2002 rough idle, sputtering at 3k RPM | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

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2002 rough idle, sputtering at 3k RPM

S

stith710865

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Thunderbird Year
2002
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Runs fine on the highway, but the motor seems to "pulse" at a traffic light. Put it in park, rev the motor and it sputters at 3k rpm. Throttle body issue? Now the vehicle does sit quite more than it is driven. Perhaps a fuel additive?

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How is anyone supposed to know what your post is about when you title it "2002 Thunderbird" ? This is a Ford Thunderbird site, so you can also omit the made & model of your car from the title.

Please follow the posting prompts on your future posts. Your title has been revised.


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@biddle's right ... it could be any number of things, and anyone here would definitely need more details and information (i.e., number of miles, service history, problems in the past, results of an OBDII scan, etc etc).

Absent a deeper and more expensive dive (ex: trying a throttle body replacement = $$$), you might start with a close look at the intake system for possible air leaks between the MAF and the throttle body, and try cleaning the MAF sensor. One "S.W.A.G." suspicion is that your PCM is getting incorrect airflow data that is more problematic at low airflow (idle) conditions than when the engine is using more air. Thus a good idea to rule out the possibility of air ingress that's not being metered by the MAF, and/or a dirty MAF that's outputting incorrect data.

Good luck, and be sure to post your results and experiences here as you go thru the process.

PS: gregl32 is right ... revving up to around 3k in neutral will trigger the rev limiter and a 'sputter' condition when the PCM is preventing the engine from overrevving.
 
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@biddle is correct, you have to find out what error codes have been saved, you cannot not get there with a crystal ball.
 
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