"bouncing" upon power delivery

I have the exact same problem you described. I also have a grinding noise at low rpms. After further inspection, I found out that the sound comes from the clutch . I have ordered a spec stage 1 clutch and I am going to install it soon. I hope it solves the problem, it is pretty annoying in traffic jams...

My biggest problem now is that I received my clutch but they sent me the wrong one. Instead of a contour zetec clutch they sent me an escort zetec clutch. Man, I will have to wait another couple of weeks before I finally get my clutch fixed.

Originally posted by Oo.et.oO:

how would the TPS affect this? it feels directly applied to the rate at which i apply power, and i have NO other symptoms.

The TPS is bad when its output is not 'smooth' anymore, or
it generates a large transient (change in resistance) on
a slight change of the throttle plate.
I don't know if it applies to you or not, but typical
tps failure symptoms are car bucking and hard shifts even
if you try to feather the gas as much as you can.

T.

This may be an ignition issue, but a couple more checks on the drivetrain should help confirm the problem. Try loading the engine as Roger mentions with the Ebrake on and the hood open so you can see if the engine is raising or twisting much. Does the clutch chatter heavily if you load the clutch quickly. (i.e. 'almost' dump the clutch with the ebrake on) If you load in reverse and then load in 1st is there a lot more slack than if your just loading from neutral? If you pull hard from 2nd gear at about 10 mph how many bounces till it smooths out? Is it worse if you try the same thing from 3rd gear? I just cleared up a low speed stutter that turned out to be wires that were only about 2 weeks old.

My money is on the plugs & wires. There were some extensive postings on these issues recently, & its fairly easy to correct.

If the problem is like mine, it is not related to an ignition failure. The engine is not jumping rpms or bucking, the car just bounces after applying the throttle. Just like if there was a delay from the time you press on the gas pedal and the time the car moves. Note that there is no delay with the rpm. This results in a hard take off and your head going back and forth like the first time you drove manual. Well, anyways, my problem is like that and I think your problem is similar.

Komet seems to be on the money.

the engine runs and sounds like it is running fine even when applying throttle. this and my new parts (since it was time, didn't due plugs and wires to isolate this problem), makes me think that it's drivetrain problem(s). not engine problems like plugs/wires or TPS.

engine does not stutter, and note i HAVE had bad wires before and have had multiple cars that were misfiring so i know what that's like.

i think i'm going to have to wait until spring to due the clutch although i do have a second car now so maybe it's a good time.

Never done a clutch before

it doesn't chatter excesively when i take off quickly. just a little more than it should.
do these cars have more slack in them than others? anyone notice? because i see a HUGE difference when driving my car and others (hyundia evos (in chile, what a POS), wrx, wrx, golf, my old golf, a mustang, a saab). i'll wait until Komet does his i guess as i'm not tackling this install until i have a reasonable idea that it will help.

my car has about 60k miles on it on the original clutch and second owner. I happen to know original driver is quite good.

Quote:

1. something in the drivetrain feels like it's "bouncing"...
2. my car has been giving me this trouble for at least a year and recently got much worse...
3. the motormounts seem fine...
4. my car has about 60k miles...
5. makes me think that it's drivetrain problem(s).
etc., etc.

IMHO, I think you have already figured this one out. You have repeatedly mentioned that the problem feels mechanical and that it is in the drivetrain. Are these the original motor mounts? If so, at 60k miles on a MTX they are most likely shot even though they "seem" fine. The mounts slowly give out, not all at once, so it is not as noticable until they get to the totally shot point. This is just as you described in your point #2. Even if they are not, there about due and you would still be WAY ahead of the game replacing them with new SVT mounts with the urethane inserts. Your descriptions of the symptoms are classic motor mount failure.

If you have not replaced your mounts I'll bet your problem goes away when you DO replace them.

Sorry if I appear to be coming off overly cocky/confident on this, but you are describing exactly what I went through with my mounts. Please let us know how you made out on this. We all try to help out here and knowing the resolution to a situation helps expand our collective knowledge base.

so i really don't think it's the engine/tranny mounts at all because the engine just does NOT rock. i watched it while engaging the clutch and disengaging while on the brakes and it moves no more than a millimeter or two.

Komet, how goes your clutch install?

i think i'm still covered under extened warantee so i might just have to bring it in to ford, at least for a diagnosis. if it's the clutch i dunno if it will be covered...

i'll keep us updated.

I have this problem, it's not very bad, it doesn't necessarily bother me. I know it is not my clutch because It's only got about 10,000 miles or so on it. The old clutch did it, so does this one. I test drove a different SVT before mine and it did it too, I just thought it was something these cars do. Let us know if you figure it out tho, I wouldn't mind gettin rid of it.

And it is NOT anything ignition related. Anotehr way to explain it i guess would be you have two gears next to each other and they should fit together perfectly with no slack but they don't,it feels like the slot for the tooth of the gear is too big and the tooth bounces b/n the two walls of the slot for a second and then catches and takes off. At least that's what mine feels like.

Quote:

so i really don't think it's the engine/tranny mounts at all

Sorry to hear it wasn't the mounts because that would have been a simple, relatively inexpensive fix! Keep us posted.

so the dealer thinks it's the MAF which seems like a load of crap to me, since the engine doesn't surge or rev when the car "bounces".
but i'm going to bring it home and do new plugs and wires AGAIN

("borrowed" a set

), clean the MAF, TB, IAC, UIM and see what happens.

they "confirmed" the "bucking, jerking" (their words not mine).

then ran the computer self test which passed
scanned the PIDs for the MAF and found that
the "barro PID" was at 147, which basically means the car thinks i'm at 5000 ft, i assume barro stands for barrometer for measureing atmospheric pressure.

anyone seen this before? did cleaning the MAF help?

and on a related question, assume i do the above work, it doesn't help, so i replace (even temporarily) the MAF, which doesn't work, so i replace the clutch which fixes my problem. what are my chances on getting a refund from ford, based on a "misdiagnosis", for the diagnosis charge (~$60)?

If I were you..... I would try EVERYTHING else before the clutch. I've done this job and it's definitely not a job for the beginner. If you do it Ford's way, you'll need an A frame to support the motor after you've dropped the front subframe to get the transaxle out. It's the method I used but next time I'm going to remove the whole motor & transaxle as it looks way easier, plus I won't have to d**k around with destroyed subframe insulators. Ford quotes 9 hours of labour and that's with all the correct tools, hydraulic press, etc. It's nasty!

i was looking forward to doing the clutch in a weird way. but of course i won't do it until i know i have to. i was going to do upgraded shift forks and tower while it was out... we'll see.

i've done them in VWs but that was like a 2 hour job the first time. i can drop the tranny like i would a starter, it only weighs like 120 lbs....

yeah, so i cleaned the MAF,TB, IAC, and UIM, replaced the plug wires, again, checked the plugs, and it didn't change a thing

anyone have a MAF that is in good condition they want to sell me (not too optimistic that it will change anything)?

You could unplug the MAF and do a test drive without it. The car will still run, although you will get a CEL. If the MAF is causing the 'bouncing', disconnecting it should eliminate it as a cause for the problem. Just an idea... If this is a clutch slip problem, it seems like observing the tach while duplicating the bounce should confirm what is happening.

Originally posted by tw0wheelin:
You could unplug the MAF and do a test drive without it. ... If this is a clutch slip problem, it seems like observing the tach while duplicating the bounce should confirm what is happening.

good idea. just went and tried it. car didn't run all that well and the bouncing was the same. it's def. drivetrain.

i don't think the clutch is slipping, but something is bouncing, only things left to actually replace would be engine mounts, control arm bushings and then the clutch...

should i just do the engine "roll restrictors" first and then do the two "mounts" after?
i'm going to do the mounts without the inserts first just to see if i can isolate this problem. see if it's just part of the car or not...

Quote:

should i just do the engine "roll restrictors" first and then do the two "mounts" after?

The roll restrictors are what control the fore and aft movement of the engine/tranny assembly. Since you already have svt mounts, it would be both cheaper and better to get a new rear mount and buy the Energy Suspension insert for the front mount.

From the mods/engine section of our site; scroll down to find info:
Inserts

The E.S. insert is superior to the stock front mount, only cost about $18.00 as I recall, and lets you re-use the existing front housing. The actual engine "mounts" do very little as far as fore and aft movement are concerned. The engine/tranny assembly basicly "hangs" off of them and they do not wear much.

Originally posted by Stevedrivr:
it would be both cheaper and better to get a new rear mount and buy the Energy Suspension insert for the front mount.

one thing i've never been able to figure out is if the insert replaces the existing insert or if it fills the holes that exist in it...

my concern is that if the front mount is shot and i put in the insert it will still move around due to the surrounding stock portion being shot...

Originally posted by Oo.et.oO:
one thing i've never been able to figure out is if the insert replaces the existing insert or if it fills the holes that exist in it...

The insert "plugs" the holes in the front restrictor, essentially giving you a solid front polyurethane mount.