I have a 1997 ford escort 1800 zetec,my problem is that it stalls on me and revs up and down slightly.HELP?

Question

My problem has got slowly worse over the last couple of months,the revs went up and down slightly,then it started stalling and now it is pulling back on me very badly.Also when i restart it after it stalled there is a smell of petrol.Can anyone help.PEASE

Answer 1

It's one of two things, the first and easiest to check is your sparkplugs, whip them out and check them for corrosion, if in dobt, spend £8 and replace them all with some new ones.

If that doesnt solve it, your engine management is playing up somewhere. This is nine times out of ten due to a sensor somewhere. Since you say it's got worse over a period, and not gone instantly, and the symptoms you describe, I'd put money on it being the lambda sensor in the exhaust manifold (also known as oxygen sensor).

It basically measures the amount of oxygen in the exhaust gas. If it detects any then the ECU increases fuelling to burn the oxygen. If this sensor starts to fail then the ECU starts getting confused signals and doesn't know how much fuel to apply, and in most cases it just dumps fuel in rather than starves it so it keeps running.

Lambda sensors aren't too expensive (about £30 to £70 in most cases)and are an easy job to do yourself, no harder than doing a sparkplug.

Answer 2

First, check the EGR valve, then perhaps the throttle position sensor.
Actually, you should be able to pull the diagnostic codes off the car with a code scanner, available at Autozone. One other thing you might actually start with, as it is the least expensive method is to buy a good fuel system/injector cleaner and pour it into the gas tank. This may be your problem. If not, then go to the next option.
Good luck.

Answer 3

clean or replace the idle control valve

Answer 4

idle speed control valve?