Taurus Car Club of America : Ford Taurus Forum banner

Very High Idle at Start-up

3K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  Mtown10 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, I have a 2000 taurus with the flex fuel engine in it, and when I start it up cold, it will idle at around the 2000 rpm range for 20 seconds or so, and then slowly go back down to around 900 rpm. I know that a high idle at start up is normal, but I thought the 2000 rpm seemed a bit excessive. If it helps, the secondary air injection pump is giving me a code, which leads me to believe that it isn't turning on at all during start up. The code is p1414, any help would be greatly appreciated, I just want to know if an idle that high is out of the ordinary, or if there is something else that is causing it to do so. Thanks!
 
#2 ·
When the engine is cold, the engine will hit 2000 RPM right after starting. In a few seconds it should be down to about 1200-1500 RPM, and then down to normal idle speed in about 30 seconds. When the engine is completely warmed up the idle speed should be about 700 RPM. So it doesn't sound like the cold idle speed is that bad.

P1414 - Secondary Air Injection System Monitor Circuit High

The secondary air injection system monitor circuit is high, indicating the electrical AIR pump is on although the electrical AIR pump was commanded off by the PCM.

Possible causes:
  • Open AIR monitor circuit from the pump.
  • AIR circuit short to power.
  • Damaged solid state relay.
  • Open AIR pump ground.
  • Damaged AIR pump.
  • Damaged PCM.

So the first thing I would do is try to see if the air pump is running or not. You can pull an air hose off and feel, or listen for the pump noise with a stick. If the pump is not running, then you might have a bad ground.

Are there any other codes?
 
#3 ·
Ok that's good to know, not that something is wrong with it and it is going unnoticed. There aren't any more codes for it, but I do have another question. If the pump only runs during start up, does that mean I can only try to see if it is running during that period? Or is there another way to feed it power and get it to run otherwise? Also, I live in Wisconsin and have heard that these pumps often freeze up due to the elements during winter and the colder months, and the fact that the pump itself is mounted so low on the car. Is this common on tauruses in the northern states? Thanks again for your help!
 
#4 ·
Yes, the idea with secondary air injection is to inject more oxygen to get the exhaust to combust more completely and heat up the catalytic convertors while the engine is cold. It is not needed once the engine is warm.

It is true the air pumps can freeze from moisture getting in them in cold climates. Not very many cars in WI have air pumps, since they are usually only used in low emissions cars like you would have in CA. I will admit I haven't really come across air injection very often here, so I may not be as knowledgeable about the functional stuff.

However, you have a circuit code, which is an electrical problem (what I specialize in), so a frozen air pump would not cause the code (unless the freezing somehow damaged electrical windings in the pump). Again, basically the PCM is seeing voltage being sent to the air pump when it shouldn't be seeing it. So it will require some electrical troubleshooting to fix.

Here is the wiring diagram: http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/Wd/DownloadPdf?id=af53b219-7671-4243-9489-67ff21739dce

The air pump relay is located in the relay center box 1, which is right next to the battery. It would be the smaller relay at the bottom. It might be stuck open, so you could try swapping the relay or replacing it to see if the code goes away or changes.

If you know what you're doing, you can jump the relay and get the pump to come on with the car off to see if it's working.
 
#5 ·
Which relay do you mean for the air pump? Is it number 33 in the box to the left of the battery? I just went out and started the car and quickly removed, then replaced that relay looking to hear the click of it closing the circuit, but didn't hear anything. I tried to feel the pump itself, but it seemed like it wasn't working.
 
#11 ·
Yeah i started the car up today and i right away removed and replaced the small bottom relay in the little box to the right of the battery, and i didn't hear a click or anything like it was working. I unhooked the battery for ten minutes, and reconnected it and started it up, then the cel went away, but came back on the next time i started it. Would this lead either of you to believe that the relay is bad? I will have to look into the relay on the pump itself, i hear they're expensive, probably not too bad from a junkyard, if that's where it is in the first place. Does anybody have a diagram of that second little relay box and which relays go where?
 
#15 ·
I tested the relay for continuity, and it was open between 3 and 5, but when i pressed it into the box with the car running, i really didn't hear the click that would mean it had closed the circuit, although i could be mistaken. What would be the next thing to check?
 
#16 ·
If you want you could further test the relay to see if it's working. With the engine running you might not be able to hear the relay click, or the PCM might not be commanding the relay to close at that particulate time. You can hook up jumpers to it or use a 9V battery. Touch + to terminal 1 and - to terminal 2 and you should hear the relay click and get continuity on pins 3 and 5. So then you know the relay is good.

If you have a voltmeter or test light, you should check the relay socket for the proper power signals. Attach one lead of your test light or volt meter to battery negative. Touch battery positive to make sure it works. Pull the relay, and touch each socket to see if there is voltage. With the car off there should only be voltage on socket #3. With the key on or engine running, there should be voltage on #1 and #3 but no other pins.

If you are very careful, you can try jumping the relay to see if the pump works. Do this with the car off. You will jump #3 to #5 (the two larger parallel sockets) with a piece of wire (16 ga or larger please). The pump should run. Do not do this unless you are absolutely sure what you are doing since you can damage your PCM if you jump the wrong pins or blow a fuse if the wire touches anything else.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top