1996 Ford Escort Wagon 1.9l

[stephj24]

When stopped at a light or in park, car idles very low and begins to shake and sputter. Also, when the car is in drive it makes a high pitched noise sounding like its coming from the front end. Any ideas?

[sport_scort]

u can adjust the ide by turn the little screw next to the idle wheel under then hood....good luck.

[stephj24]

Originally Posted by sport_scort

u can adjust the ide by turn the little screw next to the idle wheel under then hood....good luck.

Took it to my mechanic who said that the coil on the engine powering the cooling fan was bad and the reason I had the bad idle was because the cooling fan wasn't turning on when the engine got hot. I took it to the dealer to get fixed, and $450 dollars later its still doing the same thing. Ford dealership told me my spark plug wires had too much resistance, had them replaced and still the same problem. Check engine light still is on and the car idles very roughly when stopped or in park.

[KimMG]

Have you had the codes read? Autozone will read them for free. Post the problem codes.

[hytwr1]

How do you adjust the idle speed screw? Is it a hex head/allen on the bottom?

Bill

[AzTumbleweed]

Technically the idle is controlled by the Idle Air Control valve and is not adjustable. Recently my car was doing the same thing. I replaced to PCV valve and 02 sensor and it fixed it. I don't know which was causing it. Advice: Replace all of the "mechanics" that you mentioned.

[hytwr1]

That's what I thought. But you never know...

[fruitengine_hannah]

I don't know anything about cars but it's a common sense that hearing noises from your car's engine is not right... So I guess you better hire someone who knows how to fix your engines.. before it's too late. Otherwise you might be in danger...
_______________________________
Toronto escort service -"Giving you the best kind of service"

[denisond3]

If your Escort has the similar air inlet arrangement to my 92, there is a fat rubber duct running from the air filter housing to the throttle body on the intake manifold. If that rubber duct has an air leak, it will foul up your idle smoothness a lot. At faster speeds the sound you hear could be from a crack or slice in the duct that is letting air in.
The amount of air that the 'mass air flow sensor' by the air filters measures going past Really Needs to be the same amount of air getting to the intake manifold - with no extra air leaking in anywhere. So you might want to check that large diameter rubber tube for cracks, leaks, splits.
I already got an extra one, since I know it will fail someday, and the car is not driveable without that part.

[Davescort97]

Hey guys. Don't resurect a thread that is 2 years old. Start a new one.