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98 Escort rough idle

I picked up the "new" Escort on Sunday, and it turns out to be a former Coca-Cola fleet vehicle; service vehicle I guess. Reading between the lines of the inspection records, it seems like it was used regularly from 98-2001 and then only very intermittently (less than

1,000 miles on it during the last 12 months). There is an open recall on it for something to do with the OBD2 module - the TSB summary implies that whatever this fix is, it's just a software upgrade.

The only real "issue" I have with this car is something that sounds like a VERY rough idle. It vibrates the whole vehicle, sounds almost like it's missing a cylinder :) RPMs are approximately constant. This sounds weird, but the roughness seems to get slightly worse if I turn on the cabin blower. You really notice this noisy mode when parking.

I haven't had anything open or unscrewed yet, but I'm wondering if this could be dirty spark plugs.

It has to go into the dealership for the OBD2 recall next week, so they will perform a "standard multipoint inspection", but I'd appreciate any thoughts on the issue.

Reply to
Lewin A.R.W. Edwards
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Reply to
steve piskor

Hi,

You know, my second thought is vacuum leak because it *SEEMS* to get slightly worse when I turn the cabin air away from the OFF setting and I can hear the vacuum pulling the mix door around... Not sure where to look at that, but I guess I will start by popping out the console.

At least the PCV valve is easy to replace; it's right on top of the engine and labeled "PCV VALVE" in big friendly letters :)

BTW, going into N does reduce the shake quite a bit. Maybe the thing is just working as designed.

Reply to
Lewin A.R.W. Edwards

Reply to
steve piskor

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