3.0 Ford rough idle

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91 areostar 3.0 very rough idle i cleaned the MAF didnt help i have cleaned TB IAC i ran redline thru fuel system E-85 cant figure it out? What oil should i be using what weight ?
 
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put a gallon in it with only a couple of reg gas should clean fuel system very well.I ordered plug wires for it and am going to check the vac lines.It has ran rough the whole time we have owned it 4 years.
 
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yeah i have done that e-85 trick to a few different vehicles.If you look at the red bottles of heat that say they clean fuel injectors its alcohol.
 
Originally Posted By: jsnyder49090
full tune up 2000 miles ago the wires are [censored] napa i ordered another set cap and plugs are good!


Make sure you properly route those wires, they can cause a rough idle if they're not routed properly. Who did the full tune up? Reason I ask is the right rear plug on that engine can be a horror to get out, the left is no picnic either, but the right...... I had mine professionally tuned up, and did all other tuneups myself because they have a habit of leaving the right rear plug alone, sometimes the left rear as well, and change either 4 or 5 of the six plugs.
 
Yeah its a pain in the [censored] the stealership did the tune up cause i was overseas at the time. the wires just feel real cheap and dont fit very tight thats why i am going to replace them.
 
I have a '91 Ranger, same engine. Drives me nuts since sometimes the idle purrs, and other times it almost feels like a misfire.

I've done the usual and then some:
plugs (various flavors), wires, cap, rotor, vac lines. I replaced the IAC (though suspect it may be faulty), MAF sensor, the TPS (which helped some), air temp sensor, water temp sensor, reman distributor, Ford O2 sensor, a set of reman injectors (which helped) and probably a few things I can't recall.

All helped, but none cured.

One particularly batty part is that if the AC compressor is engaged, it usually idles well. Compressor goes off, idle can het iffy. Got to be a set of dots to connect...like the compressor sends a signal to the computer to up the idle to compensate? Therefore the IAC is at fault?

Good luck and keep us posted.

I have read on the Ranger forums that some 3.0's just idle lousy, but since mine sometimes does just fine, it's got to be fixable.
 
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They can have a lean burn miss. On occasion mine will have a slight miss at idle, but I attribute that to age, and me no longer giving a [censored] about it. But many do have a lean burn misfire.
 
Originally Posted By: 123Saab
Motorcraft plugs and wires?

waste of money there is no motorcraft parts factory, a company in Kentucky makes wires for Bosch, Autolite and others makes motorcraft wires and Autolight makes the spark plugs. Changing plugs and wires won't help unless you can find a problem first. Find a fault first broken or fouled plug open and shorting wire, vacume leak, low compression etc. find the problem by spending some time.
 
Originally Posted By: vssjim
Originally Posted By: 123Saab
Motorcraft plugs and wires?

waste of money there is no motorcraft parts factory, a company in Kentucky makes wires for Bosch, Autolite and others makes motorcraft wires and Autolight makes the spark plugs. Changing plugs and wires won't help unless you can find a problem first. Find a fault first broken or fouled plug open and shorting wire, vacume leak, low compression etc. find the problem by spending some time.


Right. But these parts ARE made to spec. What is produced for Phil's Home Wires is not the same spec as demanded by Ford for their Motorcraft line for example.

Not saying that's the problem here (so don't get me wrong) just pointing that out. The train of diagnosis you are suggesting is logical and should be what the OP follows rather than simply throwing parts at it, which is nothing but a fool's errand.
 
Most wire sets these days from any reasonable supplier will be made to an SAE spec for proper ohms per foot and to be safe for EMF type of noise as to not effect engine controls and abs function etc. I haven't seen any difference in wire quality in a long time except for lenth as far as fitting. We manly use Standard Motor Products from Bumper to Bumper or NAPA and Prestolite from CarQuest. NGK also sells excellent wires for japo cars.
 
Originally Posted By: vssjim
Most wire sets these days from any reasonable supplier will be made to an SAE spec for proper ohms per foot and to be safe for EMF type of noise as to not effect engine controls and abs function etc. I haven't seen any difference in wire quality in a long time except for lenth as far as fitting. We manly use Standard Motor Products from Bumper to Bumper or NAPA and Prestolite from CarQuest. NGK also sells excellent wires for japo cars.


Certainly. I'm thinking the quality of the rubber insulation and such will be of a higher grade on an OEM-spec wire, that's all.

I've had good results in terms of durability with MSD's SuperConductor wires, though they don't meet OEM resistance ratings (they are lower resistance wires). They have excellent jacketing and stand up very well over time.
 
most wire failures we see these days are cored inside, or failing in the spark plug tube for those with deep wells in the head or flash over from a wide gap plug wearing out. With OE's being out of the supplier market alot of supplier companies that make wire are now OE suppliers also like Prestolie made wires on American bulit Honda cars back when they had wires so they are one in the same these days.
 
Originally Posted By: jsnyder49090
91 areostar 3.0 very rough idle i cleaned the MAF didnt help i have cleaned TB IAC i ran redline thru fuel system E-85 cant figure it out? What oil should i be using what weight ?


May have found some useful information for both of us. Started looking about in earnest after my recent post here.

Once you do the obvious plugs, wires, etc, check the Throttle Position Switch, as was suggested earlier. There are some electric values that may be askew, which a multimeter can reveal. The Ford TPS is ~$37 from Silver State Ford (see below). That's quite a contrast with NAPA's ~$125 for an Echlin part which is on there now, and only cost me $25 a little over 3 yr ago. Go figure. AAP has an unfamiliar brand for ~$40 after the discount coupon. For that, I'd go with Ford.

The other thing I just discovered, and I believe more likely culprit, is Ford's design. They issued a TSB some years ago, effectively admitting there is a design flaw for a number of their engines that have the rough idle. It isn't just 3.0's; it's the 4 cyl's, other 6 cyl's and some V8's that use the same design.

The solution is basically using a machined spacer plate under the IAC with adjustable air bleeder screws on it. The description of symptoms has some of mine in it.

Here's the link to the TSB info:
http://www.supermotors.net/registry/media/724437_1

Tomco also makes a kit like Ford's (#8491) but it's almost as expensive at $69 (per their email this morning) as Ford's retail of $80. You can get it a lot less at places like Silver State Ford in Nevada (aka Gaudin Ford). They sell it for ~$44 plus ~$13 shipping, same as Tomco's shipping. I'm going with the Ford part. I've had good prior experience with Silver State...friendly and knowlegeable folks. There are other Ford wholesalers out there, too.

HTH
 
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