Rich Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 It's happened a few times now when I've taken the car out for a run, which is once every week or 2, usually the later. On Friday evening I took it around the local roads and up to the motorway, I stopped at the lights where you turn onto the M25 and the car stalled! The engine flooded so I had to wait 10-15 minutes before it would start. No one would push me out the way so I had to roll it forward and sit on a crossroad, was very embarrassing! This happened before after I had taken it out, came back, pulled into the carpark and when I dipped the clutch it stalled. I also took it down the road a while ago and after turning the car off it wouldn't start until I'd waited 10-15 minutes. I'm almost certain it's when the car is cold but not 100% sure on that. I need to drive it back to Essex soon, so a 60 mile trip mainly on the M25 so I'm worried about it stalling on there. I never had any problems when I was using it everyday for work last year. So does this sound like the engine is flooding and what can I do or check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 on my citreon its the idle control valve which sticks, making the car stall when you dip the clutch to stop at lights. It doesnt flood the engine on mine, but it could be that your ford over fuels to try and compensate causing it to flood the engine? just a suggestion as an angle to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 Cheers, can't hurt to clean it, just gotta find it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Is it auto choke or manual?.....what age is the car, give the carb a good clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 What escort?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Doh! Details would help... '89 1.6 EFI with auto choke. I remember when the old man took me out in it before I brought it up here and it stalled on him when pulling into a parking space but this was after 10 minutes of driving. It was rarely used though so I think it's to do with this but it never happened when I used it everyday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hms Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Couple of things, vacuum leak. Happens after a while when everything gets hot and expands? Clutch pedal switch? Don't know why I'm saying this but I seem to remember a faulty clutch switch causing problems elsewhere! Found this on one of the MX5 fora. Forgive my ignorance, but what is the purpose of the clutch switch? I'm probably making myself look a complete tit here, but very occassionally my car is reluctant to start ..... depress the clutch pedal, turn the key, the engine turns over but not a hint of it firing. It's never failed to start when I don't depress the clutch pedal. Coincidence, or could there be a connection? Answer On the over-run above a certain speed, the PCM will not inject fuel. However, if the clutch is depressed the switch tells the PCM to keep injecting fuel so the engine will idle, otherwise it will stop dead and you'll lose brake/steering assistance, your headlights will go dim and you'll experience quite a jolt when you let the clutch out (although the engine will generally bump-start itself). The occasional "idle droop" is just fuel starvation as you coast to a stop. I'd hazard a guess that you don't get idle droop if you declutch just before coming to a halt, gear choice permitting. h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Thanks h, I didn't even know there was a clutch switch. I've been told when it does it again to take a spark plug out to see if it's definitely flooding. I think it's gonna be really difficult to pinpoint the problem though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Most FI cars dont have a clutch switch I always used to run fuel injector cleaner through my old xr3i's and orions every now and then , they seemed to get a bit fluffy when running at low speed otherwise the injectors clog up and the fuel doesnt atomise as well so it floods and stalls Could always up the idle speed a little as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Most FI cars dont have a clutch switch I always used to run fuel injector cleaner through my old xr3i's and orions every now and then , they seemed to get a bit fluffy when running at low speed otherwise the injectors clog up and the fuel doesnt atomise as well so it floods and stalls Could always up the idle speed a little as well I've been taking it on the M25 as well so I can give it a good run, maybe it needs longer then. I think I've got some injector cleaner indoors I will give that a go and see what happens. If not would you recommend any or are they all essentially the same? I know the injector seals on these engines are prone to going, it does smoke abit on startup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 it does smoke abit on startup. That's coz the rings are going Only kidding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Smoke on startup is worn valve guides I used to use the STP injector cleaner , it was in a black bottle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Smoke on startup is worn valve guides I used to use the STP injector cleaner , it was in a black bottle Yep, apparently if you replace them they just go again though. I'll see what I've got at home, if it doesn't work I'll get some STP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Smoke on startup is worn valve guides I was just trying to make him a bit worried Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I know what causes the smoke anyway Pete! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 It's when your oil consumption goes up and there's knocking and black smoke coming out the back permanently.......then you worry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Don't tempt fate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Right! Need to get this sorted now. As I can't drive the car due to having no MOT I need to sort it out on the driveway. I started it the other day and let it get up to running temperature. Turned it off and tried starting it again and it wouldn't, so the engine must've flooded again. I had to start it on Saturday to move it and it fired up first time, again when I moved it back. I made a mistake in my previous post and it's the MFI engine not EFI. I have been told it's more than likely an air leak somewhere but how can I trace where it's coming from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 air leaks can be traced by spraying easy start around the suspect areas when the engine is idling the revs will alter when the easy start is drawn in First off i would change the fuel pump relay , very common on these and all kind of faults can occur when they start to go then as i said give the injectors a clean , being left for long periods really isnt helping either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 air leaks can be traced by spraying easy start around the suspect areas when the engine is idling the revs will alter when the easy start is drawn in First off i would change the fuel pump relay , very common on these and all kind of faults can occur when they start to go then as i said give the injectors a clean , being left for long periods really isnt helping either Can I use anything else as I don't have easy start? What about WD40? Just looked on ebay and a new relay is £29 delivered. Is there a way of testing them and where can I find it? I think my Dad had this issue cos it wasn't getting used often but when I was using it everyday it never happened. It's only been since I've not used it that much the problem has come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMARTLY Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Can I use anything else as I don't have easy start? What about WD40? No !! Easystart will burn when it gets in the engine WD40 will foul your plugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Easy start it is then, £4.50 from halfords so not too bad. Also, running injector cleaner through it, how much should I put in as there is around 1/4 tank left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Fill the tank with fresh stuff decent fuel like V power preferably , you may find the fault goes away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I'd better get the jerry cans out then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.