Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

I was under the impression that when you cycle the key on, this plunder extends to raise the idle.

For those who are a bit confused, when starting a CFI car in cold weather, you're supposed to press the pedal all the way to the floor once before starting. This will set the car to idle higher than normal until it reaches a certain temperature, where it then kicks down to a lower RPM. Failing to do so can cause the car to stall immediately after starting due to the cold weather, or even not start at all. Obviously no remote starter system can press the pedal to the floor for you. I'm fairly certain it's a completely mechanical system, there's some sort of...I dunno, lever that's attached to a metallic coil. As the coil heats up and expands, it lets the throttle drop down to normal. I could be wrong, it's been a while since I've seen my 'Bird. Wish I could help more.

This is correct for the 3.8 CFI. It has a ISC (Idle Speed Control) motor.

 This is correct for the 5.0 CFI. It has a mechanical set-up like a carburetor. The gas pedal has to be pushed to remove the spring tension on the throttle linkage so the fast idle cam can move to the fast idle position.
The fast idle cam has three fast idle steps. When you "set it" by pushing the gas it goes to the fastest step. When the engine starts a "vacuum pull down" moves it to the middle step. The "spring thing" (was called the electric choke on carbs) is hooked to the alternator stator output. This voltage is only present when the alternator is running. This heats the spring, which turns the high idle cam.

ive had a few v6 ford cfi and never had to give it gas to get it started, didnt know this about the v8 ones.
for me this is not good to hear, ive been eyeballing a tbird with cfi 5.0 for sale. where i currently live if you cant turn key and drive right off with it(i.e. like an older car) the building wont allow you to store it here :(
man, cant wait to move.