Questions and Answers

Escort Won't Idle Q. I have a 1990 Ford Escort GT L 1.9 liter, 120,000 miles. It starts but will not idle at all. So I checked and replaced plugs and also replaced the Vane Air Meter. The replaced meter did not fix the problem but I noticed that I could manipulate flap inside the Vane Meter too get the engine to idle.

I also found that when the Vane Air Meter was disconnected the Check Engine light would stay on but engine idle was near perfect without it. Why?

Thank you for your time.
Damon

A. When you unplug the Air Flow Meter (AFM) you turn on the Check Engine light and set a code in the computer. With this PCM it will resort to a set of stored values to continue, somewhat, normal engine operation.

With this problem I would have gone for the idle air by-pass valve. First I would give it a good cleaning and then check for proper operation. 8 times out of 10 the cleaning is enough to restore normal idle.

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