Hi, I have had my 1998 escort for 1 week now, and it keeps revving on its own, seems to only happen in first and second gear, and only when i set off from junctions, this can be dangerous as i found out when i got stuck in the middle of a roundabout.
when the revs shoot up to about 5000 revs i turn ignition off but the car still runs screaming its balls off for about 4 seconds, it does start back up straight away though.(in a huge cloud of white smoke trailing behind me)
Today it has started to smoke just behind the turbo with white smoke, not a lot, but enough to get worried.

PLEASE HELP.

 

I'm not an expert so don't take what I say as 100% as theyre guesses but....smoke behind the turbo is probably only the downpipe not sealing to the turbo properly; or if your really unlucky it could be turbine housing cracked.

As for the revving; try a new throttle cable and grease up all of the moving parts of the throttle...the spring etc...try it by hand and see if its sticking at a position when you flick it.. If not that check for air leaks and your idle screw hasnt come out.

Some things to try good luck.. NMS isnt to far from you either so you could go there if your stuck.

Dan