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I have a 1998 Tracer, 2.0L, automatic, 153K miles. At idle I have a pretty strong viberation. The engine isn’t missing and it’s constant. I don’t think the engine is idling too slow and this tends to be a known problem with this engine. So far I have cleaned and verified the IAC is functioning correctly. I’ve cleaned the MAF sensor. I have verified there are no vacume leaks and I have replaced the motor mounts (the bottom two WERE bad). Its not bad at all if it’s out of gear or if I take my foot off the brake. The engine runs well otherwise. Any thoughts.comments are much appreciated. Thanks!!
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Have you pulled the spark plugs and looked at them? When were they last replaced? Also does this have spark plug wires? If so, they may need replacement… How does your air filter look? Also the throttle body and or injectors may need a cleaning as well… An in line fuel filter (if equipped) is not out of the question either… Basically, when was the last time you did a tune up… A damaged Pulley Damper/harmonic balancer can also cause vibration… A good visual check should be done on that as well…
-Karl
The air cleaner has just been replaced. I bought the car when it had 60K on it and ivibe rated then. It was for one of my daughters….she drove it for 6 years or so and then got something else. The car was parked in the woods for three years and never even started. When my second daughter needed a car, I jumped it and it started right up. Right before I put it in the woods, I replaced the plugs, wires and coil. They collectively probably have about 10 or 15K on them, but would be four or five years old. It didn’t make a difference in the idle when I did replace them. I have not cleaned the throttle body, but it “looks” clean as can be. I have not messed with the injectors and I suspect they are the original. I do not know if the fuel filter has been replaced or not…it hasent while I’ve owned it, but I would think that if it were bad it would affect the engine at higher speeds as well when the requirement for fuel is higher. Thanks for taking the time and effort to respond.
A car sitting for years can turn gas into varnish…. You are lucky it started so easy… I would inspect the pulley damper (look for missing chunks of the hardened rubber or metal teeth missing or damaged), spark plugs and wires (ohms check, not visual) and get an on-rail fuel system cleaning and change the fuel filter…
-Karl
YEah…I was pretty amazed it started so easily….and not loony that, it st with less then a quarter tank of gas in it for those three years….should have had a lot of water in it due to condensation. I appreciate your suggestions…I will go back and check the resistance on the wires, but I suspect they are fine. Additinally, I will inspect the pully dampener. This may just be the nature of the beast…..
I can speak from experience (I have a 96 Escort that i use as a daily driver) that the Ford 1.9/2.0 Engines have a bad tendency to vibrate like crazy at idle. Add in an automatic transmission that is in drive at idle, and a cycling a/c compressor to put load on the engine and it gets even worse. I chased this problem down myself and could find very little i could do. All of my mounts are in good shape, and i even went as far as replacing the harmonic balancer, yet i still get a constant buzz at times at idle. it’s just something i’ve learned to live with.
We used to have a lot of these complaints in the shop for these engines. The engines are called “Ford CVH engine” and its CVH is supposed to stand for Compound Valve angle Hemispherical combustion chamber, but we had a joked that said it stood for Constant Vibration & Harshness. Even Wikipedia has an entry that says ‘Despite its considerable shortcomings in terms of Noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) and its intolerance of poor or neglected servicing, the CVH was regarded as being a very easy engine to tune, with many of its key components being considerably over-engineered.’
But still, this car has a passenger side engine mount, a front and rear transaxle cradle mount, and a transmission mount under the battery tray that could be worn and exacerbate the issue. They are worthwhile checking. But you also have to remember this is a very old engine design. The first ones were engineered in the mid 70’s before balance shafts and other advanced engine balancing techniques were available.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to respond. I was awear of the CVH designation and the slang interperation. I have replaced …..or I THOUGHT I had replaced all three of the engine mounts…I thought the one under the battery box was for manual transmissions only…apperantly I was mistaken. I will look for that one at my first opertuinity. This is just the car I use to run around town as I have a 96 Ranger and a 2011 Rav4 as well. Aside from this idle thing, I really enjoy driving this car. Thank you again for your input!
yes i have had two escorts one a 98 and my current is a 99 with around 160k on it. these motors all have a tendency to shake at idle
If that engine has a timing belt, it might be loose. If it is, it can cause a rough idle. Cars don’t like to sit for prolonged periods. It can cause all kinds of issues. Mostly with dry rot and varnish as ToyotaKarl mentioned. The dry rot can effect all the rubber hoses and seals which can cause vacuum leaks.
This article might also be useful to you.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-idle-problems
Keep us posted.
Understood. The engine does indeed have a timing belt and I have not checked it yet. However, it just doesn’t “feel” like the timing belt is loose. By that I mean the rythem is very consistent…it’s almost like you can feel each cylinder fire. The belt was replaced not too long before it was cast aside for three years…..I suspect that the belt has about 30 to 40K on it and it’s suppose to be good for 120K. That said, I do understand how sitting in one position for three years with tension on it the whole time is probably not good for it as it could develop a “set”. I suppose it could help it fail prematuraly, but this is a non interfearance engine so worse case is that the engine stops running. The car has always run this way…from the time I bought it with 60K on it, but I can’t believe they would sell a vechical new with this kind of vibration in it, It;s not THAT horrible, but it’s extreamly annoying,,,especially when the air is on or the headlights are on..or both. If it were a manual tranny, I doubt you would know there is a problem. Its only an issue when its stopped in drive with my foot on the brake. I know that cars dislike sitting untouched for long periods of time and I was amazed when it started so easily after sitting so long with about a quarter tank of gas. It is what it is and I may have to just live with it. I will check the timing belt to see if it appears loose or there are any other problems with it. I wonder if a little fuel injector cleaner might help. I know it doesn’t do a complete job…they have to be removed for that, but if it improves at all that might tell me I need to go ahead and pull them. I will keep everyone informed as to what the final resolution is. Thank you for taking the time and effort to respond, it is much appreciated!!
Good afternoon Gents…..
It appears that I was wrong……happens occationally. OK, it happens a lot . Somewhere in this thread, I made the statement that this vechical had only tree engine mounts and that only the manual had four. Opps. I kept reading and talking with folks and finally decided to pull the batter box and look…..sure enough, there the little bugger was. I’ve replaced it and that has further smoothed the idle. I still want to check the timing belt and the injectors, but for now it’s better. Sorry for posting incorrect info. : (
Glad to hear you were able to isolate more of your idle vibration. There is indeed one under there. I wish I would have posted this picture earlier.
‘Checking’ injectors on this engine is not a fun process considering where the intake plenum is located in between them. Not really much to check either, other than if they are clean/dirty. Some people say you can clean them with a decent fuel injector cleaner, and it may help. It cant hurt either, but dont be surprised if you don’t see a difference.
As far as checking the timing belt.. it is quite difficult to pull the plastic timing cover with the motor mount in the way. My suggestion to you, is that if your going to go through the trouble of pulling it off the frame, pulling off the harmonic balancer to access the timing belt.. your already 50% of the way through doing a timing belt/water pump job. So if you wanted to do that.. the mount, the balancer, the timing belt, and the water pump are all right there. Be sure to get the timing belt component kit too (bearing & spring) as you dont want to do a timing belt job with an old timing belt tensioner pulley in there.
Of course these are just my opinions, as you are already going through this much work already simply just to look at things.. Also im not sure how mechanically inclinded you are either, and i dont want to get you in over your head. Just trying to point out what i see vs. what you are wanting to do. I’ve had this particular engine model apart 3 times before, so if you have any questions, i’d be more than happy to help.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to respond…again, it is appreciated. My idea of “checking” the injectors was to run a can of cleaner through them and if it did indeed help, than a case could be made to take them out and clean/replace them. IF there is no change at all, then the injectors PROBABLY arn’t an issue and like you said…it’s not gonna hurt anything to run a can of cleaner through them.
I had already come to the concluion that if I was going to go to the trouble to “check” the timing belt, it would make sense to go ahead and replace it along with the tensioner pully and the water pump. I really don’t THINK the timing belt is the issue, but I don’t know. If this was a manual, I wouldn’t know there was a problem (if one indeed exsist). The only time I notice it is when it’s in gear at idle with my foot on the brake.
I am certianlly no mechanic, but I can hold my own. In my younger years I was always tinkering/taking apart and putting back together mechinical things. Did a total rebuild on a Pinto engine once…..ran great…then my wife totaled it (ex wife….had nothing to do with the accident). So I totally understand the timing issues involved when doing this type of repair. This is a non-interfearance engien so if I DID get i wrong the worse that would happen is it wouldnt start or start and run poorly. My problem is that I usually get into soemthing and find I don’t have a certian tool…that REALLY gets my panites in a wad. I think I will do the fuel injector thing first and see if that helps, if not I may move on to the timeing belt.
Realistically……the car is not even my second car…it’s my third. All I use it for is running around town as it gets better miliage for the other two and frankly, I like the way it drives. Additionally, its a four banger and one that is known to have vebration issues. How much effort do I want to put into it is the question I’ve got to anwser. So far, my wife (the current one) has not given me any static about spending hours in the garage working on it, so until that happens, I’ll probably continue. : )
Thanks for the response…this site and it’s members are head and shoulders above the other ones out there!
I’m glad to hear that you’re making progress. As for why it had a vibration since new. 4 cylinder engines fire every 180º. this means it’s a lot like the pedals on a bicycle. That power delivery has vibration built into it. This is why engines with more cylinders run smoother. That said, anything that can trow off the delicate balance of that system can make the problem worse. Mechanical issues, and vacuum leaks seem to effect 4 cylinders more than any other engine configuration.
Another fact is that any 4 cylinder larger than 2.0L needs a balance shaft. The larger displacement exacerbates the problems described above.
Please continue to keep us posted.
Thanks for the response. As I said, next thing is injectors and beyond that ….well it would be spring before I decided to go into the timing belt. Thanks to everyone who has helped, there is a wealth of knowledge on this site!! I’ll let you know what happens!
yes please keep us informed. On my 99 escort i have all the same symptoms as did my 98 but i lost that one due to the common dropped valve seat issue. on my 99 ive replaced plugs, wires, fuel filter, pcv valve, air filter, and cleaned the maf sensor also. still have the vibrations and shakes. i feel like its a common problem on these small engines. i also want to change my mounts once the weather gets a little warmer by me. i agree though id love to smooth out the idle. other than that they re great little cars…
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