This is my second Escort we have 4 in the family. This problem is a first for any of them. When I floor the accelerator in neutral it sputters and carries on. It has gotten noticable worse of the past day. Before it was under power but did ok around town, the only problem being is it would suddenly fall on it's face doing 75 mph. I would push in the clutch let of the gas it would clear up for a bit. Now around town it is worse,bucking under acceleration and I have tokeep it under geared.
The only code it has thrown out was 538 " hesitation at WOT ". I tryed swaping out the throttle position sensor with one of the others but got no where.
Anyone else run into this?I'm thinking fuel pump or catalytic converter. The problem is my last one with 197K didn't have a bad converter (this one has 114K) and the fuel pump I'm told either works or dies.
If anyone has run across this I'd appreciate any info.

Thanks

 

Hey whats up I have a 93 Escort and it used to do the same exact thing your does all I did was bye some new plugs and wires (tune up) thats all it took for me

 

 

I did the fuel filter a week go figuring it was the easiest fix and was gonna get done soon anyway as I just bought it. I pulled the plugs tonight after work and two were gappedat 60so I regapped them and threw them back in for now. I did notice the were white instead of reddish brown. Indicating overheating (temp is good), fuel additives (I did run a can through it on the first fill up), or a lean condition. I have a running theory the fuel pump might be weak as the four plugs are all of even color. Fortunately one of the parts cars just had a fuel pump put in before we tore it down. At least it won't cost anything but time to find out if I'm right.
The other thing I heard it could be is the timing belt jumped but it does idle decent. It falls on face if you floor it neutralkinda like it's starving or the timing is retarded. Just to be on the safe side I've parked it til I get it straightened out, the car is in too good a shape to kill it.
It's a good thing gas prices have gone down my 79 Ranchero uses a lot gas on a 50 mile round trip every day.I guess I'll throw a light on it tomorrowand if that checks out go for the fuel pump. Other than that I'm at a loss. At least I knew about it before I bought it, the original owner gave up after his mechanic couldn't figure it out.

 

Today I got the fuel pump swapped out but the only thing that changed was the accuracy of the guage (or lack there of). I guess tomorrow I'll have to swap it back out and check the regulator and timing belt.

 

Based on how the car was driving we dropped the cat but had no luck. Figuring I had covered everything on thefuel part of the equationI started looking to air intake. I disconnected the tube at the airflow sensor and the sensor itself. Instant gratification. I swapped out the top of the aircleaner assy from my last Escort and car behaves like it never had a problem. I guess Ican get to that timing belt/ water pumpI've been wanting to get to.