Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance Off idle bog, like bad throttle response.

This weekend I spent both days in the garage changing the water pump, timing belt, and fixing the leaking AC condensation inside the car (which, BTW, was due to the spongy foam seal in the firewall).
Put it all back together, and the tip-in throttle response is crap. If you floor it right off idle, it hesitates like it's going to die, then revs. Car has ~60K on the clock. I've recently put new Motorcraft plugs in it, and I'm going to do the obvious tune-up type things in the next week or two, i.e new wires, fuel filter. Is there anything else I should know about that may cause this problem? Thanks in advance...

Brought up recently

Are you absolutely certain that you got the timing correct?

Well...99%. I'm going to pull the cover and the crank pulley next wekend to be sure. If it slipped, it's at the crank end and it would be retarded by a tooth. Do you think that could cause it?

Late static timing would make lower RPM range "lumpy" and unresponsive. Stalling, bucking, and hesitation are common.

Otherwise, you may have knocked something loose or left unplugged.

Sounds like you timing is off. You said in the other thread that you didn't lock the cams.....you absolutely have to....the cams WILL spin. You have to spin the cams 2 full revolutions to get the car at TDC so just marking the cam gears may have caused your problem. All it has to be is a tooth off for your car to run like crap.

The cams didn't "spin" when I pulled the timing belt. They moved just a little - at most a couple of teeeth. When I put the new belt on, I moved the cams back the small amount they moved to line up all the markings. The only point where I may have had a small "oops" is when I put spun the engine after lining everything up. I wrongly assumed that little spring would keep the tensioner pulled tight while I spun the engine, so when I intially moved the crank, the belt could have slipped a tooth at the crank. In hindsight, I should have looked when it was apart. Oh well...another couple hours work in the garage.
The funny part is the off idle response was crappy before I ever touched it. My wife yesterday told me that it's been geting more annoying lately. That leads me to believe i may have other issues. Other than that, it now runs just like it did before. Doesn't feel like a loss of power anywhere else. I rarely drive this car, so it's hard to make a comparison. I just know that it doesn't feel like it should. I'll know more next weekend. Thanks for the input guys...

I checked the timing tonight. Spot on. I also pulled the MAF sensor out and cleaned it with alcohol. It had a film of gunk over the lower wire. That had no effect on the throttle response. On with the plan...wires and fuel filter this weekend. Here's the timing and the markings I used (at the arrows) to set the timing exactly as it was before belt removal.

The standard procedure is written from a build perspective.
If you just want to slip on annother belt, I can see why loosening the cam bolts is not necessary. Your dot method (or is that the Phat method) will work also if the timing was OK, but if the timing was off you are just copying the wrong timing to the new belt.