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Question: 1997 Ford Escort mileage: 52,000.  I've been searching the Internet for a couple of months now in the hope of finding a solution to a problem I'm having with my car with no success. The car concerned is a 1997 Ford Escort 1.6LX 16v Zetec, which I have had from new and has only 52,000 miles. The problem occurs only on "first" starts on cold and/or wet mornings and is as follows: The engine always fires up without fuss and initially it runs perfectly at idle. The tick-over is slightly faster than on subsequent "warm" starts, so the auto choke is definitely "coming on". There is no sign of any misfire at this stage. The car pulls away and drives okay at first. But when I bring it to a halt, at a road junction just a quarter of a mile along the road from my home, the engine either cuts out immediately I dip the clutch or it begins to misfire and then it dies. If I get through the junction without having to stop the car, there's a period when the misfire causes reduced power and rough running, but this lasts only a very short distance before returning to normal running. When the engine does cut out the restart is always instantaneous and driving carries on perfectly normally from then on with the tick-over slightly increased, indicating that the auto choke is still (back?) on. I have replaced the plugs and the HT leads without any change in the situation and I've almost convinced myself that the problem is caused by the auto choke cutting out too soon. But that wouldn't cause the misfire would it? Or is it the misfire that's causing the problem in the first place? I've had the car in three repair shops, with the express intention of getting this fault cured. And, although all have been aware of this problem's existence ("it's a common Ford Escort trait", I've been told on a couple of occasions), nevertheless no one has yet been able to effect a cure. It recently passed its MOT with flying colors so the catalytic converter must be doing its job okay by the way. The car is perfectly adequate in all other aspects, including performance and mpg, the average being around 40 mpg from being new to the present time. I would be most grateful to hear what you think the problem is being caused by and just as importantly what I can do to cure it.

Answer: In your questions, you did not indicate whether there was a scan for trouble codes. This is where we would have started. If no trouble codes are present, you may possibly have a faulty ECM .

Question: 1996 Ford Escort mileage: 36,500. MOT failure on emissions it's running at 10.30. Pre-MOT service end of May 00, no problems. The garage suggested several possible problems starting with Oxygen sensor the cost of repair $100. My problem is that he does not know if this is the problem, and that I will have to keep on paying for every fault finding repair even if that's not the one! Can you help with diagnosis and the best way forward? PLEASE.

Answer: It is possible that the oxygen sensor is faulty. The sure fire way of finding out is to scan the computer for fault codes which will pinpoint the malfunctioning component.

Question: 1999 Ford Escort mileage: 69,000. I was told I had to change the timing belt by my mechanic. The book says no on the 1.9 engine, who do I believe in?

Answer: It is a mileage as well as a time factor when to change the timing belt. Under the circumstances, your car being a 1999, your mechanic is right. Timing belts get old and thus become brittle and prone to crack.

Question: 1996 Ford Escort mileage: 96,000. The brake pedal has an extreme amount of travel before engaging the brakes (almost to the floor). I have replaced one leaking rear brake cylinder, master cylinder and bled the brake system. The rear brake shoes and front pads were worn, so they were also replaced. The push rod to the booster is adjusted to its limit.

Answer: Check the self-adjusters on the rear brakes. Check to see that the master cylinder push rod is adjusted correctly, bleed the brakes again, and check for air bubbles.

Question: 1992 Ford Escort.  I have tried all of the things that you recommended before requesting your help. The master cylinder push rod is adjusted o the last couple of threads. I bench bled the new master cylinder and bled the system after installing it. In the past on other cars, adjusting the rear brakes or bleeding has brought the pedal up. My neighbor indicated that the dealership could not make it any better either. This is why I am so confused. I thought the car was a 1992 because the door sticker had 10/91 as the manufacture date. I thought the model year ended in August. I asked the parts store for a master cylinder for a '92 and it was very different from the one in the car. The '91 matched. This why I am questioning whether the Ford assembly line may have mixed brake linkage parts from the two model years creating this problem. Are there any specs on pedal travel, push rod length, distance from firewall to fulcrum of brake pedal arm, etc.? Any thoughts?

Answer: You may have the push rod to the master cylinder adjusted improperly. When the pedal is up, the push rod to the master cylinder should be slightly away from the master cylinder itself. Do not confuse this with the linkage to the power brake booster. When the brakes are released, the master cylinder must be allowed to fully return in order to open the ports to the brake fluid reservoir.

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Question: 1998 Ford Escort mileage: 75,000.  Lately I have been having some problems with my car and I was hoping that you could give me some advice on what the cause of the problem might be? I have two questions/problems: 1.) For about 2 1/2 months now I have been having problems with (I think) my engine. My car starts fine it just seems to shutter when I come to a stop at a traffic light or stop sign. At first, the shuttering was barely noticeable but recently it seems to have gotten worse! Just today, on my way to school, it "died" on me (or whatever the technical term for it turning off by itself is) twice while I was stopped at a red light. It doesn't always "die" on me at every red light, but I can feel it wanting to! I found that if I put my car into <NEUTRAL> after I came to a complete stop that the shuttering wouldn't be as bad. Do you have any idea what could be causing this to happen? 2.) My second problem it somewhat related to the first one. I have no idea why it seems to being doing this but whenever I get my car up to around 50 MPH, it starts to "hop"! (I think its just shuttering but since I, moving it feels like it's hopping). The weird thing is that it only seems to do it at around 50 MPH! I'll notice that it starts "hopping" and I give it a little more gas and once I start to get close to 55 MPH the hopping will stop (or at least I won't be hopping enough so that I can feel it)! The first thing that came to my mind when that started happening was that I maybe needed new tires. Well, I got my car inspected in early December and I was told that I needed new brakes and tires! So I bought the brake pads myself and my dad and I put new brake pads on and I then took it to get new tires and I got the alignment fixed (which it wasn't that bad in the first place). In addition, even after I had all that stuff done my car still shutters when I come to a stop and "hops" when I reach about 50 MPH! Could you please help me out and possibly tell me what is wrong with my car? I would be greatly appreciative if you could give me any advice you might have! Being a college student and all, I was hoping to cut whatever it will cost to fix my car as much as possible. Thank you very much for your time.

Answer: Your car has a lock-up torque converter in the transmission. It locks-up only in high gear. It is supposed to disengage at lower speeds. Yours is not disengaging. There is probably a valve in the transmission hanging up. Having the transmission serviced with new fluid may help the problem. Next step, the valve body will have to be removed and cleaned paying special attention to the TCC solenoid. The TCC solenoid may have to be replaced.

Question: 1999 Ford Escort mileage: 100,000.  I recently inquired about my car, which was very hard to start. I had an electronic diagnostic test done, which indicated a timing problem. I retimed it and it will start a little better now, but I noticed that when it is idling, if I turn on too many electrical components at one time, such as the heater and the rear defroster, the idle will first go way up, then way down and usually dies at that point. If I don't turn too many things on at once, no problem. Is this something to do with my alternator?

Answer: From what you tell us, it sounds like you may be having trouble with your charging system. Have your battery load tested and replace the alternator. In addition, check ground wires and cables for proper connection.

Question: 2002 Ford Escort mileage: 20,000.  While traveling down the road and without any warning, my car lost power and died. The car is in general good repair, although it was due for a tune-up and oil change. After recovering my car, I tried to turn it over with no luck. Almost seemed like no compression. I pulled the distributor cap and tried starting it again to see if the timing belt was broke. The rotor turned. I pulled the oil filler cap off of the valve cover and tried starting again and this time could see the cam turn, so I ruled out a broken timing belt. There was no loud noise/explosion when the car died and no oil in the coolant and vice versa so I ruled out head/head gasket problems. I jumped the fuel pump via the Data Link Connector (DLC) and it started. Just for back-up, I pulled the air induction, shot ether in the intake, and tried to start. Still no luck. Having had similar experiences with other Fords, I deduced that it must be the Ignition Control Module. I went ahead and replaced this item (at a hefty price I might add) and tried to start. You guessed it, nothing. I checked for spark via the first plug wire and nothing, so I then checked for spark directly from the coil, nothing. I am beginning to think that it is the coil. However, before I try another expensive shot in the dark remedy, I was curious what you thought. In addition, can I purchase a portable unit to scan the car via the DLC? If so where? (Also, I subsequently replaced the cap and rotor during all this testing.)

Answer: The EEC relay that powers the computer is probably faulty. Replacing it should cure your problem. Your can purchase a portable scanners.

Question: 1999 Ford Escort mileage: 95,000.  I am an ex GM mechanic, is there anyway to read and clear fault codes on this vehicle without a scanner?

Answer: A scanner is necessary in order to read and clear the codes on late model Fords.

Question: 1998 Ford Escort mileage: 120,000.  The battery light suddenly came on and a DVM reading on the battery showed 13.5V not running and slowly drops to 12.3V when the engine is running. I believe the alternator is not charging. However, before I buy a rebuilt alternator could it be something else?

Answer: Before you buy another alternator, check present alternator for voltage and amperage output. In addition, load test the battery.

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