Car stalling out...

[shadowangel]

Hello everyone. I'm having an issue with my car stalling out when it idles, and general rpm weirdness. As long as i'm driving it's fine, but if i'm coming to a stop or something and push in the clutch, the rpm's dip down past 1000, usually drop down to 500 or so,and the engine stalls out. This seems to happen most frequently after it's been driving for awhile. The RPM's will occasionally raise, so i'll be idling at about 1500 instead of around 1000. I also just happened to notice on my way home from work today that when it was trying to stall and the rpms were dipping, my oil pressure light was flickering. I also had my timing belt replaced a couple of months ago, and my car has this high pitched whine when I accelerate. Any suggestions?

[ZX2Fast]

When is the last time this car had a fuel filter installed? What about the air filter? If all your normal maintainence is up to date, then it could be the IAC or a vaccum leak. Some have had this issue with a bad clutch switch or crankwalk.

[shadowangel]

It may have been awhile on the fuel filter. The air filter is only a few months old, oil was changed recently.. only other maintenance thing that I think it could need would be new spark plugs. I don't think they've ever been replaced.

[ZX2Fast]

How many miles on it? The fuel filter should be done every two years. The plugs are advertised as 100,000 miles, but I would do them at least every 60,000. Same goes for the plug wires.

[shadowangel]

It's got about 55,000 miles on it. Sounds like I could definitely be due for a new fuel filter. I didn't think something that small would cause that much of a problem. And if the plugs/wires should be replaced at 60k, then it probably couldn't hurt to do that as well. Is that easy enough to do for someone with limited mechanical knowledge? By eyeing it it looks pretty easy, but... i've never done it.

[2001-ZX2]

for the stalling, probably a pcv hose and a dirty IAC, mine sometimes does the same thing. oil light is flickering probably because it is stalling and has no oil pressure, but then starts up again. How many miles are on your car?

[ZX2Fast]

If you can turn a wrench, you can change the plugs. If you feel uncomfortable doing it, let me know. If the weather is good enough I'll take some pictures and write a how-to for you to use and put it in the knowledge base.

[mechtech]

Start by cleaning your throttle body bore and plate. Use solvent and a rag. All you have to do it remove the upper intake - real easy.
Of course all you vacuum and intake connections and lines must be perfect, and take a hard look at the PCV system.

[iceracer]

A fuel filter problem would more likely show up a higher RPM when more fuel is needed.
I am not saying, don't change it, just trying to rule out some causes.
From you symptoms, it is most like the IAC. It is easy to remove and clean.

[shadowangel]

Any ideas on where I can get a new IAC valve, and what the cost generally runs? A mechanic friend checked it out and told me the IAC valve failed a few of the tests that were run on it.

[shadowangel]

Well, I got a new IAC and got it installed. It's acting noticeably better, but it still died on the way home. Getting pretty frustrated here. Can it take the car a short time to act normally with a new IAC installed, or is there another problem?

[shadowangel]

Update: Drove on the highway for a bit and the engine started stalling out again. Got the service engine light and hit an autozone to check it. It's P1383. I had my timing belt replaced about 3 months ago because of my car stalling, and was getting P1381 at that time. So... I'm guessing my VCT solenoid is toast. That sound right? How much would I be looking at to replace that, or do I have any other options?

[shadowangel]

Took it to a mechanic this morning, and he thought it was the vct solenoid. He unplugged it and drove it around and it's still stalling..he said something about one of the cams being at 15 degrees instead of 0 degrees while idling, and that tomorrow when I bring it back he'll do something different that should fix it. If it stalled even with the vct unplugged, then the vct should be good, right?

[ZX2Fast]

P1383 Ford Camshaft Position Timing Over Retarded (Bank 1)

If you just unplug the solenoid the PCM has no control over the cam and the cam timing will change randomly. This could also be an indication of a mistimed engine when the new belt was installed or if the old belt broke, jumped teeth, or streched out, then they probably should have removed the VCT cam gear and reset the top pin to align it with the cam hole.

Basically, that code is telling you that the cam won't return to 0 or is more advanced then the PCM is commanding. This could be the VCT itself or it might need to be reset. Since resetting it is easier and much cheaper, I would try that first.

[shadowangel]

My mechanic told me there's a crankshaft bearing that's busted inside the engine. He noticed that the rpm's only dipped in idle when he pushed in the clutch, and that it was messing up a sensor. Said he could pull the engine and replace the crankshaft bearing and everything, but with labor it would be around $1500, and he still couldn't guarantee that the pieces of metal from the bearing that are likely floating around in my system won't just break something else six months down the road.

So... I guess I'm going to trade it in at a dealership for something else and take the loss. Thanks for the help.

[mechtech]

He's probably talking about a thrust bearing on the crank. It limits the fore/aft movement of the crankshaft in the block.
If it moves too much, the crank position sensor acts wacky [among other anomalies]
Ford may do it for free even though the warranty it over. It was a known manufacturing defect. It's worth a few phone calls.

[shadowangel]

He's probably talking about a thrust bearing on the crank. It limits the fore/aft movement of the crankshaft in the block.
If it moves too much, the crank position sensor acts wacky [among other anomalies]
Ford may do it for free even though the warranty it over. It was a known manufacturing defect. It's worth a few phone calls.

That sounds right. He said the problem was due to the crankshaft having too much play due to the bad bearing. Thanks a ton for that bit of info, I'll call someone at Ford on monday and see if they can do anything for me. It's not the greatest PR in the world that my lightly used, 55,000 mile zx2 suffered that kind of failure.

[ZX2Fast]

It would be cheaper to just get a used engine. Ford doesn't care about the ZX2. They didn't care about it when they sold them new and they certainly don't care about them now that they are discontinued. In fact, you'll be pressed to find a dealer that doesn't think a ZX2 is a Focus.

[mechtech]

It would not be cheaper to get a used engine at all! That's nonsense!
Replace the thrust bearing.

[shadowangel]

I can't replace it myself, which is where my problem stems from. My mechanical knowledge on cars is pretty much limited to basic maintenance. If I can't talk Ford into fixing the thrust bearing, i'm going to have to just use it as a trade in on something else.

[ZX2Fast]

It would not be cheaper to get a used engine at all! That's nonsense!
Replace the thrust bearing.

How so? He wants $1500 to do the job. Most engines on Ebay go for $350 or less. I've seen many in local yards for under $200. If he charged more then 6 hours of labor to swap them, then find a mechanic that knows what the hell is going on.

So, at the average rate of $75/hr for labor, plus a $400 engine, that is $850. Much less then $1500. If that is nonsense then that is the kind of nonsense I like. Not only that, but unless he does all the machining exactly right, it'll break later this year. Also, who knows what else he'll find wrong and charge her for? It is certainly cheaper to install a used engine in this case, then to fix the current engine.

[pdwighty]

Not that im doubting your mech. but i as well as other ppl on here have had this same problem so i would check around for other possibilities of what it could be before taking a loss. 1500 without garantee of fixing the problem is very sketchy. Not saying he definitly is wrong but if it is a small fix after alot of research you'd be kickin yourself. Good luck with it.

[mechtech]

My thinking is that $1,500 is an absolute outrage rip off. An inflated price.
No one in there right mind would pay it for this job [thrust bearing].
That's why I think it is far better to put a new crank bearing in.
I believe a newb could do this pretty easily.
If the crank sensor on the flywheel is puked, that's another story. You have to yank the tranny AND fix the bearing.

[Vulse]

I am having almost this exact same problem. The only difference I think I may have is that the car will stall out whether the clutch is depressed or not.

This started happening after I changed my timing belt. I have gone over the entire process again and I don't see any trouble with the positioning on my timing. I am going to attempt to move the cams a single tooth and see if I might have been ever so slightly off because the bar I used for positioning was slightly skinnier than the slots in the cams, but don't think that is the issue.

I get 0340 and 1381 trouble codes.

Damn Haynes repair manual says nothing at all about the VCT and doesn't list the 1381 code. I've gotten some good ideas where to go with this but nothing even comes close to making me look at the trust bearing.

Think I'll start with a look at the PCV valves again, try replacing the camshaft sensor and move into the VCT if it doesn't work. Past that, the inconvenience isn't worth $1,500.