25% engine load at idle, is it normal?

Freaks89 · Oct 5, 2013

I hooked up a scanner and was just watching and learning how to use it, bought it a couple of days ago and it's my new toy lol.

Anyway, it shows an engine load of 25% at idle, in the park, fully warmed engine.

Seems high if you ask me, am I dumb or is there something wrong with my engine?

P0420 and P0430 codes showed up, I don't have cats so it explains those codes.

WickedSnake00 · Oct 5, 2013

That value definitely seems high, although with an automatic it will be higher in park than a manual.

Does the car seem down on power, or have any odd behavior?

Have you cleaned your MAF recently? In my past experience, percent load is usually based on air flow and/or fueling, and isn't particularly accurate.

Honestly if I didn't see any overt problems I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Freaks89 · Oct 5, 2013

It has a lot of issues, down on power, missfiring at random times specially at low rpm load, bogs down when you step on the gas, today it started smelling a lot like raw fuel, a greyish smoke started coming out of the passenger side tailpipe, smelled like fuel, not like oil not like coolant.

redriderjf87 · Oct 5, 2013

You know if it has a tune or stock?

Freaks89 · Oct 5, 2013

As far as i know it is stock tune

---------- Post added at 01:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------

Wicked snake, i haven't cleaned my maf recently, only thing I did was to clean my air filter.

This misfiring, bogging, random odd behavior has been going on for quite a long time, not new at all. I just learned to live with it lol

things I have done:

-Fuel filter replacement
-New spark plugs gapped at .54 (ngk platinum) about a year ago, 4000 miles.
-I bought a new OEM coil (darn expensive) and tried switching all cops one at a time to see if I could find a bad cop causing the misfire, there has never been a cel for that
-Cleaned really well the throttle body
-I replaced the maf because the previous dumbass owner had a v6 maf in it, also had a v6 cold air intake which I also replaced with the right one (bbk)

Maf was used but it was working fine when I took it out of the other car.

I once ran a can of stp fuel injector cleaner and it got worse.

---------- Post added at 01:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:34 AM ----------

Plus, the only 2 codes that it had ever shown in 1.5 years of owning it, was p0420 and p0430, even though it had the wrong maf.

I was watching short term fuel trims and both banks (upstream sensors) go from -5 to + 5, most of the time near zero, highest recorded was + 8.50

downstream sensors stay at 99.2% all the time, which I think it's because I have an offroad h pipe.

---------- Post added at 02:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 AM ----------

Both downstream o2s show 0.00 volts most of the time.

DeathBringer · Oct 5, 2013

Vacuum leak/leaks can really make your car run like ****. A smoke test is the best and most absolute way to find them. Good Luck.

WickedSnake00 · Oct 5, 2013

Freaks89 said:
As far as i know it is stock tune

---------- Post added at 01:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------

Wicked snake, i haven't cleaned my maf recently, only thing I did was to clean my air filter.

This misfiring, bogging, random odd behavior has been going on for quite a long time, not new at all. I just learned to live with it lol

things I have done:

-Fuel filter replacement
-New spark plugs gapped at .54 (ngk platinum) about a year ago, 4000 miles.
-I bought a new OEM coil (darn expensive) and tried switching all cops one at a time to see if I could find a bad cop causing the misfire, there has never been a cel for that
-Cleaned really well the throttle body
-I replaced the maf because the previous dumbass owner had a v6 maf in it, also had a v6 cold air intake which I also replaced with the right one (bbk)

Maf was used but it was working fine when I took it out of the other car.

I once ran a can of stp fuel injector cleaner and it got worse.

---------- Post added at 01:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:34 AM ----------

Plus, the only 2 codes that it had ever shown in 1.5 years of owning it, was p0420 and p0430, even though it had the wrong maf.

I was watching short term fuel trims and both banks (upstream sensors) go from -5 to + 5, most of the time near zero, highest recorded was + 8.50

downstream sensors stay at 99.2% all the time, which I think it's because I have an offroad h pipe.

---------- Post added at 02:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 AM ----------

Both downstream o2s show 0.00 volts most of the time.

Ok, it sounds like you've got some serious issues here.

The biggest one that jumps out to me is the V6 MAF. How did it run with the V6 MAF, and did it change when you replaced it? If the tune still matches the V6 MAF, you're going to get a big AFR problem like you seem to have.

Freaks89 · Oct 6, 2013

When i installed the right maf I unplugged the battery for like 1 hour, wouldn't that be enough to clear ecu memory?

Black04Pony · Oct 6, 2013

Freaks89 said:
When i installed the right maf I unplugged the battery for like 1 hour, wouldn't that be enough to clear ecu memory?

I think your tune is out of place.., tuned for a v6 maf too I would also check those injectors and fuel pump as well who knows maybe the original owner loved v6 parts

Freaks89 · Oct 6, 2013

Black04Pony said:
I think your tune is out of place.., tuned for a v6 maf too I would also check those injectors and fuel pump as well who knows maybe the original owner loved v6 parts

The original owner was a ****ing asshole... That's all I can say...

Injectors are 19lb, fuel pump I dunno, but I have a focus svt fuel pump laying around waiting to install it.

My tune is stock tune, stock ecu, I cleared all parameters by unhooking the battery for an hour when I installed my new maf, isn't it enough?

Black04Pony · Oct 6, 2013

Freaks89 said:
The original owner was a ****ing asshole... That's all I can say...

Injectors are 19lb, fuel pump I dunno, but I have a focus svt fuel pump laying around waiting to install it.

My tune is stock tune, stock ecu, I cleared all parameters by unhooking the battery for an hour when I installed my new maf, isn't it enough?

No a tune stays until you change it with an actual tuner ....disconnecting the battery is good for make the computer forget things it learned that it shouldn't have.

I would take it to ford and get them to upload a stock tune back into your car and who knows your car might be pretty solid from there. Or get a handheld tuner from AM and use one of their tunes. If you plan on supercharging you're gonna need one anyways

03 cristian · Oct 7, 2013

Sounds like vacuum leaks.
But also sounds alot like bad injectors.

Freaks89 · Oct 7, 2013

Black04Pony said:
No a tune stays until you change it with an actual tuner ....disconnecting the battery is good for make the computer forget things it learned that it shouldn't have.

I would take it to ford and get them to upload a stock tune back into your car and who knows your car might be pretty solid from there. Or get a handheld tuner from AM and use one of their tunes. If you plan on supercharging you're gonna need one anyways

I highly doubt that the asshole that had the car before, ever retuned the ECU, he´s a cheap bastard who cuts expenses anywhere he cans.

I bought a wrecked mustang gt for spare parts, since mine needed replacement on a lot of things, the wrecked one has a lot of goodies, the ecu has a sniper tune, tomorrow i´ll be swapping computers and fuel pump.

03 cristian said:
Sounds like vacuum leaks.
But also sounds alot like bad injectors.

It idles fine, no jumpy idle, does that rule out vacuum leaks?

Injectors might be screwed up, but i have a set of new ones i bought yesterday, i´ll try that too.

If it doesn´t fix it, i might set this car on fire... :computer:

Tang Stang · Oct 7, 2013

What rpm is it idling at? 25% Load at idle in park is about 10% higher than it should be, which would point to an issue with the MAF/tune. If you still have the V6 MAF, swap it back onto the car and retest.

Freaks89 · Oct 7, 2013

In park it idles at 800rpm, in gear it idles at 550 rpm.

I do have the v6 maf, I'll try to test it.

03 cristian · Oct 7, 2013

Freaks89 said:
In park it idles at 800rpm, in gear it idles at 550 rpm.

I do have the v6 maf, I'll try to test it.

I think that's about right

25% engine load at idle, is it normal?

Freaks89

WickedSnake00

Freaks89

redriderjf87

Freaks89

DeathBringer

WickedSnake00

Freaks89

Black04Pony

Freaks89

Black04Pony

03 cristian

Freaks89

Tang Stang

Freaks89

03 cristian

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