Escape starting problem.

[enjenjo]

My 2001 Escape with a 3.0 V6 starts fine cold, but once it's warmed up it starts, but take what to me is excessive cranking. Any how it's more than it needed in the past. Once it starts, it runs rough for a few seconds, then smooths out with no more problems. I see in some places that the IAC can cause this problem, but I don't want to just start changing parts. Thanks in advance.

[kb426]

My 1st thought is to unplug the iac and run the throttle manually while starting to see if there is any difference. I would unplug it while idling when warm to see if it dies. That will tell you if the throttle body is completely closed at idle. That will allow some insight into whether it should run with it unplugged. I have had to clean iac's before. I have found carbon buildup that impede's air flow. I haven't had a failure of the stepper motor yet. Might be lucky on that.

[Arnold]

My 01 Focus 4cyl had a similar problem. I never even looked at it :oops:..just had no idea where to even start. I just took it to our local garage that does some of my stuff. There was a small crack in a vacuum hose way down between the firewall and the engine. Not even sure if this thing could even be seen? They had another Focus there and took the hose off it and put it on my car. Sorry..I can't remember the hose part name. End of problem. Took them like no time and did not even charge me. Hope yours is that simple. They said the crack caused the computer to see leaner and adjust to richer..and that was why it ran rough after a re-start..until it had to re-adjust again. Made sense to me..then I headed out to bring the shop back coffee and doughnuts..$30 ouch Sure cheaper than a "normal" repair bill

[Beck]

I had a hard start problem with a 2000 Silverado 5.3. I finally fixed it by taking the throttle body off and cleaning up the back side of the butterfly. I wouldn't have thought of it without someone else pointing me that direction.

[wayne petty]

cleaning the throttle bore around the blade/blades and the front and back side of the throttle  blades is always a good idea..


some fords have a green teflon coating you really don't want to wash off with solvents.. those will just wipe clean.

i usually spray brake cleaner or carb cleaner on a white shop towel or terry towel.. wipe the throttle body bore and the blades..  this restores the amount of air bypassing the throttle blades..  when the carbon builds up.. the idle air control cannot retract far enough to make up for this..

this effects many cars.. hondas. toyotas, fords, chevy, dodges,,

with your stumbling issue.. i would love for you to change out the fuel filter.. when you remove it.. blow thru it in the normal direction of flow and see how clogged it is.. you may want to stick a bottle over the disconnected fuel line from the back.. and have somebody cycle the key on for 2 seconds.. this will turn on the fuel pump and purge any trapped sediment between the pump and the filter inlet..  sometimes when i do this i get a few inches of sediment out.. other times its clear. . it's totally random..

the 20 buck HF fuel injection tester has the proper fitting to test ford fuel pressure test ports.. i would love for you to watch the speed at which the fuel pressure comes up at  key on..  should be instant to 38/39 psi.. if it takes 2 or 3 seconds.. you may have a worn out fuel pump..

with a digital volt meter that has at least a 10 AMP DC setting.. some have 15 or 20 AMP DC settings.. you can probe the fuel pump fuse socket..  with the fuse removed.. while you squeeze the fuel pump relay after pulling the cover off the relay.. this powers the fuel pump up and allows you to monitor the fuel pump amp draw over several minutes.. it should start slightly higher and within a second drop and be totally stable.   years ago.. a forum member had an olds that would die after 20 minutes.. the fuel pump pulled more and more current..


 while you have the volt meter out..  set it to 20 volts DC..  with the engine running.. back probe the 2 wires at the inertia switch.. you should get close to 0.00...  you may have to turn the meter to 2 volts DC scale.  if you get more than 0.01 volts across the inertia switch.. replace it.. the contacts are corroded and it will overheat and fail soon.

sorry to drop in and build a massive wall of text..

here .. have something i would love on my mantle.. if i had one.. https://imgur.com/ZO06IwQ   makes me shiver just looking at it.