2002 Ford Escape missfire?

Submitted: Thursday, Sep 06, 2007 at 21:02
ThreadID: 49412 Views:2905 Replies:5 FollowUps:0
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I have just purchased a Ford Escape 3.0 and am a little concerned that I may have bought a lemon. It seemed like the right sort of vehicle for my needs and the only issue I read about was it's tendency to be a little "abrupt" on the throttle.
I was therefore not surprised or concerned when this seemed to be the case. However, a fortnight later I have not adapted to it very well. In fact it seems to have an off-idle stumble/miss that is most noticeable when accelerating out of a corner or when going up and down slight inclines at 70-80 kph in top. It almost feels worse than a simple engine miss accompanied by almost abrupt gear changes. I am finding it difficult to drive smoothly, and to easily match the speed of the traffic flow.
What really concerns me is that the day after I purchased it a mechanic at the local Ford dealership told me that Escapes tend to have a fragile gearbox.
I would be grateful for any feedback. Thanks.

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Reply By: Olcoolone- Thursday, Sep 06, 2007 at 21:41

Thursday, Sep 06, 2007 at 21:41
Hello Brockie, there is no easy way of finding a missfire or a flat spot these days, try and find a person or business who are very good at diagnostics

Could be anything from electrical to fuel to mechanical but I would say electrical or fuel.

We get vehicles in that we find a problem within 5 minutes but other times it may take us 5+ hours to find.

The best way of finding out what is causing the problem is get someone to put a scantool on it and it might of logged a hard fault code, if not they may have to drive it on the road or dyno and data log it to find the cause.

As I said above missfires nd flatspots are sometimes the hardest thing to find.

One thing you may want to check is the tyres to make sure there is not a bubble in the tread or inside/outside side wall.

The other thing we see is a partly blocked fuel filter.

Goodluck regards Richard

AnswerID: 260779

Reply By: Wayne's 60 - Thursday, Sep 06, 2007 at 22:44

Thursday, Sep 06, 2007 at 22:44
Hi Brockie,
Have a club member who had a similar problem in his Tribute, miss fire and splutter around corners and up a slight incline.
I will try and gather exact details and advise.
Seem to recall it was either a spark plug lead earthing out, or one of the coils.

Regards,
Wayne.
PS Can't offer any help with the gearbox.
AnswerID: 260794

Reply By: Member - Stephen M (NSW) - Friday, Sep 07, 2007 at 12:03

Friday, Sep 07, 2007 at 12:03
Hi Brockie, dont happen to work for Amber Tiles do you ??? Regards Steve M
AnswerID: 260864

Reply By: Brockie - Friday, Sep 07, 2007 at 15:57

Friday, Sep 07, 2007 at 15:57
Thanks everyone for your suggestions, and Stephen I work for Schweppes here in Brisbane - there are a few of us Brocks around.

Today I went down to the Ford dealer to arrange for a spare key. Because of the theft protection system this requires them to plug in their computer to my Escape, and so I asked if they could also check for any engine faults.

They found a Code P1000 fault and also reset the "K A M' codes.

The car now drives beautifully.

Something to remember for next time.

Thanks
Brockie
AnswerID: 260887

Reply By: Olcoolone- Friday, Sep 07, 2007 at 22:03

Friday, Sep 07, 2007 at 22:03
Good to here Brockie, yeah with out a scantool it can be impossable to fault in some vehicles, we use our scantools more and more these days.

Regards Richard
AnswerID: 260949

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