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[Matthew8v]

I am a returning Capri owner due to having my mid-life crisis.  I owned a 93 when I was courting my bride and decided I needed a sporty little convertible now that I'm pushing 50.  The gem I picked up has all of the standard problems and I am having fun fixing them and restoring her (my daughters named her Emily which is what my eight year old thought I said when I described the car as my MLC or Mid-Life Crisis car).  Being more familiar with flatheads and YBlocks, it's been fun learning about the idiosyncrasies of the Capri but I have one problem that I need some advice on:  The girl stumbles and stalls when she's cold.  Once the engine warms a little, she holds idle and performs as expected but cold she will stall.  I have replaced all of the consumables and the first tank of fresh gas did wonders but I still have the stumble/stall when cold.  She has 106K miles on her and it shows a little but that will be taken care off when I put her under cover for the winter.       ~Matthew

[tonlaw71]

Hmmm, I'm going to have think a bit on that one. The first thing that popped into my head was the the throttle position sensor, but not sure that would have anything to do with your problem. Also, check to make sure you have no cracks in the plastic intake tube coming off the VAF.

[Matthew8v]

Okay, I'll need a little help with acronyms.  If it's not something found on a Ford Flathead or Y Block, chances are good that I'll have no clue.  VAF=?

~Matthew

[chrispoe]

When you first start the car cold, what RPM is the engine trying to idle at?
It should be around 1500 and slowly drop to about 800 as the engine warms up.

[greywolf27030]

My first thought when I read your problem was IAC.  I had Idle Air Control problems on my car when I got it, albeit was extremely high idle under all circumstances.   While we're thinking about startup idle problems, I have a hot startup stumble.  When I depress the clutch on hot startup, the idle drops to 4/500 RPM for seconds before it recovers to 8/900 RPM.  Cold idle is fine now.  Sorry, don't mean to high jack your thread.

Jack

[tonlaw71]

Okay, I'll need a little help with acronyms.  If it's not something found on a Ford Flathead or Y Block, chances are good that I'll have no clue.  VAF=?

~Matthew

VAF=Vane Air Flow. What most people refer to as the MAF or Mass Air Flow sensor.

[Matthew8v]

Upon start up she idles at about 1.5K but then drops to less than 500 and if I don't goose her a little she will stall.  This happens until the temp needle lifts a bit.

[NiteLord]

...get a can of CRC Mass Sensor Spray Cleaner at the Auto Parts Store. Remove the Top half of the Air Cleaner housing from Vehical and spray inside the Vane toward where you see the wiring coming out of the Map Sensor. The senor itself gets dirty from normal driving and also from aftermarket air filters like K&N, the oil from these filters gets on the sensor causing them to fail. I'll do mine map cleaning every other oil change just to keep track....

[greywolf27030]

...get a can of CRC Mass Sensor Spray Cleaner at the Auto Parts Store. Remove the Top half of the Air Cleaner housing from Vehical and spray inside the Vane toward where you see the wiring coming out of the Map Sensor. The senor itself gets dirty from normal driving and also from aftermarket air filters like K&N, the oil from these filters gets on the sensor causing them to fail. I'll do mine map cleaning every other oil change just to keep track....

Thanks, I used throttle body cleaner and got away with it, I guess. but next time I'll use Mass Sensor.

Jack

[Matthew8v]

To close out the Thread:
I had the coil and dist. cap replaced; new plug wires; new timing belt; new clutch.  Stumble is gone, smooooooooooooth shifting is being enjoyed.  Better acceleration is being employed vigorously.  Let me repeat that: VIG   OR   OUS   LY.

[Snigalfriz]

NiteLord,

Do you have any pics of the wiring? I am not seeing much but the moving vane.