it's pins 11, 51, 52, 55. The vehicle speed sensor feeds into PCM pin 7 on the 1.8L, but that becomes pin 3 on the 1.9L. There will be other differences but they're just a few examples.

'95 1.8L PCM/Transmission connections - diagram 1 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Escort/95-1-8L-transaxle-pcm-01.png)
'95 1.8L PCM/Transmission connections - diagram 2 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Escort/95-1-8L-transaxle-pcm-02.png)

'95 1.9L PCM/Transmission connections - diagram 1 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Escort/95-1-9L-transaxle-pcm-01.png)
'95 1.9L PCM/Transmission connections - diagram 2 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Escort/95-1-9L-transaxle-pcm-02.png)

I have replaced the PCM on one of my vehicles and became quite familiar with the minor but important differences in the PCM numbers. A good junkyard would know EXACTLY what PCM number(s) will work in your car, BUT sometimes you need to have your PCM number first to be sure to get the right one. There may be four PCMs for that year, but only one or two numbers will work in it, which is my case. I researched this online to see if I could get a better deal than locally. This made me familiar with the PCM numbers that are used. The key numbers/digits are the first four and the last two of the 12 digit Ford part number, at least for my Taurii. So, the middle group of digits (6) are ignored as they are common to all PCMs. For example, mine is F44F-12A650-DA, so the part dealers would go by F44F-DA. They told me it was also compatible with the PCM F44F-FA. For mine, there were tons of PCMs for the other engine for my car, but just looking inside the PCM box, it was obvious they are different. I used "PCM" and my vehicle description on google to find used PCM dealers and also found them on ebay, but my best deal was about 40 minutes away where I had to pull it myself.

It is possible for PCMs that have the same top level part number and work in the same car, to still look different when you open them up. Its just means the OEM changed his circuit layout because they worked out a better way to do the job (usually with fewer IC's).

On the '94 Escort LX 1.9L the PCM is under the driver side seat. They stuck the airbag diagnostic module under the heater core.... and had the nerve to stick a non-serviceable thermal fuse in it which according to the spec sheet, has a finite lifetime. (so it will fail with time, not just temperature) The '94 and '95 are virtually identical as far as I know; especially since my '94 was manufactured during the 4th quarter of '94.

Yes it is normal for the computer, on occassion, to activate the fan for the first minute or so immediately after cold start. Shouldn't happen everytime though; should be relatively rare.

How many miles are on the car?