I'm starting this thread tonight that I'll be updating after I go to the mechanic this week. My 1999 Ford Escort SE started stuttering and riding hard last night on the way up to see my fiance. I hit some extremely heavy rain and very light flooding on a major interstate on the way, as I was coming through one of the cities halfway between us. That's when it started.
When I would accelerate from around 40 MPH to 60 MPH, the car would start to ride hard, almost stuttering or shuttering. Like a quick series of hesitations, the car would feel like it was jerking a bit. It would clear up around 65 MPH or so, but I did experience it between 70 - 80 MPH for a few minutes.
I'm at about 82K miles on the thing, after being bought around 40K. Never had any serious problem with my fuel injectors sticking, and I just had the engine decoked at around 70K. Other than some problems with an improperly installed fuel filter, an IAC valve that wanted to go bad a lot, and one leak in my EVAP system, the car didn't give me much trouble.
I stopped during the rain, after feeling it stutter a few times, filled up the tank, and put in an engine treatment that would remove water, an STP brand I believe. Didn't do any good. It still stuttered in that MPH range on the rest of the way up, but the rain slacked off, so I could easily keep it above 70 MPH for the rest of the trip, letting it ride smooth.
On the way back down, it kept stuttering in the same MPH range. Then it got bad and the Check Engine Light started flashing, indicating the engine was misfiring.
A friend of mine theorized that perhaps the Escort took up some of the water and maybe it got in the distributor. I did a quick bit of research about that, consulting the Haynes manual for Ford Escorts & and Mercury Tracers, 1991 - 2000. However, The engine, a 2.0L SPI (Slit Port Injection?) engine that 1999 Ford Escort SEs have, doesn't have an distributor, like many newer engines. However, the theory may still be helpful—I may have water in my ignition system.
Of course, it could be many other things causing me to misfire. As long as I drive it smooth it seems okay.
I'm going to see a local mechanic tomorrow and I'll probably update this entry with any details.
The problem was caused by faulty spark plug wires. A tune-up seemed to do the job and the car seems to be riding a lot smoother. Cost: $150.
Current total: $1665
What a weekend. I hit 70k in my Escort not too long ago and being the responsible me, I took the POS in for the regular maintenance. $Cha-ching$ TCO goes up another $230. In addition to all of the standard stuff they do at 70k, I needed the engine decarboned, a new drive belt, and my brakes looked at.
Current total: $1515
And not 10 minutes after driving off the lot, the ghost of Henry Ford popped up again to torment me. The damn engine light came on AGAIN. I'm 99% sure it is the %$@#% IAC valve that I've had replaced several times acting up again. Funny thing is, looking through referrer logs for LAB-Y, I get a lot of hits from people for info on Escorts with IAC valve problems. What the hell was Ford thinking?
So it's another trip to the dealership soon. At least I can hold out, as it won't cause me noticeable problems. Hopefully, it will still be under warranty, like last time. Replacing it then didn't cost me a dime (not even for the diagnosis).
This Sunday I took my car into the local Walmart for an oil change. This overdue oil change unfortunately waited a thousand miles or two over the suggested miles between such fun events. I decided to make a stop down at the local Walmart, the purveyor of everything good, cheap, American, and plastic for the scheduled maintenance.
At Walmart I found that the last mechanic who had worked on my car kindly stripped the oil plug, the technical name for the thingy that holds the oil in the bottom of your car. The tired looking Walmart technician (wannabe mechanic who works the desk) informed me that they can remove it but they can't replace it. A 99 Escort model apparently isn't an oil plug they carry, as it isn't exactly a popular car in SUV land. It looked like it had to have come from a Ford shop.
The local Ford place in my parent's hometown did my last oil change. The assholes had snuck it in on a 60K mile maintenance, just after my previous oil change. The sticker stated a clear mileage beyond the then current odometer reading but they did it anyway. These are the same fuckups that tried to kill me by leaving my fuel filter halfway installed and not fixing my IAC valve. Great to leave someone driving away in a car that stops all of the time—thanks to the IAC valve it may die while idling—and a fuel filter that could explode any time I crank the damn thing.
They must have it out for me or something.
Sometimes cars seem to get more use out of me, dragging their asses around to be repaired, than I get out of them, driving.
I'm with Les on this one. Fsck fixing cars. Like he points out, you can save money that way, but I say only if your time has no value. Fsck fixing cars. My time is worth something—a hell of a lot more something than what I pay someone to change my oil.
Unlike Les, I didn't have an opportunity to learn to fix them. The only mechanically inclined parental figure (or something) I knew was my biological father, who skipped out on me early in life. The father who raised me wasn't as mechanical but faithfully paid others to maintain his vehicle, right on schedule. Personally, I agree with Les, when he said "my plan was to have a decent enough job that I could afford to pay someone else to fix my car."
I'll never forget one of the guys I worked with at my previous job. He was a chemical engineering major working a summer job as a programmer who always did all of his own car maintenance. And not just the easy stuff, he did almost all of it, including the difficult stuff. I've never seen someone with a supposedly working set of wheels have to ask for so many rides to work. Having only a few hours in the evenings and the weekends to do his repairs, his vehicle spent a lot of time out of commission.
So fsck fixing your own car. Pay someone else to do it.
The Ford place I took my car to today found the code in my computer was set indicating the Idle Air Control valve was stuck at a high idle. Just like I thought. I have to give it up to Ford, though—having it replaced again cost me absolutely nothing. Not a cent. We'll see how this valve works out.
Fuck it, I won't lie, my ride is a joke
God damn it. Really.
Yet again, the engine light in my 1999 Ford Escort has graced me with its dreadful luminance. It's back like a bad habit I can't get rid of and I'm FUCKING SICK of it. Ahem. Sorry.
My best guess is that the source of the sickly light is, once again, the idle solenoid, also known as the IAC valve. I don't know if Ford designs them to fail every few months, if the stars have aligned to produce another random failure in mine, or if somehow an unknown fault in my car causes them to fail, but that fucker had better be covered under warranty. Otherwise I'm going to be very mad.
I've got an appointment with Ford "service" this weekend.
My girlfriend is coming into town this weekend! At least I should have a good time waiting on some idiot mechanic to tell me he doesn't have the part available to replace in my car. Wait, I was trying to be positive. Should be a good weekend.
I did get all of my Xmas shopping done, except for my Girlfriend's Mother (all in one day). What do you get your significant other's mother?
Somehow it is another Sunday but the story seems the same—I'm back for the weekend to begin another day at my hopeless job. I haven't had 10 minutes to live for myself, but life doesn't give a fuck what I want to live for, so I guess it doesn't matter. *grits hits teeth and sets his alarm clock*
That check from Courtesy Ford came in the mail with the reimbursement I requested for their shit job with my fuel filter. For their idiocy, I should have demanded more but that is what I get for being a reasonable guy. With this in mind, I took the ride in to have them address the reason my fucking engine light was on again. They didn't find anything wrong and suggested the other Ford place just didn't clear my computer last time. Whatever. They didn't charge me anything to simply clear it so from this point I'm just going to watch it and see what happens.
This past Saturday, I had that IAC valve installed in my car at a Ford place in another city, no worries there. The mechanic also addressed the starting problem and that smell of petroleum in the cabin of the car.
Turns out that Courtesy Ford didn't install my fuel filter properly when they did the 60K mile scheduled maintenance, leaving a dangerous fuel leak in my car. This was the cause of the smell inside my car. So here's a bit of advice, if your fuel efficiency drops about 10-15 mpg and you smell gas inside your car, take it in immediately.
The mechanic at this Ford place was quite courteous (no pun intended) and charged me only a half-hour of maintenance labor to fix the problem. However, Courtesy Ford still left my vehicle and my life in grave danger with their bumbling.
Below is a copy of the letter I faxed them.
September 13, 2003
Courtesy Ford
XXXX XXXXXXXXX St.
XXXXXXXX, XX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX XXXXXX Ave.
XXXXXX XXXXX, XX XXXXXDear Service Manager:
On September 6th, 2003, I brought my 1999 Ford Escort LX to Courtesy Ford for a scheduled 60,000-mile maintenance and to address a problem with my idle air control valve. As a part of the scheduled maintenance, your mechanics replaced my fuel filter. However, they were unable to replace the idle air control valve because the part was unavailable.
Unfortunately, the fuel filter was installed incorrectly. When I drove the vehicle off of the lot, the cabin smelled of petroleum and the car had difficulty starting. I assumed this was due to some problem related to the IAC valve that was not replaced.
On September 13th, 2003, I brought my Escort to Ford-Lincoln-Mercury to have the IAC valve replaced. At that time, William Wilson, the Service Advisor of XXXXXXX Ford noticed that the fuel filter was incorrectly installed, causing a leak of gasoline. This left my car in a dangerous state, according to Mr. Wilson, that could have resulted a fire causing in "total loss of the vehicle."
With this fax, please find included a copy of the invoice I received from XXXXXX Ford-Lincoln Mercury. They removed and reinstalled the fuel filter of my Escort. I request that Courtesy Ford reimburse me for this cost in the amount of $24.50. This covers one half-hour of maintenance labor—a small sum, considering the danger to my vehicle and my person resulting from the negligence by your mechanic.
If you have any questions or concerns about this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can reach me on my cellular phone at (XXX) XXX-XXXX. Please leave a voice-mail message and I will return your call. You can reach Mr. Wilson at XXXXXXX Ford-Lincoln-Mercury at (XXX) XXX-XXXX. He will be happy to explain any of the details that may be unclear.
Sincerely,
Freeshell.org member homepages were having issues but they seem to be back up. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I forgot to add: I spent $65 this weekend to have the IAC valve installed and the fuel filter reinstalled.
Current total: $1285
Courtesy Ford told me over the phone today that they would be happy to reimburse me for the amount I requested. Fucking super.
Something you never want to hear your boss say. But since the company I work for apparently thinks software is free and it takes zero time to write, I didn't get 5 minutes to myself today. But oh well, I don't have to work weekends yet. [Bitch mode off.] I'm glad I have a job.
Here is a quick run down of recent shit that has gone wrong with my car, a used 1999 Ford Escort, which I bought in August of 2002. I'm keeping a running total of how much I spend on maintaining it, minus very small things like oil changes.
Okay, this one isn't Ford's fault but it set me back $200. I busted a flat on the way home and had to replace two of the tires. This is the first major maintenance I had to make.
Current total: $200
On the way back from New Orleans, not too long ago, my car sprung a leak in the EVAP system of the air conditioning—not a horrible problem but it caused the engine light to come on. Set me back over $150 to fix it. This is supposed to be common on Escorts according to the Goodyear mechanic I took it to.
Current total: $350
Shortly after that the engine light comes on to annoy me again. This time it is the idle air control valve that determines the amount of air your car consumes when sitting idle. It stuck, but thankfully not at 0%, which would have caused my car to die every time it idled (think being suffocated under a pillow). The same Goodyear mechanic didn't see much wrong with the solenoid so he cleaned it and reset the computer. That cost me about $100. Then I went ahead and installed two new tires to have 4 new, which cost me another $200.
The fucked up thing is, the idle solenoid problem didn't go away. The engine light came back on not too much later.
Current total: $650
This time, rather than going to the previous mechanic, I went to an official Ford mechanic. Since I bought my car at approximately 40K miles and I was at 63K, I figured it was a good time to get the scheduled 60K mile maintenance. (Very expensive.) I also needed break work, as I was hearing a high-pitched squealing while driving (but not breaking, strangely enough). They looked at the idle solenoid but didn't have one on hand to replace it. All-in-all it cost me right about $500. It did fix the squealing, however.
The only upside of the Ford place is they were open on Saturday. But after going there, my car is now having problems starting! The fun never fucking stops.
Current total: $1150
I called the Ford place in the city where my girlfriend lives and had them order an idle solenoid for about $70. This Saturday I'm going up there to have it installed and have them address the starting problems.
Current total: $1220