Hi guys.

This is the problem;

Of a morning when I start the car it will hardley start unless givin some throttle.

Once it starts it hunts idle from around 100rpm too 300rpm barley idles, again you have to give it throttle to keep it going or it will stall.

It also backfires when doing this. Once it warms up and you turn it off, it will start like normal, It only does it once its been sitting there for a few hours.

When driving along the highway and giving it a bootfull it will miss and backfire and carry on really bad. Quite embarrising.. Sounds like a WRX..

What ive done to try to fix the problem;

Replaced the leads
Replaced the plugs
Cleaned the ISC (when i done this I put a bit of gasket goo on the seal and gasket would this affect anything?)
Cleaned the air filter.

Any other idea's guys, Im thinking fuel filter maybe? I run nothing but BP ultimate, so it can't be a s**t batch of fuel it's been doing it for about a month or so..

Cheers, Rob

Sounds like you have a problem with the ISC solenoid or the ECU.

Simple check is to remove the electrical plug to the ISC and see if your car still behaves the same.
If it still behaves the same regardles of the plug being removed, measure the resistance of the ISC solenoid which should be 9.6 ohms +/- 10%,
If the resistance is not OK, replace your ISC solenoid.

If the resistance is OK, check that the red wire has +12V at the ISC electrical plug when the ignition is ON.
If the voltage check is not OK, then you have a short in your wiring somewhere between the fuel pump relay, EEC or ISC plug - start hunting
If the voltage check is OK, check that the grey/white wire at pin 83 of the ECU has +12V when the engine is ON and the ISC electrical plug is inserted.
If the voltage check is not OK, then you have a short in your wiring between the ISC plug and EEC pin 83 - start hunting
If the voltage check is OK, then switch on your headlights and the voltage at pin 83 should drop.
If the voltage does not drop, replace your ECU is stuffed.

If all the above were OK, then clean your ISC valve and throttle body. Best to use a new gasket for the ICS and throttle body as they are not expensive and better than gasket goo if you happen use too much and it gets to where it shouldn't.
Then check for vacuum leaks.
Then check your base idle and base timing using a specific procedure.
Possibly replace your fuel pump relay as they are sometimes doggy from what i have read.

Again if all the above were OK, then replace your fuel filter (knowing that they are changed every 100,000kms and also knowing that shell sold a large batch of stuffed aviation fuel that clogged up filters and injection system in many a vehicle some few years ago).

If you have checked and verified all the above, then its time to look at the crank sensor, cam sensor and coolant and air temp sensors. Before doing that though, check for any hard/soft EEC fault codes using a diode, resistor and a few short wires. http://www.fordmods.com/forums/documents.php?doc=52 describes the EEC fault codes for your EF.

After all your checking, cleaning and repairing, it's probably a good idea to clear all the fault codes and/or reset your ECU.
If you do reset your ECU, then you should calibrate the throttle sensor and/or ECU, described on a post somewhere.

Cheers.

Thanks for your reply mate, Ill give all that stuff ago, and hopefully wont have to go hunting too much..

cheers
rob

If you are running a single coil (and dizzy) get your coil tested out.

If it's coil pack ... then it might be one of those that could be faulty.

a mate of mine is experiencing the same problems, sometimes it sounds like a wrxy, and sometimes it runs fine... This was only after we changed his cam, and then changed it back to normal... and its still doing it... I was thinking something along the lines of cam timing, but it wouldn't have just moved, so think of the last thing you fiddled with.


Cheers