I just got myself an escort combi van with an rs turbo engine in it.

What happens is the car can struggle to start then when it does start it pretty much dies instantly.
I can rev the car to keep it alive but when it drops down to idle again it just cuts out.

Ive had a quick look at the vacuum lines and seem to be ok.

One thing i did notice though and this might not even matter but when the car heated up to the N of norm it idled fine??

Any ideas?
Cheers

 

it could be the coldstart valve flooding the engine, try unplugging it.

 

Will try that and see what happens.
Car is at my mates at the moment.
Where abouts is that valve?

 

is the valve under the inlet manifold.

 

the car does have the RS turbo fuse box?

if so check to see if there is a working fuse in the heated seat slot, there needs to be a 10amp one in there for cold starting, what you suggest is another option to look at if the CSV does cure the problem.

 

check all the boost hoses for splits and leaks,
I will bet that is your problem

steve

 

Right thanks for the ideas, away along there now to have a look with my mate so wil try these things and let yous know what happens

 

Ok car still has same problem.
Was quite easy to go out for a drive in it but just whenever came to idle it would cut out. Ocasionaly it would idle but then other times it wouldnt.

Tried unplugging that valve and made no difference.
All fuses were there and working.

And all boost/intake hoses seemed to be secure, plus if they were loose surely the car wouldnt rev or idle at all would it? The car holds boost pressure while driving.

 

Lambda sensors maybe?

I don't know fuck all about RST's though mate so don't quote me on that.

 

air leak somewhere, blocked breather, dodgy sensor, plugs, leads, metering unit fault, could be many things mate

 

Theres the truth of the matter right there mate, when an RS has idle issues it could be many things! Mine used to do what yours did because it was leaking thru the dump valve. The way to test that, if yours has one, is to squeeze the vacumn hose on the valve and see if it makes a difference. Check all hoses for the smallest of holes/tears etc and make sure that all jubilee clips are tight and on correctly. Its always a simple thing that solves the annoyingest of problems!

 

i will put my neck on the line and say you defiantly have an air leak.

The car will start from cold due to the cold start valve but will not run well or idle due to the air bypass valve located under the inlet which lets even more air through ie-even weaker (the hoses connecting this unit commonly fall off).

If you get some one to push the big flap down on the metering unit my a mm or two it should start faultlessly.

The air bypass valve is electronically heated but is also water heated and has a bymetal strip inside, hence when the car is warmer the engine is not as lean and will run better. Commonly people just wind the fueling up to accommodate for an air leak meaning the car will run pretty well once warm.... but will normally 'hunt' on idle.

You could be leaking air from a number of places, ie rocker cover, oil filler cap, loose/missing hose, missing CO adjuster plug etcetcetc.

Have a good poke under the inlet manifold.... with the engine warm stick your head under the bonnet and have a good listen for the suspect air leak.

Best of luck mate

Rob,

 

In the end, to fix mine i took every single hose off the car, the inlet manifold off etcetc. cleaned every connector, inspected every hose replaced any relevant gaskets and tested all the sensors. Mine turned out to be this air leak and a duff water temp sensor. So if you have half a day to kill do the above lol

Rob,

 

To be honest you can hear (just very slighty though) air leaking from somewhere but have no idea where its coming from so its very hard to trace i suppose your right and the best thing to do it just take all the intake lines off and check them all.

I also noticed that the air filter (its an original one with the black plastic case) isnt secure. But when you remove it you can see the intake line has like its own butterfly so it wouldnt be leaking air through there then on idle would it if its gonna be closed?

Just thought id mention again that it can be driven no problem and doesnt missfire... its just whenever it comes to idle - 75% of the time it cuts out

 

Aswell 50% of the time the car wont even start.
Ill be giving it another good look at this weekend and hopefully get it sorted

 

theres a breather pipe that runs from the metering unit, all the way to the left side of the head, via the back of the inlet. its hard plastic and gets brittle. also theres one that goes into the back of the inlet thats hard plastic. Check these. you'll need a mate inside keeping it running, and you go round the engine bay with some carb cleaner / brake cleaner / wd40 and spray everywhere one part at a time. if the note changes you have an idea where to check. just remember its flammable with MFI its always 99% an air leak, the problem is finding it.

 

Got the car home now and had time to have a good poke around.
Have checked all vacuum lines and they are all secure.
The 2 plastic hoses are in good shape aswell.

Again once the car was warmed up it idled away no problem

 

Just to let yous know it was the cold start valve... took it off and gave it a good clean up, put it back on and left it unplugged aswell and started up no bother having no problems with it now so thanks for the help guys

 

*edit *

 

what was the first thing i said

Fair play for sorting it though