Symptoms:

I have this Ford Escort Rough engine situation emailed to me yesterday. This is the vehicle owner’s actual words:

Hi..i have a 1999 Ford escort sedan and it runs very rough and will not accelerate past 40 mph because it seems like it will stall if you do…the service engine light soon light just turned on and i was wondering what to do? Should i check the spark plugs?

Diagnostics for Ford Escort Rough:

The standard procedure to check this engine rough problem is to find the engine fault code using the scanner. You can go to Auto parts store or any parts store near you and most of them will scan the codes FREE for for you.

Assuming there is a fault code since the check engine light is coming on, here are some possibilities:

Misfire codes:

This means engine misfiring and you can check that by doing a power test. If this car has an automatic tranny, put both feet on gas and brake pedals respectively and shift the gear in drive. If you rev it up to 2500 rpm, you should hear the engine missing. Check which spark plug is working if you test the misfiring with a screw driver end or use a $5 st 125 spark tester. Next, check engine compression to verify if the engine is mechanically sound. Note also that there are 2 types of misfire codes: random which is caused by a common culprit which makes the misfiring occur on all cylinders without any pattern of occurrence. Culprit could be a vacuum leak, faulty ignition coil, bad engine computer (engine control module), etc. Cylinder misfire will only appear on a particular cylinder. This is where you have to check which cylinder is not actually working and this can be tested by checking the engine compression, spark plug or wire, injector integrity and so forth. Henceforth, you really need to scan the code so we will know which misfiring type this car is having.

There are other Ford escort rough codes that can cause this but unless the code is identified, then you have to manually check each individual cylinders for signs of problem. This why scanner was implemented to diagnose this problem quickly. Without the code, more work than necessary is required to find the problem.

Here are some other possible codes causing this Ford Escort rough problem:

Bad engine sensor codes:

The scanner can detect if one of the engine sensor fails. It could be your performance or load sensors that will affect your acceleration (tps sensor), strength of your spark like crankshaft sensor, fuel control sensor such as camshaft and oxygen sensor, vehicle speed such as the vss or speed sensor.

Bad engine control module (ecm) codes:

The scanner can detect if the engine control module is failing which could cause by a lot of factors like bad ecm drivers, shorted wires and output devices. Example, if your alternator fails, that can sometimes damage the engine control module.

Fix for Ford Escort Rough problem:

No fix for this problem right now unless more engine inspection is done since the owner did not supply the fault code.

Thanks,

Richard

Please leave a comment below if you have any problem regarding Ford Escort Rough engine issues. ATS provides free trial assistance so you can sample our service. Please include a short problem history, a fault code if possible, engine size and model year.