Help with commuter car!!

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Feb 17, 2012 | 08:35 PM

sniswend

Thread Starter

Junior User

Joined: May 2011

Posts: 67

Likes: 0

Help with commuter car!!

I am an owner of a 2007 f150 with the Triton 5.4. I have used this truck as my commuter vehicle for 3 years and it was getting expensive. I recently bought a 1999 Ford Escort Zx2 with an over head cam 4 banger and an automatic tanny. The car has 85,000 miles on it.

Anyway I had to change the battery this week and ever since then the car has been acting strange. Every time I come to a stop the car revs into first gear. When I am going about 5 MPH with the break on the car revs up to about 1500 RPMs and hits first gear. This causes the car to lung forward as I am trying to stop. I was wondering if anyone out there owns a car like this and knows if it needs some sort of "reprogramming" after the battery has been unplugged? Any help would be great!!

Feb 17, 2012 | 11:13 PM

Ford_Six

Hotshot

Joined: Oct 2002

Posts: 18,488

Likes: 22

From: The Big, Oregon

If the old battery was boiled out, then chances are very good the alternator is putting out a/c. To check the output of the alternator for a/c, just set your meter to read AC volts, and with the engine running touch one probe to the alternator output and the other to a handy ground spot like the head or even alternator case. If it's over .1v ac I replace the diodes if available or replace the alternator. I have seen this cause a phantom revving problem on a Volvo 850, it was an interesting problem to track down.