ford escort will not run

Is your "service engine light" on when it starts for a few seconds. If there are trouble codes set, you should get it scanned. Otherwise it's just a guess as to what's wrong. When it starts and runs for a few seconds, you said the idle is very high. Is that correct? I'd check the Throttle Position Sensor first. I could tell you how to do that if you have a digital multimeter to use.

also its a 1.9 engine..4 cylinder inline
only 78 thousand miles on it.

the check engine light is on and it was on before the car stopped running and i had it scanned a couple of different times at different places and no codes would show.
when i get it to start it idles at 1500 rpm..
when i hit the gas it will usually just dies out..
i don't have a digital multimeter but i can get a hold of one..

Besides the digital multimeter, you'll need 2 straight pins. Stick one pin into the middle wire going to the TPS. It has to go through the insulation to the copper conductor. Stick the other straight pin into the light green/white stripe wire. Turn your multimeter to read dc volts. Turn the key to on, engine off. Touch the red lead of the meter to the pin in the middle wire. Touch the black lead to the pin in the other wire. It should read 0 volts, or very close to 0. Have someone push the gas pedal very slowly until it's all the way down. The meter should go up to 4.5 volts smoothly as the pedal is pushed down. Let the pedal up slowly and the meter should go back to about 0 volts when pedal is released. If you don't get the right readings or the voltage jumps around wildly, the TPS is probably bad.
You can also check the Idle Air control Vale with the meter. The IAC is on the side of the throttle body and has a red and a red/light green stripe wires going to it. With the key off, unplug the wire connector. Set your multimeter to read ohms. Touch the red lead of the meter to the terminal on the IAC that has the red wire going to it. Touch the black lead to the other terminal. A good reading is between 6-13 ohms. The IAC could still be bad if it is clogged up. It can't be cleaned.
This is the only way to test without a scan tool.
With the high idle, I would check the vacuum hoses very thoroughly for leaks or loose connections.
Also, put a drop of superglue where you pierced the wires on the TPS.
Hope this helps you.