Only this. My FIL had one of those detestable POS cars, with similar problems of hunting/surging when drive was engaged. It defied the local Ford dealer, who "diagnosed" various possible sensor problems, replaced parts, charged like wounded bulls, but never solved the problem. When the specialists in their own brand can't diagnose and fix a problem with one of their own models. In the meantime, the cheap plastic parts in the interior etc started falling apart, all 4 shocks needed to be replaced (at 40,000km of gentle around-town running), electric windows started failing, etc etc. Best thing that ever happened was that he accidentally drove it into a hole in the ground - and wrote it off. Cheap nasty cars IMO - at 16 years old, way overdue for the crusher.
mechnificent,
Feb 11, 9:19am
Lol.
I was really wondering if anyone thought Intrade was one hundred percent correct in post two.
or if those cars did in fact for some strange reason have both sensors.
But I agree that they are pieces of shit.
franc123,
Feb 11, 9:24am
Agree totally, as would Ford. They were built to a price and were never made to last this long, items like bumpers and door mirrors were made of what looked to be thick eggshell. The model in question was old when it was launched here and was about to be replaced with the Focus in Europe. Keeping them both hanging together and running properly was a challenge even when newish.
mm12345,
Feb 11, 9:28am
Not sure about Intrade's post. The fault in my FIL's one I don't think was a "normal" issue with MAF etc. It would idle perfectly fine in N. Put it in D, and it would surge at idle. It drove fine - subject to the limitation that they are gutless, flimsy, cheaply made, detestable POS.
franc123,
Feb 11, 10:47am
That (very rare in NZ) auto option on the Escorts was a CVT if I remember right, some of them died before 40k kms was up. Simply dreadful.
bjmh,
Feb 11, 7:40pm
I feel sorry for the owner of this unfortunate POS ,he has been a ford owner right from Prefect days. had a brilliant run with Cortinas,early Escorts etc . now in his retirement years he is stuck with this gem.When he told me they managed to put the fire out I choked and said yer well done.This particular model "Escort" detracts from everything the early ford stuff represented.
mechnificent,
Feb 11, 7:47pm
"Choked". Ha. I reckon. What was he thinkin !
intrade,
Feb 11, 8:40pm
Ok lets go back to analysing what we know now because the new information gives much more clues as to what might be the problem if it had the cable on fire that means it must have made a short from positive to negative i hope anyone agrees with that , if not let me know why not . The thing is if you have voltage drops and voltage spikes from stray current to ground you get allsorts of wierd things happen . And toyota or what ever other make your a fan off can do the exact same acting up wierd, i think the point that this car is a poo fighter is irrelevant , the fact that no one has found the issue before it started a fire is however relevant and no i dont try to blame anyone for this i just point out the relevent parts.
mechnificent,
Feb 11, 9:24pm
The fire might have been completely unrelated.
In my experience, when they idle ok in neutral and rough in gear it's often caused by the engine moving and causing an air leak.
Other things that can cause problems like that can be lean mixture or misfire. plugs set to the wrong gap can cause that without causeing a misfire under load.
When we try to figure out these things the first step after talking to the customer and trying to confirm the problem is to check all the standard service items are correct and there are no obvious split or disconnected hoses and we check the trouble codes.
If there are no codes, it can mean a mechanical fault, or an ecu fault or power supply problem.
bjmh,
Feb 11, 10:18pm
I was wondering if it had a broken earth cable and then it decided to earth thru the likes of the clutch cable or bonnet cable. I saw this years ago on a mazda 323 . the small earth strap snapped and it earthed thru the clutch cable and caught on fire under the dash.Would a small broken engine to chassis earth cause the escort to surge etc ?
mechnificent,
Jun 22, 5:52pm
Possibly if the engine flexed, and there was no other earth. but there will be some other earth almost inevitably. Otherwise the starter wouldn't work.
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