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My Contour has been FIXED

iskoos

CEG'er
Joined
May 23, 2008
Messages
245
Location
Orlando, FL
Well, many of you will remember I am sure that I have been trying to fix my car(stumbling/erratic idle problem) for almost the past 12 months. I have come here many times to get help, advices and ask for your opinions. I must have started at least 2-3(maybe more who knows) different threads about the same issue. I had to start different threads because I performed countless tests and DIYs some of which are not closely related to each other.
I will not list all the things I have done but if you guys want it, you can search other threads posted by me and read it there. Right after I post this one, I will also go pull all of those threads one by one and divert them here so whoever reads those also finds out who/what fixed the problem.

First off all, it wasn't me unfortunately:((( Despite my relentless efforts, I was unable to find and fixed the problem. And I started seeing mom&pop mechanics in Orlando area. The first two couldn't provide help but the 3rd one who is a Ford technician that used to work for a Ford/Lincoln dealer, found and fixed the problem. (If you guys need a good mechanic cheaper then dealer but as knowledgeable and as experienced, pm me and I will let you know where he is)

Well the problem wasn't something that you guys didn't guess. Many of you here named it and suggested that this would be a vacuum leak and I believed it. But I was unable to locate the darn leak!.. Yes, it was a vacuum leak at the tip of the PCV valve.
As you know in Zetec engines, PCV valve is plugged into oil seperator in one end, and the other end connects to a plastic hose. And that plastic hose(about 2 inches long) attaches to metal pipe that goes to a "T" fitting joins with a hose that comes from EVAP solenoid and both eventually connects to intake. So the leak was at that 2-inches long plastic hose between the PCV valve and the metal pipe. There was a crack at that point up towards the engine block that I couldn't see while replacing the PCV valve. So funny that replacing the PCV valve was the very first of 15-20 total tests/DIYs I performed and although I was so close to the problem in my first DIY, I couldn't see it. If I had, my car would have been fixed last year(2008) in May. The tech guy located the crack(the picture is attached please see it) by a mirror from under the car while the car is on lift. And fixed it for his diagnostic charge + $20. He also changed the PCV valve again with an OEM one. The one I used one from Autozone. And now my year-long nightmare is over:(

Some of you specifically mentioned to plug the each vacuum hose one by one and run the car to locate the vacuum leak. Yes, many of you guys recommended this. And many others pointed me toward very important directions. I am not going to name everybody that tried to help me here because I am pretty sure I will miss some of you. But there is one member I very clearly remember who named it probably first: amc49. I remember he told me to check the O2 sensor voltage at idle and said that if it was not switching, it would be most likely a vacuum leak I would be dealing with. Yes, you were right amc49. It was a vacuum leak. And you were the one to recommend to plug each vacuum hoses behind the intake to locate the vacuum leak as well. I have done this but I skipped the hose that was coming from PCV valve. Yes, I am guilty of it and because of this, I spent many months and checked many other things but at the end I am not so sad because I learned enourmous amount of knowledge/information DIYs.

So at the end, I really wanted to send my sincere thanks to all of you and this forum community. THANK YOU...
 

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I know I didnt help on your issues, but I will speak from the community here and say a big 'your welcome'.

I also want to throw back a thank you for the acknowledgement. Not often enough that someone caps off their trouble shooting threads and give credit where do.

Many could/should learn from this post.
 
Thanks man. This has been a real long journey for me and actually became a personal issue. I wanted to fixed this car so bad. Many friends told me to get rid of it due to its being not cost effective but I promised to get it fixed even if she may not last longer after that. And Thank God, I finally got it fixed. And also one other promised to myself(when she is fixed) was to pull all the other threads to post the result there so others who may read it one day could find out the end of the story and learn from it. This is how the community benefits I believe. During my long adventure I came across some uncompleted threads. Some people take off once they fix their cars and fail to update their threads. I didn't want to be one of them.
I have many other issues with my Contour and I will try and fix them one by one. So I will be around;)...
 
Yup, it ain't magic. You just gotta look at the details. These motors may be computer controlled but still basically work the same way as 70-80 years ago. With a little basic knowledge you CAN find out what's wrong, you just gotta be logical about it. I've never been that long without finding out cause of problem, but have had my share. Sometimes you just gotta slam the hood shut, walk off and think about it a day or two. After that I have always been able to work out the problem to good result. Glad to hear you got it fixed.
 
Awesome to hear you got it fixed.

Tell me where this mom and pop place is in orlando. Is it in "orlando" or surrounding?
 
ContourSVT, I PMed you the info.

amc, this was my first vacuum leak experience. I have heard about it many times but never experienced one first hand.
Seriously after checking so many things, I started thinking that something mechanically was very wrong with my engine. So I am glad at the end that it was something simple I couldn't see. At the same time, I really never thought a vacuum leak in PCV system would chance things so drastically. During rutine maintenance, many times I had to remove a vacuum line or two from the intake while the car was idling and engine sound never changed. So this made me belive that small leaks wouldn't have enough effect to mess up the idle. But looks like a leak in PCV system is much worse than other small leaks from vacuum hoses behind the intake.
I hope many are reading these post and learn how to handle vacuum leaks.
Yes, I spent so much time but I don't have much regrets. I learned lost of things...
 
snap on smoke machine = God. Also PICO scope.


Do you know how many small shops own that smoke machine?

Out of all the small shops and individual mechanics I talked to, nobody had it.
When I ask them, their answers would be "Ohh yeah, I will get one soon..."

Seems like not a cheap stuff. And certainly not the stuff for a DIY guy...
 
Im so happy to finally find someone who has fixed this issue. My only question is.... Does this also fix the engine stall while driving issue? In both instances, my car will restart with no problems if I wait 15-20min (not a minute sooner)
I have a 97 2.4l v6 lx edition.
 
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