Post by feardamichael on Nov 5, 2018 21:34:46 GMT -5
Cross posted - more information here:
www.feoa.net/threads/’98-zx2-help.113190/
Hey all,
I'm Michael. I've been looking at getting a zx2 escort for a while now as a fun daily that I could learn to autocross in. I'm always looking for deals on cars to fix up. I've got a 99 cavalier and the motor needs rebuilt that my girlfriend is gonna be helping me with, I got a 2006 Kia for $400 and put a couple hundred into it and that's currently my daily.
So when I saw a 1998 Escort ZX2 for sale for $320 I couldn't resist. The car wouldn't idle and would only rev so far until it acted like it was hitting redline. In gear, the car wouldn't accelerate on its own throughout the lower rev range, I ended up driving halfway home between 10 and 20mph with the car stalling at stoplights. However, I hit a downhill section of road and that, combined with my foot on the pedal, I was able to get the car right up to 50-60mph and when I'd hit the pedal after that, it'd kick down into a lower gear and accelerate. Gear changes were fairly smooth all the way home so I'm not too worried about the transmission. I was hearing sort of popcorn sounding noises at higher rpm's on the way home but they were quiet and honestly sounded like light pinging.
Regardless of cold or hot, if you start the car it starts and then suddenly stalls. If you start it with your foot on the gas, it'll start and run, just not too well. If you floor it in park, it'll sometimes act as if it's hitting a rev limiter between 2000 and 2500 rpm. If this happens, if you keep your foot on the pedal it'll drop slowly down to about 1200rpm and then die. Other times it'll rev all the way up to redline. When this happens, occasionally, if you let off the gas it'll idle decently but usually that isn't the case.
I ran a compression test and got
1- 150psi
2-143psi
3- 150psi
4- 150psi
I ran a fuel pressure test and got 35 psi with it running, however, my fuel pressure tester was acting up so I'm not 100% on that. I do know if I hit that schraeder valve on the rail, though, gas sprays out a ton. I replaced the fuel filter even, just to be sure. No oil in coolant or coolant in oil. I thought maybe a clogged cat so I pulled the exhaust to no avail. I changed plugs and tested for spark, it's bright blue and jumps a solid couple inches on every plug. I pulled the valve cover thinking that maybe it sat too long and the exhaust cam had come out of alignment, something I read about, but everything looked to be lined up right up top. The belt looks to be good and has good tension and the pulleys all look okay. Tested the TPS with a multimeter and it tested okay. Tested the MAF wiring and it's got power and both grounds to it, and the signal wire's voltage seemed to change smoothly when the engine RPM's increased, but I wasn't able to get the engine to rev all the way to verify 100%.
I'm stumped. If I unplug the MAF it won't start. If I leave it plugged in, but disconnect the intake tube from the throttle body, the car starts and idles much longer, a minute or two, and then slowly it dies. I can't find any vacuum leaks, and I really am not sure where to go next on this car.
Any help will definitely be appreciated. Thanks so much for reading all this.
www.feoa.net/threads/’98-zx2-help.113190/
Hey all,
I'm Michael. I've been looking at getting a zx2 escort for a while now as a fun daily that I could learn to autocross in. I'm always looking for deals on cars to fix up. I've got a 99 cavalier and the motor needs rebuilt that my girlfriend is gonna be helping me with, I got a 2006 Kia for $400 and put a couple hundred into it and that's currently my daily.
So when I saw a 1998 Escort ZX2 for sale for $320 I couldn't resist. The car wouldn't idle and would only rev so far until it acted like it was hitting redline. In gear, the car wouldn't accelerate on its own throughout the lower rev range, I ended up driving halfway home between 10 and 20mph with the car stalling at stoplights. However, I hit a downhill section of road and that, combined with my foot on the pedal, I was able to get the car right up to 50-60mph and when I'd hit the pedal after that, it'd kick down into a lower gear and accelerate. Gear changes were fairly smooth all the way home so I'm not too worried about the transmission. I was hearing sort of popcorn sounding noises at higher rpm's on the way home but they were quiet and honestly sounded like light pinging.
Regardless of cold or hot, if you start the car it starts and then suddenly stalls. If you start it with your foot on the gas, it'll start and run, just not too well. If you floor it in park, it'll sometimes act as if it's hitting a rev limiter between 2000 and 2500 rpm. If this happens, if you keep your foot on the pedal it'll drop slowly down to about 1200rpm and then die. Other times it'll rev all the way up to redline. When this happens, occasionally, if you let off the gas it'll idle decently but usually that isn't the case.
I ran a compression test and got
1- 150psi
2-143psi
3- 150psi
4- 150psi
I ran a fuel pressure test and got 35 psi with it running, however, my fuel pressure tester was acting up so I'm not 100% on that. I do know if I hit that schraeder valve on the rail, though, gas sprays out a ton. I replaced the fuel filter even, just to be sure. No oil in coolant or coolant in oil. I thought maybe a clogged cat so I pulled the exhaust to no avail. I changed plugs and tested for spark, it's bright blue and jumps a solid couple inches on every plug. I pulled the valve cover thinking that maybe it sat too long and the exhaust cam had come out of alignment, something I read about, but everything looked to be lined up right up top. The belt looks to be good and has good tension and the pulleys all look okay. Tested the TPS with a multimeter and it tested okay. Tested the MAF wiring and it's got power and both grounds to it, and the signal wire's voltage seemed to change smoothly when the engine RPM's increased, but I wasn't able to get the engine to rev all the way to verify 100%.
I'm stumped. If I unplug the MAF it won't start. If I leave it plugged in, but disconnect the intake tube from the throttle body, the car starts and idles much longer, a minute or two, and then slowly it dies. I can't find any vacuum leaks, and I really am not sure where to go next on this car.
Any help will definitely be appreciated. Thanks so much for reading all this.