Ford: 2002 Ford idles & dies, then runs fine.

Question
QUESTION: 2002 Escort 2L. 125K miles. The car will die at starting, then runs fine after re-starting. Vacuum lines were checked. Tune up was done; car gets excellent mileage. Is this an air intake problem? Also, do you recommend replacing the EGR valve? I heard it's a good idea for any car over 10 years old..

ANSWER: Hello I would check a couple things first . I know you said you checked vacuum leaks but the hose that goes to the pcv valve will collapse very common on this vehicle and cause the same problem. The hose goes from the top of the valve cover to the base of the throttle body. Also, you could remove the vacuum lines to the egr valve and see if that helps. If so , replace the solenoid that controls it. Please get back to me

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QUESTION: Thank you for your response. The PCV valve is fine. I thought about cleaning the air intake because this seems like a simple thing due to the car running fine after a re-start. So you would not replace the EGR valve itself---just the solenoid? How does removing the vacuum line to the EGR valve "help?"  I have heard that the valve gets really dirty from carbon build-up. Is there a way to clean it? This still sounds like an air problem. If it was an older car, I would check and clean the choke! There just isn't one.

Answer
Sorry ,,, this site keeps me busy . By removing the the vacuum lines to the egr . Is one way to test the solenoid . If removing them and the problem going away, you know there is vacuum being applied when there shouldn't be. You could also try removing the idle control valve and cleaning the carbon out of it thoroughly with carb cleaner