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Venting

Dwreck

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
39
So this past summer when I returned home to S. Indiana from Purdue I found that my 97 gl was having some problems. While driving it would stutter and jerk while going down the road, sometimes stalling at take-off. Took the car to our mechanic, a family friend of several years, who messed around with it for a week or two and decided we should just put in another transmission. Sounded good to me. :shrug:
After a month or so of waiting he finally found a transmission for the car and got it to his shop. Shortly thereafter he found out he had the wrong one, sent it back and began looking for another. Got that one in, swapped out my original one and found that this transmission didn't help either. $900 for nothing. So I had no summer job because I had no transportation, and at the end of the summer, just a pos to get me around town.
So when I got back to school where I have amazing internet I began looking for my problem. I found lots of things that sounded like my problems such as MAF, O2 and TRS problems. So I have been trying to get him to look at those to no avail, he keeps getting codes and trying other things. Should I get these codes from him and try to figure things out for myself or let him keep messing around? Again, it still jerks while going down the road, sometimes giving me a whistle while accelarating. It feels like it jumps into neutral and then kicks back into gear causing a hard jerk. It is about to send me to the loony bin so any helpful opinions on what to do would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Derek
P.S. Another problem I have been having is the sound cutting out on the drivers side. I know it is not my speakers as I just put in some Infinity Kappa series 6x8s. I really don't wana run new wire to them but maybe i should?
 
Drive to Autozone or Advance, get the CEL codes read (free service) and post the exact CEL codes here. And we will have a better handle on this.

What year, how many miles? It appears to be an automatic tranny.
 
It is a 1997 ATX with ~129k miles. I wont be able to do that for about two weeks as I am at school and we have finals going on. I would have it with me if I didn't have to drive on the interstate to get here...thing hits 70, acts up and drops below 60
 
Define "acting up". What are the RPMs doing in relation to the engine speed. From what you describe, it sounds like the engine is losing power, not the transmission. If the transmission were slipping, the engine would rev up between shifts and then "catch" after a few seconds.

It sounds to me like your issue is something different, possibly the fuel pump.

Oh and get a new mechanic. The one you deal with is simply a parts replacer-- he doesn't know how to make an accurate diagnosis, so he throws new parts at it. There is not one part on a car that cannot be tested for defects before replacing. Remember that, or you get stuck with repair bills that repair nothing.
 
acting up: while accelerating it feels as though it drops out of gear (i do not believe this only occurs in between gears, or while shifting). the engine proceeds to rev up (no tach so I can't say how high it usually goes), and then it feels like it jumps back into gear causing a hard jerk. that is the best i can describe this. i believe he has checked the pressure in the fuel pump but i am not certain about that. as far as mechanics go there isn't a lot of choice in a small town, but i would definitely consider. thanks for the replies, hopefully i can get back with the codes soon.
 
OK, well that does sound like a transmission issue then. Not necessarily a mechanical problem, though, since you already changed that. Things to check would be your Transmission Speed Sensor, Manual Lever Position Sensor, and Throttle Position Sensor. It is possible that the transmission is trying to change gears at the wrong times due to a faulty sensor output. There are diagnostic procedures to test each of those components (The TPS requires use of an oscilloscope).

I'm guessing that when he changed the tranny before, he installed the new one with the MLPS and TSS already in it-- there is always the possibility, though, that he swapped in your original ones, causing your problem to persist. A bad TPS could cause the transmission to think you are at full or zero throttle suddenly, causing unexpected attempts to shift.

Because you say replacing the transmission itself did not resolve the problem, I think internal slippage is not actually the problem here.

There is also the possibility that your ECU is defective, and is ordering the transmission to shift in and out of gear. This is the least likely cause, though- they have no moving parts and rarely fail.

If I had to put money on it, I'd guess that your [rather incompetent] mechanic put a new tranny in but reused your old MLPS, which was failing and causing the transmission to think that you're moving the gear selector in and out of neutral at random times. If that's the case, it's a cheap and easy fix.

That's just my guess. But trust me, stay away from that mechanic. Except for very small parts costing less than, say, $50-100, I never just replace them in my customer's vehicles except when I've exhausted every diagnostic procedure in the book and all signs point to that part as being faulty. And even on the cheap ones, I don't do it unless I'm 99% sure. I know I don't make as much money as some of these guys who just replace every component in a problematic system, all at the customer's expense-- but reputation is very important in this business, and tell me, which type of shop would you want fixing your car? There may not be a good mechanic with up-to-date knowledge in your small town, but you should find one. Cars have complex electronic systems these days, and failed sensors often imitate mechanical problems. A mechanic who knows most about Chevy small blocks and carburetors will not be able to tell the difference quite so well.
 
Sorry I dont know much about your first problem, but as for your speaker problem, I had the same thing on my pass door. Disconnect the wires from the door and spray in some WD30 into both sides, wait for it to dry, connect it back together and boom! Saw it on trucks so i tried it and it fixed my problem, hope it helps you!
 
So do you mean disconnect the wire from the speaker? I'm not sure I understand. When I installed my kappa's I only swapped out the speakers and added an amp in there, of course, so I don't know where to disconnect the wire from the door.
 
I know what you are saying about the mechanic and I love the guy to death but if I had a choice I would take it somewhere else. Technically it is the parent's car, though, and this guy has always been good in the past. I think the new systems with all of these sensors and things are kind of passing him by though. Thanks for the thoughts and I will be sure to check those things.
 
So do you mean disconnect the wire from the speaker? I'm not sure I understand. When I installed my kappa's I only swapped out the speakers and added an amp in there, of course, so I don't know where to disconnect the wire from the door.

where the wires come off the body and into the door, there is a connector there that u twist off the door... its just one big connector and thats where u spray the connector and the female end on the door... ps wear safety glasses its a cramped area
 
Took the car to advance today and hooked it up to the machine which replied Mass Air Flow Sensor, Transmission Range Sensor, and Oxygen Sensor. I had them tell me prices on these parts and when I left, car wouldn't start so I walked back in and said, "you guys do free battery checks too, right?" Ended up gettin new battery from Wal Mart because it was cheaper, the nut on the negative battery terminal connector was stripped, but we finally got that off and the new battery in. It was a long, cold, icy day.
 
When the CEL comes on again, take it to Advance again and have the codes read. Then post the exact codes here again.
 
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