Ford Idle Strategy?

[ADFD1]

Finally got my buddies 88 F-150 4.9L squared away, and today he calls to inform me that the battery died last night. So this morning he goes to Sears buys a Die-Hard and tosses it in.

His question to me was this re: idle strategy. He wants to know if it is OK to toss the battery in, and drive as he normally would. Or should he put the battery in drive the car till hot, then disconnect the battery it for 15 minutes, step on the brake, reconnect it, start it, allow it to run for 2-4 minutes then flip on the AC, and drive it for 15 minutes, so it learns the proper idle strategy?

My answer was to put the battery in and drive as normal, it will relearn without doing all that he wanted to do. Sears changes 100's of batteries a week and I'm sure they aren't having any old Fords re-learn the idle strategy.

 

[oilboy123]

I would have just verified it was charged very close to 12.6 volts and thrown it in. Then I would have just driven it.

I am big on not relying on the alternator for charging the battery.

 

[punisher]

It's a toss up. I have worked on Fords and forgot to reset idle strategy after a job and never had a problem. A few came back to bite me in the [censored]. If your idle strategy is screwed, it's an inconvenience, nothing more.

EDIT: [censored] is censored, go figure.

 

[ADFD1]

This battery was stone cold dead. He had to take it out, borrow my wheels and get a new battery. He put it in and it fired right up. He was concerned about the idle strategy being learned when the engine was cold and sitting over night with a dead battery. Instead of going through a sequence of starting it up hot after the battery was disconnected, let the idle stabilize, flip on the AC, turn it off and drive. I think he might suffer from some OCD since his last deployment.

I'm thinking learning the strategy from a cold start could be better? At least that's what I told him to stop the desire to go throught the ritual.

 

[ADFD1]

Originally Posted By: punisher
It's a toss up. I have worked on Fords and forgot to reset idle strategy after a job and never had a problem. A few came back to bite me in the [censored]. If your idle strategy is screwed, it's an inconvenience, nothing more.

EDIT: [censored] is censored, go figure.


Can it be learned from stone cold? If so how?

Thanks!

 

[EricF]

Usually takes almost 90 minutes for my 93 Ranger to relearn everything, especially if the a/c is on.
I just learned to live with it until it relearns on its own.

 

[ADFD1]

Wow, honestly I think you're right though. I thought it was about 10-15 minutes. But I remember my father telling me it took his Fords from the late 80's a while to run good after a battery replacement. Usually a few days. There was always a little stumble, hesitation, and surging after a battery replacement.

 

[demarpaint]

Hey AD, not to hijack your thread but this interests me too. I have an 11 year old battery in my 88 E-150 and did a bunch of things to it to resolve a bogging down issue. It is running like a champ again and I want to change the battery. I plan on buying the battery at night after work and installing it during the day, so the engine will be cold.

I guess I'd like to know if it can re-learn the Idle Strategy from a cold morning startup as well. My plan was to install the battery fire it up, idle it till its nice and stable and turn on the AC/Defroster, then turn it off and drive it. Only the engine will be cold vs hot on the initial start after the battery replacement. Those old EFI Ford engines can be a PIA, especially with the surge issue they were known for in the day.

 

[OVERKILL]

It'll be fine. But they do take quite a while to re-learn.

 

[demarpaint]

Thanks. They sure do take more than 15 or 20 minutes to relearn, that's for sure!

 

[mechtech2]

Just drive it.
Having the battery disconnected was what caused the needed reset strategy.
Doing it again will only make you start from scratch.

 

[ADFD1]

I told my buddy the same thing. Sometimes in trying to do things perfectly we shoot ourselves in the foot.

Not sure where I came up with the 10-20 minutes for it to re-learn the strategy, I've noticed it takes a lot longer than that too.