still waiting for some cash so i can get my car booked into a proper garage, but untill then i need to keep tryin my best to get this sorted myself as its my only car

ok, the car drives mint... no hickups no nothing... but sometimes when decelerating the car will struggle and die when it gets to idle... it wont die if you give it some gas...

this only happens when hot (presumably coz the aux-air-valve is open when cold n keeping the idle nice n high)

the idle adjustment screw bypass thingie in the throttle is opened up 1 1/2 turns (i'm told thats the CORRECT setting) and the throttle stop screw is currently set to iddle quite high, if i set it to the correct setting/clearance the car wont idle AT ALL, so i've wound it out just to get the fooker to run...

the co% @ idle is currently circa 3-4% set it any lower and the car will either misfire badly at idle, or die completely... (when i had the timing set wrong i had it even richer at idle to make it run!)

the ignition timing is currently set to 9* BTDC (i changed this from 15 and it helped, but not cured)

the car also has a slight misfire at idle (worse if you lean off the mixture to MOT-Passable levels!) altho TBH i havent noticed it happeneing since i changed all these bits yesterday and tried my best to set the car up again

i have renewed:

plugs (correctly gapped, 0.8mm), leads, dizzycap, rotorarm on the ignition side (also oiled the foam pad in the dizzy n cleaned it out a little bit as per haynes instructions) i wouldnt have thought the coil or anything would affect this since it runs mint when driving, but im open to suggestions

fueling side i've only replaced the fuel filter, no other service items on that side... i wouldnt suspect the fuelpump etc since it runs fine under load, its just idling it dont like...

since ive bought the car the valve clearances/tappets have not been adjusted, this is a job that needs doing and i know it COULD be a problem, but i'm not gonna attempt it tomorrow as i dont have any fresh rocker cover gaskets. also they dont sound too noisy, but then that could mean anything... so any other areas to look at?

also the engine is a non-unleaded engine so its POSSIBLE it's got VSR, but the car DOES NOT SMOKE WHATSOEVER and i was under the impression that VSR would cause at least SOME smoke...

ps the car does not feel like its down on power over standard when accelerating

also i beleive the starter isn't particuarly healthy... i'm currently haveing a problem with the starter still cranking even after you stop turning the key, i been told to check the contacts etc... am doin this tomorrow...

any other ideas etc.?

would a vac leak maybe cause this behaviour? as i swear i can hear a tiny hissing from the engine bay, but it dsounds as if its coming from the power steering pump... i've checked all the vac lines etc. n sprayed everything i can find in WD40 and it dont seem to make no difference but obviously its possible ive missed something...

obviously i can just turn the throttle adjustment thingie or the idle bypass thing right up so it dont stall (even if it does idle at 2k+rpm! lol) but i'd rather try n sort the problem than cover it up...

also the car DRINKS petrol (about 200 to a tank) but then i havent had a chance to check this since i set it up again yesterday, so could have cured itself now...

ANY help would be apreciated, but sly digs about bodging and cars catching fire will not be apreciated

 

Not a fooking cvlue

 

no way you read ALL that in less than a minute

 

iam not gonna read all that jim @ this time of night

 

I am a spead reader Jim

But knew I would know the answer so have a leamon to suck on palk

 

all4it, im surprised i WROTE all that at this time of night anyway i'm off to bed, ive got a long day cleaning wiring looms and starter motors tomorrow

 

jim- you coming to the pub tommorow buddy??- im going in ians car, and youi can jump in too if ya want?- wouldn't want to show you up in in my ickle xr2 again lol!
ill ring ya when im on me lucnh break!!

 

rich, yes and i'll probably drive (as its not a problem on motorways)

ps ive just cleaned up all the contacts on the battery, alternator and starter motor, and the funky starter motor mayhem has now stoppes doubt its related to the cutting out issue, but at least now i can restart it when it does cut out! lol

 

What Jim, Interfords Technical Advisor cant fix his own car, whats a matter m8 lost ya haynes

 

taps, youre a funny guy.

ive exhausted my own knowledge and so am asking for advice (as oposed to people who pretend they know everything)

and the reason i ask here and not interford is becasue i'd like the input from people who actually know what the hell theyre talking about.

altho to be fair youre excluded from that one as you do know your stuff

 

ok, today i also tried blocking up the cold start injector (mine doesn't work anyway)

so thats eliminated the possibility of that leaking n cocking it up.

i'm definately swinging towards the possibility of an air/vac leak as i swear i can hear a hissing when driving (cant hear nuffin over the top of the engine when you got the bonnet up tho

was thinkin about trying the long straw to the ear technique

 

Only ribbing ya Jim, just couldnt help myself

 

update, just found out my gas anyliser is MILES out (i knew it was inaccurate, but i've just found out HOW much shocking!!!) so i'm not trusting the idle CO reading... gonna see if i can get a friendly MOT garage to look a it at lunchtime n bung it on the gas anyliser, as if its over/underfueling at idle badly then its not helping my diagnosis at all!

 

oh and another thing... ive currently got the idle speed set REALLY high (2.5k when cold, 1.5-2k when hot!) to stop it doing it... and the brakes are SHIT its as if i've lost a LOT of servo assistance... presumably due to a crap vacuum?

that help any?

 

Jim this is a common problem with the Cologne, both my cars have done it. You come up to a junction, drop the clutch, the engine drops to idle and it dies, oh the fun.

On the front of your airbox you should have what looks like a dumpvalve which bypasses air from the metering head back into the airbox, take this out and give it a good clean or even better renew it. Check the air metering head inside and out for sticking and leaks, sometimes the actual bubble can pop off and check the vacume lines to the WUR.

I can't really think of much else right now.

 

bubble? eh?

i've had the metering head out n cleaned it up n stuff n it dont stick (it did before) so i think i'll be ok there the WUR vac feed is good i dont THINK i've got a gasket on the head/airbox seal either... i better look at that later just incase... but then i wouldnt have thought that's make the engine misbehave (as if it is leaking its BEFORE the metering head so shouldnt matter.. yeah?

that fookin bypass valv thing i never even thought of checking... so fookin obvious now you mention it

if i temporarily remove it (ie just block up the holes) i presume it wont break nothing... just overfuel like a mofo on overrun.. yeah?

 

It's OK to remove it but when you come to idle the air in the plenum is gonna want to force back through the air meter but it will be shut which is more likely to cause your car to stall. I ran mine without one for a bit.

By bubble I mean the round thing what sits on top of the metering head the valve goes to, shown below.

 

oh, i just call that the "big round hose thingie" anyway it appears to seal ok, n ive had WD40 round the whole seal n no change...

i'll try cleaning the thing out with carb cleaner 1st n see what happens...

the thing that gets me, is that i cant understand why it would do all this at idle, coz surely the metering flap is resing on the idle adjustment screw and so it wouldnt matter if the air goes past the metering flap or not

 

oh heres another thought... i have a minor leak from one of the rocker cover gaskets...

would this cause it if maybe i had a dodgy PCV or summink? (as i know on cars like ERSTs they stall if you take the filler cap off)

 

I would have thought you'd only get a rocker cover leak under pressure.

 

same here, but im trying to think of every possibility.

i'm really kicking myself about that bypass thing... i never considered the posibility of it sticking open...

altho i suspect that it might not be the cause of my problem

 

Well it is an anti-stall valve Jim, it's the last place you'd think of looking when you have a problem with the car stalling

 

 

part no longer available from ford


..ima?

 

chris, had it off a sec ago, not sticky at all, feels good... spring still taught n everything...

covered the mofo in carb cleaner n wd40 just incase tho

 

Good for you Jim but you might want to keep your personal life to yourself