u/Sweaty-Society7582

2012 Ford Escape possible evap issue

Edit to add, 2012 Ford Escape xlt with the 6 cylinder engine

Yesterday code reader at AutoZone told me small evap leak at the purge valve solenoid. I changed that, started the car, and the light was gone, so I assumed I was good. I didn't drive it at the time. This morning, while driving to work, the engine seemed a little off. The car would lag a bit when I'd press the accelerator then seem to surge a bit. A block from work the engine died but restarted immediately and was a little bit rough as I got into the parking lot.

This part is possibly unrelated, but a couple of months ago I disconnected the battery attempting to reset the entertainment system, and driving after that the car acted similarly. I tightened the battery connectors which seemed to fix the problem. Knowing this, after work I tried to tighten the cables again, but I only had a small channel lock, and the connectors seemed tight.

The car ran poorly on my way home. Once at home I disconnected the battery and cleaned the posts and the connectors and reattached everything. I also checked the solenoid as well as the hose and the electric connection to the solenoid.

I started the car and let it run, revved the engine a bit, and test drove it, and everything seemed fine. A couple of hours later I needed to run a couple of errands, and the engine was running rough again but didn't die until I was almost home. It restarted fine and for me home .

While driving the car the accelerator didn't seem to react initially but would then surge, and the car would fairly quickly accelerate but not in a way that felt imminently dangerous. While idling in park it usually is about 500 rpm but will jump to 1000 then slow back to 500.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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u/Sweaty-Society7582 — 1 day ago

This guy

My journey to this car is long and a boring story involving a DUI, years of not having a car, two years worth of sobriety, and a coworker and friend being super supportive and replacing her car about the same time I realized I'd saved enough money to contemplate driving again. She gave me a really good deal on this.

I didn't realize how much I missed getting to work on my cars, and this car has given me a few opportunities to remember. In addition to plugging a tire, I've replaced the switch for the driver's side seat motor, the passenger side mirror, and minutes ago the evap purge solenoid. That one was fun because literally 90% of the job was getting two bolts out and back in. I want to find and fix the sunroof leak, but I'm a little scared of the tape I used to temporarily seal it. I wish I'd bought shitty tape, but alas, no.

u/Sweaty-Society7582 — 2 days ago