Hey! Having some issues with my Ford C-Max (2007) and wanted to ask if anyone’s had something similar happen.
So the car starts having trouble when I shift into first and give it a bit of gas - if I give it too little gas it just dies. Now it’s started doing the same thing in second gear too. When I first start the car and let it idle, the RPM drops every 10-15 seconds or so (from about 900), but it gets better after running for a while.
Got the yearly checkup recently and everything was fine, but then this started happening. Also got a check engine light that keeps going on and off every other day. It’s pretty cold here, like 5 degrees if that matters.
I’m going to take it to a mechanic when I have time but wanted to ask here first if anyone knows what it might be? Maybe the MAF sensor or something with the idle control?
Thanks!
That rpm instability at idle is classic vacuum leak symptom.
Pulling codes is almost always step one. Your local parts store will usually pull codes for free. The cheap
$10$5 Bluetooth readers on Amazon, plus the free app “Torque” work well for the price.I keep one of those readers in every car and install Torque on all our phones.
I was going to say vacuum leak too. Get some brake kleen or other flammable liquid and spray judiciously near different parts of the intake while the engine is running and listen for a change in idle to help locate it.
Note: spray flammable liquids at your own risk. If you don’t know the risks and what to avoid have a mechanic do it.
Yep, this found many bad carb gaskets for me.
You want to check downstream of the MAF sensor (the electronic box thing a little larger than a pack of cards).
Thanks all, already went by my mechanic once to get the codes, but no engine light or error was present just as i started it then 🥲
Will try again next time I ger the light.
Haha, of course it wasn’t! Classic.