Our '93 Escort, Gilligan, ($400, 125K, manual and under our ownership for less than 6 months) has recently developed the shameful habit of chugging and glugging during acceleration, most specifically second and third gears, with the occasional hiccups at cruising speeds. If Gil is driven a little “harder” then there is little issue with supttering, but then we are killing our MPG and beating the crud out of his motor. Using a careful foot there are better “zones” that can be found via the accelerator than others, but no “safe zone”.
He has had several bottles of fuel injector cleaner, new spark plugs (the wires looked fairly new and clean), fuel filter and a replacement ignition coil pack, so these have been ruled out. I thought it might be the Mass Air Flow Sensor, so I drove him around with it unplugged, but that made no difference. We are kind of running out of ideas. We do not have the extra money or credit cards to take him to a proper mechanic and have just been dealing with it through a process of elimination. If there is a clog in a injector is it possible to “flush” it out or would he require a more in depth cleaning? Any help or ideas would be great!
What you’re doing is called “throwing parts at the car” in the hope that something will work.
If you can’t afford a mechanic at least buy a service manual, such as Haynes, and TEST things before you replace them. You could be throwing away money replacing things that are still working correctly.
A dirty fuel filter might be causing your problem. Have you replaced that? Testing the fuel pressure might also be a good idea.
A faulty Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) is also a possibility, but again, TEST it before you replace it.
Is a check engine light on? If so, read the code.
I have to imagine that you have a check engine light - yes? no?
You need a fuel pressure gauge.
What does it do when it idles?
Pull the vacuum line from the EGR, cap the line & the valve & see if that does anything.
The check engine light comes on intermittently, more for one of us then the other. Actually, now that I think about it, it has come on since the day we bought it. The sputtering has only been happening for a few months.
Comically, the places we have tried to take it for testing have said it is too old for thier equipment.
Gil idles just fine, and I will be checking the fuel pressure and the EGR next. Thank you all for your wonderful ideas and help. This is our first car with fuel injection (we are 70’s Toyota kids) so this is like a new language for us, and we are super grateful for your big brains and helpful advice!
From the OP: “He has had several bottles of fuel injector cleaner, new spark plugs (the wires looked fairly new and clean), fuel filter and a replacement ignition coil pack, so these have been ruled out.”
Check for vacuum leaks. especially the rubber elbow in the PCV line. They are a known problem in Escorts of this era.