Rough idling and not much power, smells unburned gasoline

[gearboy]

Hello all!

I have a Ford Galaxy that I bought cheap because it ran like hell.
The first thing I noticed was that there was a leak in the exhaust gasket, and that's about the only thing I have replaced so far.
No exhaust-leaks now.

The car had been without battery for long and there were no trouble codes, but after test-driving one came up:
[attach=1]

And this is a scan with the car running on idle:
[attach=2]

I thought that the throttle position should be on 0%, but here it is at 17% without touching the pedal. Problem?
Because of that I checked the sensor with multimeter and the resistance varies between 0.5k and 4k which seems to be OK (linear movement).

I'll also add that the automatic transmission is very "hard" when changing gears, almost like you'd hit the steering wheel without safety-belt.

[gearboy]

Cant seem to find the edit-button, but here is a short video clip of the engine sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTxH95n4vnU

Beware of higher volume after 11 seconds.

[johnnyroper]

That suggests a blocked or faulty egr valve to me, I think take it off and clean out firstly and see how it goes,also make sure wiring or vac hose are good (not sure if elec or vac on 2.3)

As for the 17% throttle I can't see that is accurate data as engine would be racing,what diag software are you using? Also can you check TPS voltage?

[gearboy]

That suggests a blocked or faulty egr valve to me, I think take it off and clean out firstly and see how it goes,also make sure wiring or vac hose are good (not sure if elec or vac on 2.3)

As for the 17% throttle I can't see that is accurate data as engine would be racing,what diag software are you using? Also can you check TPS voltage?

Thanks for your advice. I took the EGR-valve off and it was pretty clean, and not stuck open. I put a blind gasket between the valve and the intake manifold and plugged the vacuum hose.
I also did a DIY-leak test with some smoke and found one vacuum hose that didnt seem to be on all the way, so I pushed it in a little further.

Then I drove around for a few kilometers and the engine went very well over 2500 RPM from the start and even started going better on idle, less vibrations. I'm gonna go for a longer test drive tomorrow and see if any DTC shows up. If everything still runs fine or even improves Im gonna try and take the blind gasket off and see if it gets worse again.

If not the vacuum hose might've been the culprit?

[gearboy]

So I drove around a longer run today and the system went from "not ready" to "ready for emissions testing", which I assume means basic-learning is complete.

Before driving I refitted the EGR-valve without the blind gasket, and I had the same experience today, runs fine on higher rpms but still a bit rough and "saggy" on rpms lower then 2500RPM.

No DTC's are coming up. Could there be a small vacuum leak, enough to affect the fuel ratio but not enough to trigger a code?
Aren't vaccum leaks also less noticable on higher rpms?

After getting the temperature up to ~75 celsius it runs a lot better on idle, and stabilizes around 800-900 rpm. While cold it's very rough and around 1100 rpm.

[alial]

hi.. if this car had replaced clutch and flywheel it could be sound like that at low rpm..assuming that clutch and flywheel conversion or the setup not centreline ..therefore the flywheel is unbalanced with original rpm..  previous owner or mechanic tried to balance the flywheel via increasing rpm as remedy for its condition...  just my thought from old days experience..wish that may help.thnx   

[Chrispb]

Have you checked this hose in the link below.

https://www.fordmpv.com/smf2/ford-galaxy-reference-library/engine-cutting-out-when-cold/

[gearboy]

Have you checked this hose in the link below.
https://www.fordmpv.com/smf2/ford-galaxy-reference-library/engine-cutting-out-when-cold/

Wow, thanks!
I plugged the hose end of that pipe using what was available:
[attach=1]

Et voila! After driving around and warming up the car it was a lot more smoother and power from lower RPM's is restored!
There is definitely something fishy with that PCV valve.

When I went looking at the PCV I unfortunately saw a lot of fresh oil/exhaust coming from the exhaust manifold
I will have to re-do the gasket and make sure everything is really flat..

[attach=2]

[gearboy]

When it rains it pours.. So I removed the exhaust manifold today and it seems the gasket is not leaking after all.
It seems the leak is coming from the EGR mount?

[attach=1]

I'll have a look at the PCV-valve as well...
Looks "a bit" clogged? 
[attach=2]

[gearboy]

Sorry for necroing this thread, but to close it for future helping I finally found the culprit(s).

The exhaust manifold had cracks where the EGR-pipes are welded on, and exhaust leaked under load.
The other problem was one of the ignition coils, it was defective / worn out and mis-fired intermittently.

The car now runs as a dream after new coil and repaired exhaust manifold.