I'm attempting to post here for more traffic.

Previous symptoms-97 Escort, automatic:
[ul][*]stuttering, jerky, "panting"inconsistent idle - sometimes stalled at stops in gear (automatic) because of it.went from intermitent to frequentvery rapidly[*]bad gas mileage that got worse over time-12/13gal tank only getting ~170 miles to the tank[*]heavy vibration in reverse and sometimes at stops (prior to stuttering problem)[*]started throwing various codes-check engine light came on at the worst sputtering[*]stuttering acceleration-when applying gas it'd hesitate a few times[/ul]
1st attempt at repairs:
[ul][*]changed the fuel filter thinking its clogged and starving for fuel[*]changed spark plugs[*]oil change for good measure[/ul]
Noticeable improvements to the stuttering idle, gas mileage still bad. Cleared the codes. Next few days it stuttered intermittently and check engine light came back on. Took it to Ford Dealer for professional diagnostic check just for some real answers. They said the following was bad: *Spark Plugs (that I just changed GRR), *spark plug wires, *PCV tube (not valve), *air filter, *air by passvalve, *carboncanister solanoid (CCS), *purge flow sensor (PFS), *EGR pressure sensor

We replacedeverything but the PCV tube-I replaced the valve, tube not available-and the CCS/PFS.As statedwe noticed the line going to the CCS/PFS was dry rotted and not attached so line was replaced. We figured they came up bad on diagnostics because of the tube not being attached. Cleared codes again.

NOW, few days later, there's a slight knocking sound in the engine. The first few days the driveability was back to normal but now its having the intermitent sputtering idle again not too bad yet though. No codes yet. The gas mileage doesn't seem better.

Any advice of what could be the problem after all the mentioned repairs?

 

wow sounds you got alot going on there.. with the exception of the numerous codes and stuff the dealership said i was thinking along the lines of getting a new fuel pump put on it and see what if anything that does. But it seems like that would have came up in a diagnostics check.. id put a fuel pressure tester on it first and see what the pressure is like make sure you have the proper amount of pressure and also perform a leak down test to make sure the pressure isnt being lost to quickly. after performing the pressure test there should still remain pressure for at least five minutes with little to no lose in the amount of pressure over the 5 minute period. also if you know how to perform electeical testing on your own id probably be checking to make sure the coil pack and crank position sensor, cam sensor ,the more things you can check individualy the better if you start testing a part and its good but your cars computer is saying ther is a fault with that part or that circut it may be in the wiring or you may just have a computer thats just going haywire.. hope you get it figured out i hate when it comes down to these situations when it dont seem like anything makes a positive affect on the problem.

 

Bump....its back to idling with a strong stutter to the point where it stalls at a stop.

I'm going to attempt the fuel filter option next I guess as I have no other place to start. It still hasn't thrown any more codes since we've replaced all the stuff the dealer said was bad.

Any additional suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Didnt you say you already changed the fuel filter? Really without a fuel pressure test it would be very hard to pinpoint the problem your having. but for example if you did a fuel pressure test and it had normal pressure reading but then the pressure falls as soon as you stop cranking the engine I would say to look into changing the fuel pressure regulator. If you did the same test and it had below normal pressure reading butthe pressure doesnt fall within 5 minutes of the time you stop cranking it well then id be leaning toward getting a new fuel pump perhaps. The point is there are alot of things that can cause the problems your having and without somefurther testing ,,well you could just end up changing everything you can think of till you find the part that is really causeing the problems and that can get expensive real fast... well let us know what you find out or if you get it fixed let me know what it was im curious to see what it is exactly.

 

Oh my bad....I meant fuel PUMP like you suggested earlier. We really don't have the equip to test the fuel pressure without renting it? Not sure if you can rent something like that but that's kinda out of our league. We're going in for a (final?) diagnostic check with a friend's trusted mechanic tomorrow. Hopefully he can spend more dedicated time to troubleshooting than a Dealer service center can. I want to avoid the trap you're talking about, replacing all this stuff not knowing what the culprit is. It ends up being more costly than the car is worth. I'll keep ya posted on what the mechanic says tomorrow.