I'm needing some help on a cold engine misfire . 2001 escape 3.0 engine 190300 miles on it . I changed the plugs , cleaned the fuel injectors , new air filter , new fuel filter , cleaned the pcv valve , and new ideal control valve. when the engine is cold it starts right up but wont ideal right and misfires sputters some to but run the rpm's up and it smooths out. drop to ideal and it misses . now when the engine gets to operating temp it seems to run fine . what am I overlooking to find the problem ???

 

I would remove the intake manifold and inspect the O-ring type seals between the upper and lower intakes. Additionally, the seals on the lower intake to the cylinder head may also develop leaks over time. The O-rings tend to flatten with heat cycles and age, get stiff and lose their flexibility. They then can leak when cold until the seals and the intake/head heat up enough to close the leak. If you re-used your upper seals when you changed plugs, it might be worth your while to replace them with some OEM or FelPro for less than $10 at last check.
One, actually two, other thing to check is the proper torque value, applied in steps AND applied in the order/sequence directed. These are plastic intakes that can be distorted readily, so the torque and sequence are more important than for Fe or Al intakes.
So, clean the surfaces, new seals, and torque properly seem to be the 1st step. You can also use carb cleaner, WD-40 or propane and a piece of hose to feed fuel around the intake when the engine 1st starts and is cold. If you find that it smooths out and runs well when you direct the gas or spray in a specific spot, you likely have found your air leak. Of course, other things can cause a miss, such as gummed injectors, defective COP or boots, sticking valve, sticking cam follower support(lifter) and junk in the fuel or even lack of fuel volume or pressure. have fun...
tom

 

I had a similar problem about a year ago. I bought a set of coils from Amazon for about $80, replaced the upper and lower intake gaskets, and all was well. The OEM coils had little hairline cracks in them and moisture would creep in and cause that. One note, operating with bad coils can damage your ECU, so i wouldn't play with that one too long... I would at least replace the coils to be safe.

 

Not only can a faulty COP damage the ECU, it can also damage the catalytic converter. There are stories about how quickly the converter substrate can collapse & melt or vice-versa, within a very short time. Price out a pair.... close to $1k, OEM. Aftermarket are available, but so far not for Calif residents.
tom

 

If it's not intake gaskets it may be COP. All of my coil failures would show up on cold damp morning startups. The moisture in the air would get in the hairline cracks of the bad coils and cause the misfire. Some have had good luck "misting" the coils with a squirt bottle to try and see which coil is bad. If you aren't getting a check engine light, this is the only way to try and narrow down which coil is bad.

 

...and like Tom said, it WILL destroy your manifold CATs in short order. I killed mine while driving it a while with a random misfire.

Dave