Possible 'Sticky Valve' on a '93 L reg Ford Escort???

[Bellvecchio2]

Hi,
Having posted previous questions on the Answer bank, and been given some good advice, I'm posting another question regarding a '93 Ford Escort (1.3).

Had the car for a short while now and have had a new clutch & cam belt fitted. However, when I go to drive the car now, I can start to move off and litterally take all feet off the pedals and the car will continue to drive at 2k revs.
The thing is, you can put up with this for the journey, then when you go to drive home etc, the car will drive with no problems.
A cousin suggested that it might be a sticky valve somewhere, which would kind of make sense, in the fact that maybe it free's itself after a while.
However, with the mrs having just passed her test, she's uncomfortable driving the car the way it is, understandably, so I'd just like some advice on this problem. Is it something easily put right? If a went into a garage and mentioned the term Sticky Valve, would they know what the hell I'm on about? :0)
There definitely something wrong though because you can be sat in traffic, the clutch in, and the car is idling at 2000 revs.....

Many Thanks in advance.

[dannywells]

sounds to me like your accelerator cable is incorrectly adjusted or sticking
or it could be more serious like a sensor, perhaps the throttle position sensor is giving faulty readings

[Bellvecchio2]

Thanks for the response.
Any idea's how much an accelrator cable will cost for a Ford Escort? I'm no expert when it comes to cars, but I don't mind getting my hands dirty either so is this a simple job that I can take care of?, or will this require a mechanic (and shelling out more money) ?

[dannywells]

well a garage can check the cable first to see if its sticking
i cant really say how you can tell (all cars are different), however a mechanic would be able to say in a few seconds

essentially where the cable connects to the throttle in the engine bay, when you take your foot off the throttle the armature should return all the way back to a rest position, ie hits a stop.
if you can manually move it further (nor forcing) then the cable is sticking and the revs should then drop

[Commando_guy]

Ist and foremost, IF the car is a 1.3, it has NO CAMBELT. 2nd, if it is a 1.3, it will have a CFI injection unit instead of a carb. This unit has a idle speed control valve, and this determines the idle speed. So the problem could be there. Also there is a potentiometer, or throttle position sensor, fitted to the throttle butterfly. Both can be problematic, and usually are the cause of high idle speed. Id get both checked, having worked for Ford for many years as a Parts man to the workshop I have gained a lot of knowledge, and I know this is one of the problems on the CFI units.

[Bellvecchio2]

Thanks for the suggestions/answers.
Sorry to have mis-informed you regarding the engine size of the car. It's actually a 1.4, not a 1300.
I'm guessing this won't change the comments from Danny Wells but maybe from Commando Guy....
With your experience of Fords, do you know the common faults for the 1.4 Escorts?
I personally think the car has got lots of life, provided these problems, that seem to be minor problems, get sorted before they cause a knock-on effect.
Since posting the original question, my dad has looked at the accellerator cable, soaked in a WD40-type fluid and it appears to be much better. The car does still idle slightly high but this is now at about 1100 revs, not the 2000 revs like before.
If I were to tweak the idle speed control value now could I adjust this to get the car sitting at say 800 revs?.

Don't mean to keep on, but also when I have to turn hard to either side, when I unwind the steering wheel, there's a knocking sound (not loud), thats heard until the wheel comes back to straight.... any idea's?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

[Commando_guy]

Ok, the car is an escort 1.4 CVH With a agin, CFI. The cfi module is more or less the same unit as on the 1.3. I would change the throttle position sensor to see if the helps, and also give the IDLE speed control valve a good clean and lubricate the linkage. It looks like a cylindrical unit bolted to the side of the CFI unit with wires coming from it. The TPS is a green sensor bolted to one end of the throttle butterfly shaft, with 3 wires coming off it. I very much doubt its a sticking valve. The cvh engine is a great engine if serviced and looked after. They are dead easy to work on. I think your problem is most probably to do with the fuelling side of things.... get yourself a haynes manual off Ebay, that should help too. Remember, golden rule for the cvh... change your oil every 6000 miles!

[Commando_guy]

Where as the knocking noise... sounds like it a cv joint... usually the outer one. The make a kind of clicking/knocking sound when on near or full lock, and diasppears when your going straight. This is an MOT failure so get it checked. They are easy-ish to replace, like i say, get a Haynes manual. As for buying the part, dont buy from dealer, try to get one from a reputable spares shop, youll save a fortune, or alternatively, go to a recyclers ( scrap yard/dismantler) where they will sell you a complete drive shaft for cheap anyway. I rekon �20-�25 each or even cheaper. Let me know what happens!!!

[Bellvecchio2]

Thanks for the help.
I have already purchased a Haynes manual (from Ebay!)
And the clicking/knocking sounds exactly as described by you below, so I will start looking at the manual regarding the cv joints and trying to get these as cheaply as possible. Will getting these joints replaced aid the steering at all?

The car has no PAS, and whilst switching to and from my other car which has power steering, I expect a notable difference in the steering but not wanting to sound like a girl here, I do think the steering is a bit on the heavy side. I've got the tyres at the correct pressure and the tracking has been done by a mate so those two boxes are ticked. Whilst I'm not too bothered about this, its a question I thought I'd ask...
It seems to me like a few little problems that need to be sorted. Whilst I'd be stupid to keep throwing money at a car thats 14 years old this year, but my thoughts are its done 78k, had a new cam belt and clutch fitted, so whilst you can't guarantee nothing else will go majorly wrong with a used car this age, I think the car is solid. There's no rust on her at the moment which is great but there's got to come a point when you draw a line in terms of shelling out money.