How do I adjust the engine idle on a 1993 Ford Escort (1.9 liter)?

does the idle make engine run hot

david kay
February 2019

the idle is not adjustable on the escort engine, but it does have an idle control valve called an iac valve. There is also a throttle position sensor on the throttle body that tells the ecc computer the position of the throttle. If its got a bad track, it will not let the engine idle correctly. Using a volt meter you can tap the three wires from the sensor(u can loacte it with a haynes book) and set it to dc, the center wire (I think its white or green ) the other wire will be blue or red at wide open throttle it will read 4.0volds dc and .5 to .75volts dc at idle if not the sensor is bad, if it does read these values the iac is sticking or bad. it can be removed and cleaned with mom chlorine brake parts cleaner if the little plunger inside isnt stuck, or replace it if in doubt. any ? e mail me blindrabbit@juno.com

chuck
December 2007