93 Escort 1.9 Stalls when put into gear

[diesel-rig]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Our 93 Escort 1.9 automatic has been having problems for a while.

It will start and run good and you can drive it 10 miles, but when we go to shift gears, it stalls and is very difficult to get started. If you're able to get it started right away, it spits & sputters and dies out eventually. If you let it sit for an hour, it's ok to start and (go to start of paragraph).

It was put on diagnostics at the garage and they said there was plenty of spark, fuel pressure was good, no error codes came up. One O2 sensor showing out of calibration, but they didn't feel this should be causing any problems. Also that seemed like a costly thing to do if not totally necessary.

We've put a new starter, ignition switch, and fuel filter on and cleaned the air idle control.

The car sat all winter (West Michigan), and was started once a month or so, but not driven. Getting ready for our daughter to come home from college, we filled the tank and put dry-gas in it and have had these other problems with it stalling. Any ideas?

[Davescort97]

Originally Posted by diesel-rig

Long time lurker, first time poster. Our 93 Escort 1.9 automatic has been having problems for a while.

It will start and run good and you can drive it 10 miles, but when we go to shift gears, it stalls and is very difficult to get started. If you're able to get it started right away, it spits & sputters and dies out eventually. If you let it sit for an hour, it's ok to start and (go to start of paragraph).

It was put on diagnostics at the garage and they said there was plenty of spark, fuel pressure was good, no error codes came up. One O2 sensor showing out of calibration, but they didn't feel this should be causing any problems. Also that seemed like a costly thing to do if not totally necessary.

We've put a new starter, ignition switch, and fuel filter on and cleaned the air idle control.

The car sat all winter (West Michigan), and was started once a month or so, but not driven. Getting ready for our daughter to come home from college, we filled the tank and put dry-gas in it and have had these other problems with it stalling. Any ideas?

Do two things: 1. Put a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in a full tank of gas. 2. It sounds like to me the fuel cap isn't venting and after a while
a vacuum occurs in the fuel tank keeping any fuel from passing out of the pump. Loosen the gas cap so it can vent and try it this way. I feel that simple solutions should be tried first.

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by diesel-rig

Long time lurker, first time poster. Our 93 Escort 1.9 automatic has been having problems for a while.

It will start and run good and you can drive it 10 miles, but when we go to shift gears, it stalls and is very difficult to get started. If you're able to get it started right away, it spits & sputters and dies out eventually. If you let it sit for an hour, it's ok to start and (go to start of paragraph).

It was put on diagnostics at the garage and they said there was plenty of spark, fuel pressure was good, no error codes came up. One O2 sensor showing out of calibration, but they didn't feel this should be causing any problems. Also that seemed like a costly thing to do if not totally necessary.

We've put a new starter, ignition switch, and fuel filter on and cleaned the air idle control.

The car sat all winter (West Michigan), and was started once a month or so, but not driven. Getting ready for our daughter to come home from college, we filled the tank and put dry-gas in it and have had these other problems with it stalling. Any ideas?

o2 could cause a host of problems but are you sure something didnt climb into the air filter?

[diesel-rig]

The loose gas cap didn't work, we changed out the O2 sensor that was bad and the idle air control valve. Nothing in the air filter. Although it runs somewhat better, it still wants to stall when going from forward to reverse after it's warmed up. Thanks for all the suggestions...keep 'em comin'

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by diesel-rig

The loose gas cap didn't work, we changed out the O2 sensor that was bad and the idle air control valve. Nothing in the air filter. Although it runs somewhat better, it still wants to stall when going from forward to reverse after it's warmed up. Thanks for all the suggestions...keep 'em comin'

check with a tranny shop now most will give free estimates like cottman.com

[diesel-rig]

Originally Posted by chevyn0va1

check with a tranny shop now most will give free estimates like cottman.com

Thanks - one more thing to try before that - it appears the air flow is getting shutoff, so the mass air flow sensor is the next thing to get switched out. Soon enough, the daughter will have a new engine....piece by piece...haha