1995 Ford Escort Car accelerates by itself

Tiny
BHARVEY11
  • MEMBER
  • 1995 FORD ESCORT
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 60,000 MILES
I have a 1995 Ford escort. The probelm started with the transmission. It would not down shift into low gear automatically. If you shifted the selector into low to start out, and manually shifted into drive after moving it would shift fine. I changed transmission fliud and filter and drove the car shifting it manually. Within a few days the car also started accelerating by itself. It will randomly accelerate to 4500 rpms and stay there. It will do this in drive or park with the engine hot or cold. It appears randomly. After it starts doing it, it will not stop until the car sits for a few days, or the battery is unhooked. If the car is in park and is accelerating to 4500 rpms, you can unplug the IAC valve and it will stop. Plug it back in and it immediatley accelerates to 4500 rpms again. I replaced the IAC valve and the throttle position sensor. Neither fixed the problem. The check engine light does work but has not come on since this started.
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 AT 12:17 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi bharvey11,

Thank you for the donation.

Did you try to retrieve for trouble codes?

Symptom seems to indicate a possible fault with the PCM. When the battery is disconneted, it means resetting the PCM and it would work.

Get a free scan done at Autozone to retrieve for trouble codes and let me know the exact if any found.
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 AT 1:26 PM
Tiny
BHARVEY11
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Will the car store codes even if the Check Engine Light never came on? The nearest garage/auto parts store that can scan for codes is 25 minutes from my house, too far to run the car in its current condition. The problem occurs suddenly and frequently. Also, the battery has been out of the car. I am assuming that cleared any codes. Is there anything else you can think of that could cause these symptoms? If not, I will tow the car to a garge and have them scan for codes.
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 AT 1:45 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
What is your engine type? 1.8 or 1.9 L?

Code retrieval can be done with the aid of an analog voltmeter or even the MIL. Let me know the model and I will get the procedures for you.
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Friday, July 16th, 2010 AT 8:22 AM
Tiny
BHARVEY11
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
1.9L, that would be a big help. Thanks.
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Friday, July 16th, 2010 AT 8:37 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
I have emailed the files to you, let me know if they are helpful.

Any correspondence kindly post reply here so I don't have to go searching for the post and we have a history of correspondence here.
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Friday, July 16th, 2010 AT 9:06 AM
Tiny
BHARVEY11
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Thank you for the files.

I am using the reply to question button at the bottom of the page. Is there some other way I should be replying?
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Friday, July 16th, 2010 AT 9:48 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
That is correct. When I send files, some members tends to reply to my email and I don't have any history to fall back on.

I sometimes don't know where to search for the question as the reply time has lapsed considerably.
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Friday, July 16th, 2010 AT 10:31 AM

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