Surging, irregular idle, random no power on accelaration

[Kofkof_00]

Many people seem to be experiencing this issue.

So am I.

It robs me of any enjoyment of my car.

Done so far:

Verified the pins on the MAF connection are good, connector is on solid.

New O2 sensor, still didn't correct the issue.

$200 wasted for a mechaninc to tell me nothing is wrong (they emptied my gas tank "testing" the car.)

Purchased a new fuel filter: FG871 GKI was told by the mechanic this is the wrong filter.
GKI's online catalog begs to differ
FG871 1.3L 4 Cyl L 1295cc FI Naturally Aspirated (Eng Asp) GAS

It does look much larger though. Not replaced.

at Idle (1000rpm) when the symptoms are present, (car warm-ish) I get a very regular power/no power pulse like behavior.

Things I have looked at: (this one is for you monsoon)

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26156&highlight=coil

I looked into getting some sort of MSD replacement, they don't make one. I have seen some cars here with msd coils. Is this hard to do? is it something ppl have done only if they do a swap?

and

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22235

My symptoms are intermittent soo.....

and

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24699

I'm unsure how this ends? He caps off a vacuum line?

Does anyone have a suggestion what I am to try next?

[sasquatch]

a msd coil is easy to hook up... its 2 wires and with the amount of wires you have in your car it should be easy for you lol...

[Kofkof_00]

Does anyone know what these plugs are for?



They look clean or recently disturbed...

[FestYboy]

the 6 pin one is your ALDL (a.k.a. your communication port) and i can't tell you what the other one is off the top of my head.

[Kofkof_00]

So they plugged in an ODB1 reader and got squat.

Hmmm...

[leapin]

Have checked fuel pressure? Maf connections may be good, but is the voltage(signal) comming from it ok? Just a had a protege in with similar issues. Turned out the maf looked good but internally was sending improper voltage the pcm. Was intermittant too.

[Kofkof_00]

I guess I can just pick up another maf at the jy... I wonder what they go for?

[stefan]

So they plugged in an ODB1 reader and got squat.

Hmmm...

There is no such thing as a code reader for our cars. You ground one of those plugs by the brake booster and count how many times the check engine light flashes. Thats the only way to retrieve codes. But there wont be any troubles unless the check engine light is on.

All those un-used connectors by the brake booster are test connectors.. Theirs one for checking the fuel pump, one for setting the idle.. cant remember them all but thats what they are.

[eurotiva]

One is a tach signal....

[FestYboy]

that's just a single pin connector, i thought he was refering to the 2 pin next to the 6 pin

[skeeters_keeper]

There are a bunch of things that are potential culprits...

check your tps... easily done w/ a voltmeter and a set of feeler gauges. If its out of adjustment that shouldn't really cause 'intermittent' problems but I had similar issues and my tps was out of adjustment.

Also, replace your fuel filter... either verify that the one you have is the right one or buy the right one. Can't hurt to run some seafoam thru the intake etc as well too.

[Kofkof_00]

Isn't seafoam for an older engine? Mine was rebuilt to the tune of $4000 about a year ago.

PS: I told ya she's an evil mistress!

I'm perusing my haynes fo the position of the TPS...

[Kofkof_00]

There is no such thing as a code reader for our cars. You ground one of those plugs by the brake booster and count how many times the check engine light flashes. Thats the only way to retrieve codes. But there wont be any troubles unless the check engine light is on.

All those un-used connectors by the brake booster are test connectors.. Theirs one for checking the fuel pump, one for setting the idle.. cant remember them all but thats what they are.

I wonder if my dash, being from a 121a doesn't light up the check engine. The high beam light indicator doesn't work. I've checked the bulbs, but that would help explain why diags are so hard on this car.,..

[freshtiva]

I had a similar problem years ago. I barely remember it now. Dont know if its the same problem as yours. Here is the link below anyway. Hope it helps. The car in my thread still runs great to this day and the problem never occurred again.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4116&highlight=high+idle

[Kofkof_00]

Thank you Fresh,

I've read the thread, although it points me into other directions as what to try, the symptoms are subtly different.

When the idle fluctuation occurs, if i'm moving, i get no power or acceleration. It's like it's stuttering, as a result, the car jerks back and forth.

If I drop a gear, rev, get it at about 3000rpm, de-clutch, I can get going again. (this generally gets me out of the intersection, at least!)

The result is that I can only drive my car like a maniac, at high revs, when this happens.

This saddens me to no end, because when the car isn't doing this it's all smooth and gentle gear shifts.

I paid enough for this car to want to drive it kindly.