88 LX Starts then dies

[creyes1994]

Hello again,

Lately my 88 LX has developed a serious issue with the carburetor. When I drive the car around for a bit, the engine bogs down for a bit and then at that point, the only way to keep it running is to rapidly press the accelerator. When starting the vehicle, it will run for a second and then die. The issue is related to the carburetor for sure as the car runs slightly better with the carburetor from another 88 LX. The car will run for as long as I pump the accelerator but as soon as I release the pedal or if I just hold it down, it will just stall and die out.

[WmWatt]

If changing carburettors did not fix the problem perhaps it's somewhere else? Pumping the gas pedal makes it sound like fuel supply, fuel pressure. That could be the fuel pump. One way to check the pump is to disconnect the fuel line at the carburettor and crank the engine to see if fuel is coming out. People hold a container under the end of the hose to catch any fuel. Amother sign of a leaking fuel pump is gasoline coming out of the seam at the pump. If it's the pump they are inexpensive ($40?)and easy to replace (2 bolts). Other fule line problems can be dirt in the filtre on the dirver's side of the firewall and dirt in the pickup in the fuel tank. Another problem can be the rubber hose at the fuel filter getting soft with age and collapsing.None of these is difficult or costly to fix. Good luck.

[creyes1994]

Changing the carburetor helped a little bit but it isn't perfect. The car will no longer run with the original carburetor so I have to use the one from the other 88. The fuel pump, fuel filter, spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor have been replaced. I'm not seeing anything that could suggest a vacuum leak. Yesterday I ran the car all afternoon in the driveway and it ran somewhat decent. I've been running it this morning but when I took it around the block, it started to die out. Now, it's parked back in the driveway but now it's surging really bad but still running on its own. Also, I did notice another post of an Aspire with a similar issue and they had recommended checking the vacuum booster as it could be disturbing the engine as well

[WmWatt]

There is a piece of fuel hose which can collapse. It's under the fuel filtre where the fuel line passes out of the engine compartment and disappears under the body. The hose gets old and tends to loose its shape when the fuel pump sucks fuel out of the tank. Another thing to check is a build up of sediment in the fuel tank. A hand held vacuum guage is pretty good at revealing ingition problems. I can quickly unplug the top vacuum line on the distributor and plug the guage in there. Misses show up as vibrations in the needle on the guage. You might want to mist the engine at idle (plant mister) to see if it bogs due to an undetected vacuum leak. You can also push on the hoses to make sure they are on tight and squeeze to check for cracks. Yet one more thing is to clean the EGR valve. Test the vavle by gently pushing up underneath to see if it is opening. To clean remove the two bolts hoding it on to the engine being carful not to knock any dirt into the engine and spary the inside of the valve with carb cleaner of some sort of solven to dissolve the carbon desposits.While you're at it the PCV valve can be cleaned the same way. Good luck and have fun.

[zoe60]

The diaphragm in the vacuum advance on the distributor can rupture, causing a huge vacuum leak which will make it run terrible. Mine was like that when I bought it 13 years ago. That would require a new distributor, which would contain a new ignition control module. For some reason it sounds to me that the ICM could be the problem too. Not sure.

[WmWatt]

Zoe: I think the leaking diaphragm could be checked by removing and plugging the vacuum hose. That's the hose I use to plug in a vacuum guage. If it isn't plugged in quickly the engine dies.

As for the ignition control module he wrote the engine is kept going by pumping the gas pedal which makes it seem like a fuel supply problem. If it were an ICM problem it could die after warming up as the ICM is temperature sensitive but in that case pumping the gas pedal wouldn't help, as far as I know.

[theastronaut]

Getting fuel to the carb doesn't seem to be the problem if the accelerator pump is still working (it runs by pumping the pedal). The idle cut solenoid may be bad or unplugged, if so it restricts all fuel to the idle circuit.

A bad enough vacuum leak can cause it to run so lean that it cuts off, and pumping the accelerator would richen it up enough to keep it running. Check for vacuum leaks by spraying carb cleaner around the vacuum hoses and carb base. If the engine picks up from the added fuel you've found a leak. The idle speed usually picks up with a vacuum leak though if it's a smaller leak.

I'd suggest ditching the whole factory carb and feedback vacuum/ecu system and going with an Escort carb instead. You can swap over for around $150 total investment and the car will be much more reliable and run smoother with a little more power than stock. The Festiva Store has the needed manifold adapter. I have one on my '89 and have had zero problems in the ~32k miles since swapping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Carburetor-Motorcraft-E6PE-ABA-1981-1985-Ford-EXP-Escort-Mercury-Lynx-LN7-1-6L/252959529882?epid=16022780927&hash=item3ae5901b9a:g:~YEAAOSw9OFZKHc8

[creyes1994]

I'll keep that in mind. A friend of a friend rebuilt the original carburetor for me and I reinstalled it. So far the car is running okay though sometimes it hesitates for a second when accelerating and the engine is cold. But now i have a new, not as serious issue with the A/C not cooling when at a stop