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Rough Idle/Shake

R

realness1978

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
44
Location
Rhode Island
Hi,

I noticed this morning the car began to idle really rough/shake. When I first turned the car the idle was smooth and then all of a sudden it got really rough to the point where the car felt like it was going to stall/cut out. So, I hit the gas and the idle goes back to normal for a while and then begins to idle rough again. As soon as I hit the gas it goes away.
Please let me know where I should start to trouble shoot this. I was thinking about checking the battery power and changing the spark plugs. What are your thoughts and ideas?
 
it could be your iac (intake air control) valve. mine went bad and actually made the car stall on occasion and rev on its own. very strange outcomes can come out of a bad iac.
 
could be a vac leak in the egr system cause u saide it was fine at first whe it gets warm ur egr dose all kinda fun stuff to make the governator happy but if one of the lines in the system is shot it will stumbel choke spit shake . clean the idel air valve and look for vac leaks bad vac lines crusty old crackt dryde out coverd in oil and swolen replace them and do a pcv as well and it will run like a champ
 
There are several things that could cause this man... Start with the simple things first like your MAF sensor. Get some electric cleaner that CRC makes and clean the thing (let me know if you need more info). Put it back together and give it a shot. If that fails buy a multimeter (if you don't already have one) also a service manual, and begin testing your crank sensor, cam sensor, etc.. I can go into more depth if needed, but i've got to run at the minute so keep us updated.
 
Thank you all for your responses. This looks like its going to be another weekend project. Last Saturday I fixed my front passenger side window regulator now this problem pops up. I will start with your suggestions. I hope I find the problem easily. My gut is telling me I have a vaccum leak but the vaccum leaks sound like I will be trying to find a needle in a haystack.
 
How is your MPG? MPG isn't necessarily indicative of a problem but it can be...I agree with cleaning the MAF, although I'd be inclined to believe a dirty/malfunctioning MAF or a vacuum leak would throw a P0171 lean code.
 
zorrex said:
How is your MPG? MPG isn't necessarily indicative of a problem but it can be...I agree with cleaning the MAF, although I'd be inclined to believe a dirty/malfunctioning MAF or a vacuum leak would throw a P0171 lean code.
Click to expand...

My mpg is pretty good. Is cleaning the MAF a matter of just of removing the MAF and spraying inside of it with some parts cleaner. Should I let it dry before I put it back on?
 
Get CRC cleaner at any auto parts store. You don't even really need to take the sensor out of the housing. Just use the "straw" with the cleaner and aim it directly onto the coils. There is a lower front coil and an upper rear coil in the MAF. The CRC will evaporate almost instantaneously...
 
zorrex said:
Get CRC cleaner at any auto parts store. You don't even really need to take the sensor out of the housing. Just use the "straw" with the cleaner and aim it directly onto the coils. There is a lower front coil and an upper rear coil in the MAF. The CRC will evaporate almost instantaneously...
Click to expand...

Okay Thanks!
 
Yea there is also a possibility that you have a vacuum leak, and if your gas mileage isn't suffering than its more likely to be a vacuum leak. Can you provide more information such as how many miles on the contour, the way you drive it etc... You live an area that it gets cold so its very possible being a 99 that some hoses may have dry rotted and cracked. I found a thread on here about searching for vacuum leaks with starting fluid. This was new to me but it's a good idea. In the thread the person sprayed around under the hood (obviously where the lines are located) with the car running, and if it picks it's idle up you've found a leak.
 
Focker said:
Yea there is also a possibility that you have a vacuum leak, and if your gas mileage isn't suffering than its more likely to be a vacuum leak. Can you provide more information such as how many miles on the contour, the way you drive it etc... You live an area that it gets cold so its very possible being a 99 that some hoses may have dry rotted and cracked. I found a thread on here about searching for vacuum leaks with starting fluid. This was new to me but it's a good idea. In the thread the person sprayed around under the hood (obviously where the lines are located) with the car running, and if it picks it's idle up you've found a leak.
Click to expand...

i have 140,664 miles currently and the car is driven about 3 miles to work and 3 miles back home from work. unfortunately when i get home from work it is too late to attempt to work on my car. so i will try this on Saturday. your suggestion about a hose being cracked from dry rot makes sense because of the year and the miles it currently has. i will try and do a search to see if i can find that thread you mentioned. if you can paste the link here i would greatly appreciate it.
 
Focker said:
Yea there is also a possibility that you have a vacuum leak, and if your gas mileage isn't suffering than its more likely to be a vacuum leak. Can you provide more information such as how many miles on the contour, the way you drive it etc... You live an area that it gets cold so its very possible being a 99 that some hoses may have dry rotted and cracked. I found a thread on here about searching for vacuum leaks with starting fluid. This was new to me but it's a good idea. In the thread the person sprayed around under the hood (obviously where the lines are located) with the car running, and if it picks it's idle up you've found a leak.
Click to expand...

starting fluid bad idea i can see the fire depp comeing to give ur car a good hosedown , Diethyl ether is verry unstabel and lighs very easy a small spark inside ur alternator is enoghf to light it and and bam u have a close shave . if u wana do something along those lines try a propane botel and a soldering torch tip , make shure its nice and cool out its slightly windy too if its dead still outside not a good idea ,let the gas flow a littel bit and run the tip of the torch unlit right up and down all the vac lines and conections if the rpms go up at a sertine point thats ur problem area . its still a good idea to hit up a parts store and buy a new air filter and pcv valve and change them while ur looking ,
alot of times it will be a line on the pcv valve thats all swolen and crackt from oil or a line on the egr that all dride out from hear
 
Dude...speak ENGLISH or something. I can't even read your posts. My brain goes numb attempting at reading your gibberish.

Anyways, you can search for vacuum leaks via spraying carb cleaner along the intake and vacuum lines. From my understanding, the engine will stumble a tad when you find the hole and it sucks in some of the carb cleaner.
 
My '95 4 cyl. does the same thing, it has a rough idle and sometimes dies if i turn it sharp. I think I'm gonna buy some Carb cleaner to test my lines. But what else could be wrong with it?
 
carb cleaner and starting fluid will both set ur car on fire . and no ur car wont stumbel if u find a leack with carb cleaner the rpms will go up :crazy:

the safest way is to use propane on a low seting cause it will just blow away and wont stick around wateing to catch fire like carb cleaner

the best way is to just take evry line off one by one and look at the ends for cracking

plug one side of the line with ur finger and blow in the other end if it dosent hold preshure it leaks

if it looks all old and crackt replace it dont bother even testing it cause if its not leaking today it will tomorow and vac like u can get at any parts store for like 5$ for 10 ft so its not that much to replace a few lines that dont look so good
 
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