my escort surges upon deceleration and at idle. it just began strangely when the turn signals went out without a clue? don't know if thats related. anyway when i start the engine and step on the accelerator the throttle position does not immediately allow the accelerator to return back to idle. when i am driving and b egin to decelerate the accelerator will not decrease as before. what controls the throttle positioner if that is the problem any clues will be helpfull thanks talipp...

 

Welcome to FTE.
First, you should pull the codes.
My first guess would be TPS problem?

 

i replaced the tpi. now it races and then accelerates at idle. the manual says to slip the device in at a 90degree angle which i did or it will have a high idle. okay? any other clues or help will be appreciated. oh i don't have a code reader, attempted to hook up idiot light to code port with no results even though i followed the procedure. anyway thanks and any and all help is again appreciated. talipp...

 

Your description of the problem doesn't really sound like a vacuum leak. I'm thinking that just for the sake of eliminating that possibility, test the vacuum.
What year Escort is it? Is it the EEC-IV system? On the Ranger & B-Series board, there's a technical info sticky with lots of info on the EEC-IV system. You can pull those codes with a multimeter (VOM).

 

thanks Dealford. i will check it out, talipp...

 

1988 ford escort 120,000miles with lv eec automatic all of a sudden began to surge at idle and when vehicle decelerates. replaced the tps sensor and now the engine surges at idle and then after 30, 40 seconds the idle decreases to almost a stall and then does the same thing over again? the check engine light only comes on when the engine is about to stall and then as it surges the lignt goes off. any clues or ideas thanks... talipp...

 

perhaps running too rich? is is chokin hte motor? Check hte exhaust, smell for unburnt fuel or black smoke