[malodin]

hi all, so i have a 2k se flex fuel(only had regular ran its entire life) 150k on the clock. runs great drives great, except at speed i can coast for half a mile without losing speed, if i put it into neutral while coasting at 40mph the rpms go from 2k-2300 then slowly(read as long as i am coasting) work there way down, if i have to slow down faster the rpms drop faster, its a very strange and hard to explain problem. i have a long steep hill near me and if i head out down it at 40mph put it in neutral the rpms stay at 2000-2500 or so for as long as the car is moving, as i drop in mph(closer to the bottom of the hill) the rpms drop as well, when i get down to the stop light the rpms will be at normal idle, when i rev it it drops like its supposed to do, its only when the car is moving.

its almost like the tranny is still engaged even in neutral and thus driving the engine rpm, however if i rev it up in neutral the car doesnt move any faster.

i am/was leaning towards a slow reacting idle air control valve but there are no check engine codes or anything. Live data doesnt show anything to out of the ordinary

 

[malodin]

no one has any idea? 44 views and not even a hey check this out

 

[Vashthestanbeto]

check and clean your MAF, IAC, and throttle body, those might be the culprits.

 

[62-f100]

That would be the computer keeping the engine revs up so when you drop it back in gear you don't break things.

P.S. from what I understand when you put the trans in neutral like that the front pump is no longer driven = freewheeling output side of trans with no lubrication

 

[the_intimidator_02]

The revs should come down, it shouldn't be staying at that high of a rev.

The front pump is driven off of the engine.

 

[malodin]

i do realize with an automatic transmission it is not good to travel major distances in neutral with the engine running, however i am only traveling in neutral for less than 1/4 mile thus not over heating the trans fluid, however there is no car that i have ever been in that "keeps the revs up" on purpose when there is a light load. it is so bad that i can cruise at 60 for almost a mile without ever touching the gas on flat ground. i have a 2000 focus that drops rpm just like normal when i hit neutral at any speed so its not a ford thing and im pretty sure that no other taurus's do it.

i guess my second step is to replace the iac valve because i already have tried cleaning all three things mentioned.

also when going down the hill at 40mph and put it in neutral it litterally drops in rpm as i slow down(which yes would seem like the computer is reading the vehicle speed and "matching" but its not something else is up)

 

[brooksbronco17]

Hey malodin, mine also does this. Seems like it will coast forever. Just assumed it was the nature of the beast. If you do find a fix that works for you i'd love to know about it. Good Luck.

 

[malodin]

more and more i am leaning to a weak or defective IAC valve, brooksbronco what is your average mpg?

 

[brooksbronco17]

last tank was 25.8 mpg. That was mostly highway so probably not a good test. I'll see what this next tank is.

 

[malodin]

well i broke down and ordered a replacement iac valve, factory motorcraft it should be here today so we will see what happens this weekend i will post up my findings

 

[jw89sho]

The elevated idle is normal PCM strategy, as stated above, in some cars to allow a smoother engagement from Neutral to Drive. The pump is indeed driven by the engine, the only lack of lubrication problem is coasting or more particularly, towing with the engine off. And for what it's worth, Neutral is just that, Neutral. All clutches are hydraulically released, and there is no power transfer in either direction. In these transmissions, and most all other automatics, there is a Coast Clutch that is engaged at vehicle speed above a point around 15 mph and throttle position at idle. This helps control your speed by using engine compression to provide braking. Effect is amplified by downshifting.

 

[malodin]

then it must be flex feul thing, because EVERY car i have ever driven besides this DOES NOT DO THIS i have driven now since i discovered this problem 3 other 2k's ford tauruses both dohc/sohc no flex fuel and it DOES NOT do this in any other vehicle. so how can that be a normal thing? show me in the pcm strategy where it does this?

could it be a coast clutch issue maybe the coast clutch is not releasing like its supposed to, come drive it you will figure out its not normal. i have been working on cars since i was 12yrs old (most of which were computer opperated cars) what i am experiencing is not a normal vehicle strategy.

with all that being said, replaced the IAC valve today and no change still a problem.

 

[malodin]

bringing this back up, i have found a post about 4 year old on a different forum where the guy was have the exact same issue, he ended up removing the plug on the transmission and cleaning it and reseating it and it went away.

when i am datalogging my taurus i noticed at highway speeds or any speeds the coast clutch is not engaging is that a possible cause?

 

[malodin]

jw89sho, just re-read your statement and from the sounds of it the coast clutch is malfunctioning in the transmission and thats why im not getting any engine braking etc.....i will look into the coast clutch stuff

 

[Horto-Sheiken]

I would check the connector as well. Mine seems to coast for a bit, but my rpms are normal, I have a SCT tuner with datalog capability. What are you monitoring? Maybe we can compare? I also have a 2000 FFV

 

[malodin]

i have full datalogging capabilities on my scanner its an autoxray ezscan 6000

ive got every thing turned on to monitor, that is everything it allows me to lol, which is alot of stuff. most specifically when you go down to the solenoid section, it shows the different shift 1/2/3 solenoids then it says coast clutch solenoid, and nothing i have noticed driving for 3 hours at all said the coast clutch solenoid was turned on, next time you look at your data log could you verify as close to possible when your coast clutch solenoid is "on" i think its supposed to switch essentially when you let your foot off the throttle that or its on all the time? anyways if you want pm me and ill send you my email address, because just having someone willing to compare there readings with mine will help drastically.

also i will clean the plug and put some dialectric grease in it here pretty soon

 

[sheila]

I have a 98 sable tec that will coast forever in od @ highway speeds unless brakes are applied. No engine braking whatsoever. It will even gain 10-15 mph on a very slight downhill slope with cruise control activated. None of the other 4 98-99 tecs do this. They all exhibit eng. braking in od with or without cruise on, but with cruise activated, they eng. brake trying to maintain the preselected speed. Is the coast clutch solenoid only activated with od off?

 

[sheila]

The above is probably good for mpgs, but rough on brakes lol.

 

[sheila]

Update: Just came in from cleaning and lubing white plug atop tranny and went for an in-town and highway test drive. No change. Sable still freewheels with absolutely no engine braking in od. Does eng. brk. out of od though. Im guessing coast clutch solenoid does not activate in od, but that doesnt explain the behavior of the other 4 tecs. The stationary male end of the white plug had quite a bit of atf sitting in it so i thought i was on to something. Wrongo! Its still the Runaway Sable! Even cleaned and lubed trs conn. to no avail.

 

[malodin]

i havnt found out enough about the coast clutch, but i cannot see that if you get engine braking on 4 other tauri and not yours, or mine or others of the same nature someone's is malfunctioning more than likely its the one with no coast clutch engagement(like mine)