Escort Gti Idle speed

[lee.kilbride]

I am the owner of a 1997 Ford Escort GTi 1.8 petrol. It is standard but does have the obvious ford bits on it, such as leather seats, air con, bodykit & bigger exhaust. I have owned the vehicle since last june when it had 60,000 on the clock. It is now tipping 65,000. For the last thousand miles it has idled badly. When coming to a stop at junctions, the revs would drop to about 500. Sometimes stalling, especially when cold. Took it for a long run the other weekend and coming in to the city centre it sat 2000 revs. It would not move.Also the temp gauge was reading below normal. THe RAC cleaned out the throttle body to bring the speed down, it came down to 1500. It got me home and back to the garage i use. I had the idle spped control valve chnaged to remedy the idle problem, it checked the throttle body and replaced the thermostat and coolant temp sender. The temp problem is now sorted. It will no longer stall. But will it idle right, no. ON inspection of the throttle body it look to be closing right. At home i disconnected the air mass meter control but that made no affect. I'm at my wits end and struggling with money. I do have a throttle body on its way from a friends escort GTi but if this doesn't work does any one have any advice.

Many thanks

[Andyvon]

You don't give too much Lee.

It does sound very much though as if the throttle linkage/cable might be sticking. If it isn't working freely that will jam the throttle open or shut to various degrees regardless of your foot position. Try testing that the linkage or cable is working freely. Grease all the links anyway as it won't hurt and maybe run lubricating oil down the cable if it has one. You may just need a new cable or links - easy to get new or second hand ones.

At the risk of stating the obvious, have you serviced the car lately? The problem could be due simply to a service part or setting.

[stigzo]

The problem arises from the AIR BYPASS VALVE

FORD PART NO 95BF-9F715-AC FORD RETAIL 86.00

this is situated behind the engine and under the inlet manifold
its a bitch to get to but is only held on by 2 8mm head bolts
I was advised to take it off and clean the inside
This was ok for about a week and then the problem resurfaced
Buying a new one from ford as you can see is expensive but on Ebay if you find TransitPartsUk they have tem and they sell them for 29,99 plus �3 for post
I got mine the next day
Steve

[Memore]

I have same problem on my ford escort si been told it is air pressure valve or something it idles and cuts out for about 10 minutes when i first get in it and then it is fine but it just cuts out to begin with going round corners etc and is quite dangerous even if engine is warm and i leave it for a while it will do same thing again I am a girl and bit worried about going to garage as they do rip you off as they assume rightly in my case that i dont know about cars does that sound right to you that it is the valve? I had new clutch put in as that went same time but didnt resolve the cuttingout