Minnesota Focus Owners Club

it runs great when the car is warmed up or its a decent temp outside not like the past week. i was driving tonight, my dad got it running when i was at work and put it in the garage so i will be able to drive my car to work tomorrow. when i did start it up for the first like 3 minutes it idled really weird and kinda bouncey. it hasnt ever done it before either. ill buy a beater car to get through winter before i take my car to a dealership and get raped up the you know what and then recieve mail about getting warranty work and stuff like that done.

............whispers.......maf

Since others put things out there that you don't under stand such as MAF it means "Mass Air Flow", TPS means "Throttle Position Sensor" and IACM Means "Idle Air Control Module/Motor" (heard this one called both ways).
BTW my SVT sits in the freezing cold and never has trouble starting yet.

cohenj87 wrote:it runs great when the car is warmed up or its a decent temp outside not like the past week. i was driving tonight, my dad got it running when i was at work and put it in the garage so i will be able to drive my car to work tomorrow. when i did start it up for the first like 3 minutes it idled really weird and kinda bouncey. it hasnt ever done it before either. ill buy a beater car to get through winter before i take my car to a dealership and get raped up the you know what and then recieve mail about getting warranty work and stuff like that done.

So somehow it'll be cheaper to buy another car than it would be to get this one running right?

Did you ever find out for sure about the plugs, Focinite also mentioned the Mass air flow sensor. Focinites posts may appear random and bizarre at times but he's a good mechanic so you may want to take his advice.

BTW-taking it in does not always mean to a dealership, I bet Focinite would look at it or if you could get up to the Northeast metro you could get it in to Lutz Automotive and have Vince check it out. He's a great guy and a great mechanic, Lutz auto 651-429-9206.

FORDSVTPARTS wrote:

cohenj87 wrote:it runs great when the car is warmed up or its a decent temp outside not like the past week. i was driving tonight, my dad got it running when i was at work and put it in the garage so i will be able to drive my car to work tomorrow. when i did start it up for the first like 3 minutes it idled really weird and kinda bouncey. it hasnt ever done it before either. ill buy a beater car to get through winter before i take my car to a dealership and get raped up the you know what and then recieve mail about getting warranty work and stuff like that done.

So somehow it'll be cheaper to buy another car than it would be to get this one running right?

Did you ever find out for sure about the plugs, Focinite also mentioned the Mass air flow sensor. Focinites posts may appear random and bizarre at times but he's a good mechanic so you may want to take his advice.

BTW-taking it in does not always mean to a dealership, I bet Focinite would look at it or if you could get up to the Northeast metro you could get it in to Lutz Automotive and have Vince check it out. He's a great guy and a great mechanic, Lutz auto 651-429-9206.

wow!!! he loves me , he really loves me. yeah i got a scan tool but my diag skills arnt up to ninja status, but i can take a look. if its temp related my guess id fuel metering of some sort....you didnt use corn gas by any chance.... ive seen where air temp sensors or a goowed up mas air (over oiled K&N) will cause the baro readings to be ascued.

FORDSVTPARTS wrote:

cohenj87 wrote:it runs great when the car is warmed up or its a decent temp outside not like the past week. i was driving tonight, my dad got it running when i was at work and put it in the garage so i will be able to drive my car to work tomorrow. when i did start it up for the first like 3 minutes it idled really weird and kinda bouncey. it hasnt ever done it before either. ill buy a beater car to get through winter before i take my car to a dealership and get raped up the you know what and then recieve mail about getting warranty work and stuff like that done.

So somehow it'll be cheaper to buy another car than it would be to get this one running right?

Did you ever find out for sure about the plugs, Focinite also mentioned the Mass air flow sensor. Focinites posts may appear random and bizarre at times but he's a good mechanic so you may want to take his advice.

BTW-taking it in does not always mean to a dealership, I bet Focinite would look at it or if you could get up to the Northeast metro you could get it in to Lutz Automotive and have Vince check it out. He's a great guy and a great mechanic, Lutz auto 651-429-9206.

I'll second the recommendation for Vince, he's an awesome guy and does great work. Probably the best price in town, too.

im almost 99% positive ive never put corn gas in it. as for buying a $500 beater it definately makes sense to me because i cant fit my ice auger,generator,propane tank and all the stuff i need for fishing and i dont even think my car could make it through the snow on the lakes even with the sweetest tires in the world. my problem with bringing it any where but my cousins shop is they dont charge me for any labor at all and there is no mark up on parts at all. they have a diagnostic scanner and all that stuff but my car isnt throwing codes and they dont have tons of time to sit and go through a bunch of things on my car to find the problem when they have a bunch of paying customers if you know what i mean. also they have general mechanic knowledge and dont know much about the svt like some people on here. is there a tank heater or block heater that you can recomend? also no one really answered how these vehicles choke or what kind of mechanisam they have for that. thanks a ton for all your time guys.

I would say if your an ice fisherman I would get a beater car for that. Escort wagon they are all over Craigslist.

There is no choke, the computer controls the air/fuel mixture for startup.

Other than getting together with some of the guys in here to check it out, I don't know what else to tell you.

My first suggestion still stands, verify which spark plugs are in it and check the wires. Does the engine turn over at a decent speed or does it sound like it's cranking really slowly? Maybe the battery is weak as well.

Does the car have a stock air cleaner on it?

As everyone else has stated the SVT is typically a very dependable car regardless of the outside temp so yours issue is a bit hard to diagnose online.

Also when/if you pull the plugs make sure they are the correct part number recommended for the car.
Generally if you run a "colder" spark plug it takes more heat for then to fire properly. During that warm up time the car may run rich and can easily foul a plug and make it misfire. Or it could foul so bad it may stop running all together.

Here is a little spark plug tuning guide for you, just pay attention to the pic's and the description there of:
http://www.4secondsflat.com/Spark_plug_reading.html

ok. i will check the plugs when i get a chance. it fired right up today with no problems. i have an aem cia with some wanna be k&n filter. it cranks over at full speed. the battery is brand new. with the old one i had it wouldnt even turn over at all when it was this cold. thanks alot for all your help guys its good to know there are people out there willing to help someone they dont even know.

cohenj87 wrote:ok. i will check the plugs when i get a chance. it fired right up today with no problems. i have an aem cia with some wanna be k&n filter. it cranks over at full speed. the battery is brand new. with the old one i had it wouldnt even turn over at all when it was this cold. thanks alot for all your help guys its good to know there are people out there willing to help someone they dont even know.

man this sounds like a mustang i worked on once. it wouldnt start in the cold( below freezing) and it would some times kill going down the highway in cold temps. i pulled a few lean codes from history and some strange maf readings, ended up the stang was missing the right front inner fender well. the snow and water got flung up on the air filter and froze solid at certian conditions. food for thought ( the cold water intake made me think)

cohenj87 wrote: thanks alot for all your help guys its good to know there are people out there willing to help someone they dont even know.

Thats what we're here for, to help each other.

so you think it could be the cia. it is right by the road but it would still be frozen if below 32 and my car will start fine down to about 5 i would say

remember it would be saturated with salt water wich freezes at a lower temp.