PLEASE HELP! '85 Continental Idle problem, keeps stalling

[Aaron C]

I've driven long distances in this car before and never had a problem whatsoever. This engine (5.0) has always been fine. So today I drove for about an hour on the highway, then got to my destination just fine, went downhill, then turned into an uphill driveway (can you picture what I mean?).
:confused:
Well, right when I turned into the driveway the car stalled. It wouldnt stay running unless I gave it enough gas to hold it. I had to sorta brake and gas at the same time to inch back out of the driveway, then I drove up the street, and it was fine driving. Once I got back down to near a stop however, it just stalled again. It kept doing this every time. The engine runs PERFECT otherwise, I drove home just fine, I just had to brake with my left food to keep a little gas on so it wouldnt stall.
When I parked it at home and put it in Park, it seemed to hold Idle ok, just realy lumpy. When I put it in any gear it got REAL lumpy and bordered on stalling, but managed to stay running.

The high idle is fine, when I first start it. But low idle just dies right off. I checked the obvious stuff and nothing seems wrong. The weird thing is it happened when I turned into my uncle's driveway. Maybe the engine shifted on the motor mounts? Why would it stall though but run fine at higher RPMs.. Im a perfectly capable wrench turner but when it comes to 'why wont it run' I get lost easy. ANY help will be greatly appreciated. I really dont want to take it to a shop, Im moving out of state about 200 miles away in a week and this is real bad timing.

Thanks for any help! You guys all rule.

[crawford]

sounds like it could be a number of items..as most anyone will tell you..but does sound like egr valve maybe clogged..would be the quickest to look at and see first hand...who knows ..good luck... ;)

[cason1]

I don't have any experience with conti's but it could be your IAC or idle air control valve. I had to replace mine on my TC. Did very similar, every time i stopped it died,or even coasting it would die. Replaced it and no problems with it since.

[pro-five-oh]

The idle control system sounds like its working fine (there is no idle control valve on the older CFI cars like the newer ones) but I think the idle is set too low. It is one screw to bump up the idle a bit. Do a search on the Mark VII board for "cfi idle screw" if you do not have a shop manual or are not too familiar with the CFI unit on your car.

This should take 20 minutes or less. If it doesn't help, post back. smile.gif

[ December 22, 2003: Message edited by: pro-five-oh ]

[Aaron C]

Thanks guys... I'll go check it out as soon as I can find my flashlight. I didnt know fuel injected cars had idle adjustment screws on them, dont computers do all that crap now? I wonder how it could have moved. The EGR thing sounds very possible, I noticed that when it idles it STINKS like gas.

I'll post back once I find something. Thanks a lot!

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by Aaron C:
The EGR thing sounds very possible, I noticed that when it idles it STINKS like gas.

I bet you have two leaky fuel injectors. EGR is fine. Here's what you do:

1. Find the schreader valve on the CFI unit and stick a pressure gauge on it: it should read 30-40psi.

2. Run the car until it starts stinking, remove the air cleaner and see if you can pinpoint the smell to the two injectors right there.

If the fuel pressure is good and the smell seems to be coming from the unit, you need two new injectors: about $80 I think. smile.gif

[Aaron C]

You're right five-oh, the EGR is working fine, I can see it moving when I pull the throttle. Not sure about the injectors thuogh, the smell seems to be coming from the exhaust, underhood seems ok. I'll have to check that out when I go back outside though.

I want to try adjusting the slow idle but I cant find the slow idle adjustment screw and the saddle bracket locking screw, or saddle bracket for that matter, that I keep hearing about. Granted Im using a streetlight... Are they near the fast idle rod and cam?

[Aaron C]

Hmm... I drove to BK just now and the gasoline smell sitting in the drive through was enough to get me probably pulled over. Man...

Pro-five-oh, about your injector idea, do you figure that they could be leaking enough during slow idle to run ultra rich and bog the engine down to stall? Of course this would be unnoticeable during any higher engine speed. That would surely explain the gas smell.

[pro-five-oh]

It may or may not be running rich, the injectors are probably not spraying very well anymore. Instead of shooting precisely like a laser beam, they are working more like floodlights.

Check fuel pressure, isolate the smell, and replace the injectors if needed. smile.gif

[Lankin]

I am kinda confused here.Does it die at idle no matter if in gear or in park?
Firt thing I thought of is the torque converter sticking.
Not sure if that car has a computer controlled overdrived or not.
As for if it dies all the time,in gear or out of gear,these fellas seem to be on the right track.

[Aaron C]

Well, the injectors seem to be working ok, maybe not like brand new but I dont think thats causing the idle issue. Im tight for cash with the moving to NY next weekend so swapping those out will be a last resort. Im actually wondering if it has something to do with the TPS. Or the ISC motor. Damn engine bay is so big I cant reach anything! I need a stool.

Oh, it happens in gear or out of gear, def not drivetrain related.

Just for kicks, where is that confounded idle adjustment screw and the 'saddle bracket'? Even if its just a band-aid, I need to do something. Someone please tell me, I'll send you cookies.

btw I hooked up a tach and when it falls down its about 400 rpm, real rough. Makin all sorts of clickety clang bang. Fun stuff...

[ December 23, 2003: Message edited by: Aaron C ]

[ December 23, 2003: Message edited by: Aaron C ]

[pro-five-oh]

None of the stuff you mentioned will cause a gas leak. I would suggest getting that gas smell taken care of FIRST and seeing if it will cure the other problem too. I don't want your Conti going up in flames on the way to NY. ;)

[Aaron C]

The gas smell is only in the exhaust, and its when its doing that lumpy 400 rpm idle. Otherwise it has no smell.

[Dereck]

Hi All

Lumpy idle, gas smell from the exhaust, have you thought it could just be a bad mis-fire such as a couple of bad plugs or the cap and rotor shorting out, maybe even the pick-up windings in the distributor.

Just some thoughts.

Regards

Dereck

[ December 24, 2003: Message edited by: Dereck ]

[Aaron C]

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Well the funny thing is nothing is wrong at all with partial or full throttle driving, you can gun it and zoom off and its like brand new. Come to a stop though, and the idle drops down to like 350-450 rpm. It doesnt usually stall, if just rumbles real bad. This is only when the car is warmed up. The high idle when it is cold is fine.
I know if I take this car to a mechanic around here of even the dealer, they're just going to want to throw parts at it, until I run out of money. Thats all mechanics seem to do these days. I cant ever seem to find a shop that doesnt have a gas station attached to it. Plus I dont even have time for that anyway, my next day off from work is moving day. :(

Back when I drove a '91 Honda Prelude, I used to take it to this shop in Natick MA called Master Mechanics, and they specialized in honda/acura cars. Anything that ever went wrong on your Honda, you call up the owner, chances are he's seen the same thing happen a zillion times and he already knows what it is, what it will cost, and has the parts waitin for ya. He would even tell you how to fix it yourself if you had the resouces. And he'd install junkyard parts for you. I miss that... We need a Ford shop like that around here. Either that or I just need to buy a damn house with a garage... right now I have to work out in the street parallel parked with all the bozo's.

heh, I just found a post in the MarkVII board about the exact same problem Im having, right here. (http://www.lincolnsonline.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=002958)
I emailed him to ask if he ever solved it. It was from august this year.

!!!Where is the screw to adjust the low idle?
Thanks for all your help guys, I really appreciate the time you take to answer my questions. Santa will be very good to you.

Ya'll have a pleasant holliday! ;)

[ December 24, 2003: Message edited by: Aaron C ]

[Aaron C]

Just an update for ya's, I figured out how to adjust the idle (its on a sticker on the fan shroud... thats what workin in the dark gets ya) and its runnin fine for now, I can concentrate on my moving. Once I get up there I'll investigate a little more. I need to borrow a fuel pressure guage from someone, unless anyone knows a cheap place to get one online or something. Sears wants like 40 bucks, I only need to use the thing once! I would just like to figure out why it happened in the first place. I think the actual throttle positioner actuator thing might be a little sloppy workin', maybe I'll hunt for a new one.

One thing I noticed in all this, the parking brake doesnt release itself like its supposed to (I never knew it was supposed to) but I cant find the vacuum line to see whats wrong. Is this common for them to not work?

[ekooke]

Aaron C,
There's a small vacuum-powered canister motor up under the dash that's supposed to release the parking brake when you shift thru Neutral to Drive. The canister rusts with age, and won't hold a vacuum. It's either that, a cracked/loose vacuum line, or the vacuum switch controlled by the gear selector lever.
About $35 for a new canister.

[Aaron C]

Thanks Ekooke, I didnt know about the canister, I'll check that out.