Chris Bowne

My otherwise fine running 94 Escort 1.9L 5 speed at 132K miles has
developed a habit of aburptly stumbling into a stall while idling for more
than a couple of miuutes. It will always start right up again, and idle
fine for a few more minutes until the stumble comes back again. Sometimes
if I'm fast enough to blip the throttle in time, I can catch it and prevent
the stall.

Otherwise the car runs strong, accelerates without any hesitation, and will
return to a normal idle from running at speed. But after a couple of
minutes, that stumble comes back....

I suspect an intermittent vacuum leak somewhere...the vacuum hose elbow for
the PCV valve intake manifold connection appears somewhat collapsed, and it
was kind of loose on the manifold nipple connection. I tried to tighten it
up with a small hose clamp but am still getting the periodic stall. I do
know that pullng the PCV hose off the intake manifold nipple will
immediately stop the engine cold.

Any suggestions as where to go next.? BTW, no check engine light or codes
being thrown as part of this.

Chris Bowne
Stonington, CT
94 Escort LX 1.9 132K
98 Volvo V70XC 115K

Backyard Mechanic

"Chris Bowne" <radiobwn@riconnect.com> wrote:

> My otherwise fine running 94 Escort 1.9L 5 speed at 132K miles has
> developed a habit of aburptly stumbling into a stall while idling for
> more than a couple of miuutes. It will always start right up again,
> and idle fine for a few more minutes until the stumble comes back
> again. Sometimes if I'm fast enough to blip the throttle in time, I
> can catch it and prevent the stall.
>
> Otherwise the car runs strong, accelerates without any hesitation, and
> will return to a normal idle from running at speed. But after a
> couple of minutes, that stumble comes back....
>
> I suspect an intermittent vacuum leak somewhere...the vacuum hose
> elbow for the PCV valve intake manifold connection appears somewhat
> collapsed, and it was kind of loose on the manifold nipple
> connection. I tried to tighten it up with a small hose clamp but am
> still getting the periodic stall. I do know that pullng the PCV hose
> off the intake manifold nipple will immediately stop the engine cold.
>
> Any suggestions as where to go next.? BTW, no check engine light or
> codes being thrown as part of this.
>

PROBABLY {that's a disclaimer, folks}...
The famous and oft found Idle Control Valve sticking problem... you can
try to clean it, take it off first, but a more sure fix is to just
replace it. About 50 bucks.

OR maybe you are right and it's a vacuum leak...but SLIGHT leaks cause
engine to idle higher than usual, not die.

Dont kludge vacuum line fixes, either... if it's an elbow or a nipple,
the local hardware store should have a brass replacement.

Tape it or otherwise lay on a temporary fix, then loan the car out - or
have wifey drive it - and SURE ENOUGH, the thing's going to give out at
the least convenient time... possibly resulting in a 100 dollar towbill
in order to save buying a 2 dollar part.

If there's an intermittent vacuum line leak, they can usually be found in
the driveway, hood up, engine running, apply light digital force to
same!





--
Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

Chris Bowne

Thanks for the info - I'll look into the ICV as a possible source!

"Backyard Mechanic" <pettyfog@yaywho.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9749E4F98F1ABpettyfogery@207.115.17.102...
> "Chris Bowne" <radiobwn@riconnect.com> wrote:
>
> > My otherwise fine running 94 Escort 1.9L 5 speed at 132K miles has
> > developed a habit of aburptly stumbling into a stall while idling for
> > more than a couple of miuutes. It will always start right up again,
> > and idle fine for a few more minutes until the stumble comes back
> > again. Sometimes if I'm fast enough to blip the throttle in time, I
> > can catch it and prevent the stall.
> >
> > Otherwise the car runs strong, accelerates without any hesitation, and
> > will return to a normal idle from running at speed. But after a
> > couple of minutes, that stumble comes back....
> >
> > I suspect an intermittent vacuum leak somewhere...the vacuum hose
> > elbow for the PCV valve intake manifold connection appears somewhat
> > collapsed, and it was kind of loose on the manifold nipple
> > connection. I tried to tighten it up with a small hose clamp but am
> > still getting the periodic stall. I do know that pullng the PCV hose
> > off the intake manifold nipple will immediately stop the engine cold.
> >
> > Any suggestions as where to go next.? BTW, no check engine light or
> > codes being thrown as part of this.
> >
>
> PROBABLY {that's a disclaimer, folks}...
> The famous and oft found Idle Control Valve sticking problem... you can
> try to clean it, take it off first, but a more sure fix is to just
> replace it. About 50 bucks.
>
> OR maybe you are right and it's a vacuum leak...but SLIGHT leaks cause
> engine to idle higher than usual, not die.
>
> Dont kludge vacuum line fixes, either... if it's an elbow or a nipple,
> the local hardware store should have a brass replacement.
>
> Tape it or otherwise lay on a temporary fix, then loan the car out - or
> have wifey drive it - and SURE ENOUGH, the thing's going to give out at
> the least convenient time... possibly resulting in a 100 dollar towbill
> in order to save buying a 2 dollar part.
>
> If there's an intermittent vacuum line leak, they can usually be found in
> the driveway, hood up, engine running, apply light digital force to
> same!
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
> you pay..DEAL with it!

scott21230@gmail.com

With that many miles, most likely it has more than one vacuum leak.
Get a MityVac and check everything you can with it. And clean the MAF,
and IAC.