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Joined: Feb 2001
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Hi,

Last Sat I was coming home from FL after Thanksgiving, some 600mi from home the WP gave it up somewhere in rural GA.
Luckily, I found a shop nearby who was willing to fix it the same day - it took them some 6 hrs to replace the pump.

Since then, the car idles VERY rough. Once I push the accelerator it runs smooth and fine, has power and everything, just the idle is horrible. The RPM is OK (800-900), it doesn't stall, just shakes.

Did a quick check, everything looks OK, I've reset the ECU, didn't help much.

I'm kinda puzzled by the rough idle <-> smooth drive thing... what can that be ?

Thanks,
Tiv

P.S. the car is a '97 Zetec MTX

Last edited by tiv; 11/30/04 10:13 PM.
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could be a small vacuum leak from a hose disconnected. Above idle, the air leak is small compared to the air entering the MAF, but at idle, it makes us a much higher percentage of the air entering the engine.

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They could have misaligned the cams. The timing belt must be removed to change the water pump. if they didnt lock the cams, the belt could have been reinstalled with the cams in the wrong location. If the shop is not near you, you could check it with minor disassembly.


· Jon Miconi · Coming Soon! · 01 Cougar · 98 V70R
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Yeah, I was also thinking about the timing belt... but shouldn't that show in loss of power at higher rpms ?

I had a half an hour today so checked a few things (removed timing belt cover, checked for belt tension, searched for loose bolts etc) so far everything looks OK.

I'll pull the valve cover this weekend and check the timing.

My other theory was, is it possible that one of the pullies
(PS or WP?) is kinda "sticking" or turns hard enough to make trouble at idle, but turns fine with more power ?
The accessory belt also looks fine btw, no squeaks, burnt smell etc.

thanks for the ideas,
Tiv


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