Car runs fine, while it's getting gas... If I park the car or come to a stop light or whatever, the car will sometimes start surging. It's not radical but it almost seems like the car starts to miss a little and then evens itself back out but starts missing again a second or two later and continues doing so until I either start going again or just tap the gas a little. Any idea what it might be? I know its got a brand new MAF on it and I don't have any other kind of idea that could be causing a problem like that.

My Zetec had a "irregular idle" the whole time I had it.

As did mine. From time to time, it would do exactly what you described. I don't know what could've caused it though...

Put me down as another zetec owner with the exact same behavior you describe. Idle in mine actually improves with the A/C on, too... guess thats cuz it kicks the RPM's up slightly.

I noticed mine does that too, maybe it's normal.
Mine mostly occurs after start up, sometimes down the road I can feel a slight bit of a surge but I give it a little gas and it's fine.

Yep, add one more to the list. It's usually when I'm at a light but putting it in neutral seems to help.

My zetec idles fine. The only idle problem its had is on cold mornings, maybe 1 or 2 times a year, it'll stall out when sitting in the driveway with the heat on.

The things I think you should look at are vacuum leaks, EGR, and IAC. And of course all normal maintenance stuff like double plat plugs, fuel filter, pcv valve, etc.

Intake Manifold Gasket.

Mine started off with a random poor idle. It turned into having to hold the brake and give it gas while at lights.

When the gasket gets old, it can't seal sometimes because of the temperature difference between the head and the manifold.

The problem is magnified on cold days.

HTH,
BP

Frog and Button...

Thanks for the tips on the non-routine stuff like EGR, IAC, and intake man gaskets. Good suggestions.

I'm going to take a look at all of these and see if I can't get mine to idle a little better. I think I'll start by spraying some carb cleaner or pointing some propane at the intake gasket area and see if the idle picks up noticeably, then check the other stuff as well.

seems to me that it has to do with the tranny. do any of you who responded have a manual transmission. my sorta does it too as does my sister's escort (both autotrannies). hence putting it in neutral would solve the "problem" by taking the stress off the engine of holding the transmission back. HTH.

caleb d.

MTX here

It's a combination of the load on the motor and the engine speed. When you have a vacuum leak at high rpms, it is less noticable. At low rpms, it is much more difficult to keep your engine running because of how slow that it is turning. It kind of like having a wild cam. They don't have much vacuum and idle like crap.

I doubt that it only applies to ATXs. It just that because the ATX never truely disengages, it makes the problem easier to spot. (the intake gasket leak) when you engage the clutch on a MTX Zetec, there is no load on the motor besides the accessories. (alternator, waterpump, etc.)

BTW, for you guys that want to replace yours, it is a full weekend project. You have to take off the alternator, alternator bracket, and passenger motor mount. You will learn alot about your Zetec in the process.

For the Pre-98's, also plan on cleaning your intake. The EGR really gunks it up and robs you of power. Soaking it in 8 gallons of Castrol Superclean overnight makes it as clean as new.


BP

Chalk me up for crap idle as well!
Mine is irregular and intermittant so good luck finding it. Did all the regular checks plus the EGR,IAC etc..
Last week I filled my tank and added some TCW-3 sled oil and it has helped. It is running better and the gas mileage is up.

mine shakes pretty bad sometimes, it's just the engine.

i've gotten used to it sadly...when i drive a different car, it feels weird to be idle and have it not shake, i need that to keep me awake..lol

I don't think the Zetec is supose to shake. That is not normal operation of our engines. I have the 98 with VCT. 2 things I've done that has helped alot.

1. Front rear motor mounts, they cost 11 bucks for the rubber inserts and can be done by the DIYer.

2. Follow the PCV line to the back side of the engine where it goes back into rubberline and connects to the intake man. This line gets soft and will flatten, clampping off the draw.

After finding those 2 things my engine is damn near shake free. Before, I could feel my face vibrating with the rest of the car.

My g/f has a 96 mystique with the zetec and atx. it basically has that same rough idle. however if i put it in neutral and rev it, it wont rev past 4500 it starts to bounce back almost like hitting a rev limiter....it has approx 66k on. any ideas as to whats causing the revs to drop down?

Rev limiter

Quit doing that

Thats to keep people who want to get their motor up to 4500 from blowing it up and then wondering why it happened.

Yeah my 96 MTX has the same problem, I can't say it really shakes besides in the winter

4500 is nothing....try reving to 7500.

My escort will do 7500 stock. Well 7200 fuel cut and 7500 hard limiter. It doesn't seem to mind it.

I've had my Zetec 1995 GL up to 220kmh.
Someone must have shut my rev limiter off?
I don't have a tach but it must have been around 6000rpm.
My idle is very up and down. Some days it runs fine? No cels either. Keep hunting I guess.

my car HAD strange ideling problem about a week ago. ive read many posts and most people tell me that i should change PCV valve. so i did and guess what it idles like a baby now. i honestly dont knwo what the part does but when i went into AUTOZONE and told them " I need this part that makes your car idle smoother" and they were like possible PCV. so i got it it was like 3 bucks. and now its all good.hopefully this could help you

My MTX gives me the same problems. It's only every once in a while just like everyone has been saying. I noticed it get worse with the heater on(Great Ohio weather). I didn't notice a difference with whether or not the clutch was pressed or not, just with what accessories were on. I had my lights, fogs, heater, and radio on. Idles low enough to give you a good rattle.

Well looks like my g/f's 97 mystique (zetec atx) took a turn for the "not so much better" she was sitting at a drive thru today in "drive" and said that almost as soon as she turned the radio on the car just died, no stuttering just died. she said she turned it right back on and and it died a few minutes later, it did it one more time before she was able to calmly drive off. the car has 73k on it, it has the rough idling problem and the timing belt cover clicking. I was planning to do the plugs, wires, and pcv valve ina few weeks and clean out the egr. any ideas if this would be related or not? I was thinking possibly a coil pack problem or an alternator? Thanks in advance guys