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        General >> Problems >> Slight 'miss' from cold
        
(Message started by: Nick_H on Feb 16^th, 2007, 1:32pm)

Title: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by Nick_H on Feb 16^th, 2007, 1:32pm

Hi all,

Long time no forum - it's good to be back!

My car has started doing something odd. About a minute after pulling away from a cold start, the engine seems to 'miss' slightly for a few seconds.

The car kind of jerks a bit rather than pulling smoothly.

After maybe 5-10 seconds, the effect goes away and has never yet come back during 'normal' driving.

If I dip the clutch while it's happening, the engine doesn't stall and the revs seem to flatten at a normal level. EDIT: Correction: it happened while I was in a traffic queue yesterday, and the revs were going up & down just slightly - what you might call 'hunting' I think...

Background: I recently got back off holiday and drove the car without checking fluids, etc. After this problem reared its head, I checked and found the coolant was LOW (almost non-existant).

It may be my imagination, but since I replenished the coolant, the 'jerky' effect seems to be wearing off slightly. Maybe coincidence...

My own thoughts were maybe the EGR or perhaps a Lambda sensor problem...

I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of a [more well-informed] likely cause/cure for this happening.

Anyone? Any guesses?

Thanks,
Nick_H

(Car is 2.3 '97 model with 51,000 miles behind it.)

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by hellblue on Feb 18^th, 2007, 10:45am

I would look as to where the coolant has gone first, is it still going down?? the best way to check the other problem would be to get a scan done .

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by lurchy666 on Feb 18^th, 2007, 3:11pm

if you've run it low of coolant have you got a air lock arount the area of the coolant temp sensor that'll cause it to run badly as it'll always be trying to run it too rich or too lean

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by derekne on Feb 18^th, 2007, 11:17pm

on 02/18/07 at 15:11:58, lurchy666 wrote:

if you've run it low of coolant have you got a air lock arount the area of the coolant temp sensor that'll cause it to run badly as it'll always be trying to run it too rich or too lean

Hello nice to see you back
Yea!! I agree with above

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by Simmo on Feb 19^th, 2007, 7:59am

Nick, If my memory serves me correctly Pegasus, you and I met at the Black Swan,(James King) a long while back?. I thought I saw your car parked by the cottages just north of the village the other day?, would that have been you?. ;)

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by Nick_H on Feb 19^th, 2007, 9:29am

Hi Simmo!

Yes, your memory is fine! :)

But the car parked north of the village isn't mine - I know the one you mean - I sometimes see it parked there, too.

Back to the problem:
There have been no further signs of coolant loss at all, so that's a bit of a puzzle. I don't know how much was actually left in the system, but the expansion tank was pretty much empty.

I hear that clearing an air-lock in the coolant system can be a bit of a drag - anyone have any tips for that?

And if anyone else has any other thoughts on the problem, I'd be pleased to hear...

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by Simmo on Feb 19^th, 2007, 10:33am

Nick, Try the Johnnycab method detailed HERE (http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Problems;action=display;num=1142380998;start=15#15). Hope to meet up again soon. :) Mike.

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by Nick_H on Feb 28^th, 2007, 8:53am

Right, I'm gonna bump this up the list a bit...

I've had a go at clearing any air-lock in the cooling system - don't know how effective that's been, as the problem still exists...
???

Thinking about it, I'm not sure that could have caused the problem anyway - it only ever happens very shortly after starting the engine/pulling away. I'd have thought that with an airlock in the coolant, the problem would come & go at other times too... (Not an expert here, but it just seems likely.)

I wondered if any of the readings detailed on this page: http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/instreset.htm might give me a clue? Anyone know what to look for?

Title: Re: Slight 'miss' from cold
Post by jonnycab on Feb 28^th, 2007, 10:50am

Could be a problem with the IACV..... have you tried cleaning it ?

http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/pooridle.htm