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car's running a bit rough

alex894

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Messages
1,075
Location
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Hello,

I'm new to this forum, I've registered a while back but I couldn't post anything just until now, I've read mostly all of your posts but I couldn't find an answer to my problem.

I've just bought a '98 Contour, 4 banger, auto (thinking of swapping it when the budget allows but I'm having seconds thoughs when I'm thinking of the cost of doing that). I got a $$$ good deal on it, 85k miles and counting, grey, all stock, the car looks great, body is solid.

I've just put a brand new rear suspension on it because the springs broke the same day I bought it, on the way to her new home ($ 800 CAD..ridiculous)...One thing is for sure..she's a keeper now.

Here's the current problem happening for the last week:

The car is lacking serious power:shrug: ; I know I can't expect much from a 4 banger but I can feel it when something ain't right. It's idling rough also, and what I mean by that is that the idle is normal for 3 seconds, the RPM drops suddenly, close enough for the engine to stall, and it automatically revs up and gets into the normal idle, it's a continuous loop. (only happens in "rainy" days)

On the road, she's behaving fine under 100 KM/h. If I try pushing her over 100, the gas pedal starts shaking crazy. It happens every once on a while, mostly on sudden acceleration.:mad:

I checked the air filter, cleaned the intake up, threw a K&N filter, it seemed alright, no problem there:bah: . I'm gonna check the fuel pump and the fuel filter this weekend.

Did anybody else have this problem?

All help is appreciated,

Thanks in advance.

BTW, what tachometer do you Zetec guys have added-on to your car? Mine does't have one, I'm thinking of putting a set of 3 dials for RPM, oil pressure and battery charge. I need to have those when I drive, crucial.

_____________________
Alex.

1998 Countour, Zetek VCT, stock, K&N air intake.
 
Hi Alex,
My girlfriends car is having the same problem, actually to a point that i stalls, but the weird thing is that it mostly do it when i'm driving up a hill, didn't want to tread jack but I was just wondering if you've already done the fuel pump swap and if it solved your problem. I want to start another thread but if you get good result I would love to hear about it and also how difficult it is to swap the pump. The countour I have is a 99 have to still check if it's a return or not pump. Any good luck and hope you keep us updated.
 
Hoooooooolllly bump...

I posted that long ago.. but hey, thank you for trying to help, hoping this will help you :cool:

well...here's what I did, in my desperation to fix the problem.

1. cleaned the intake manifold, replaced air filter with K&N, cleaned air sensor.
I didn't see any improvement to my problem, but hey, now the intake is clean. :laugh:.

2. some CEGers suggested looking into ignition and fuel delivery. So I did start my investigation, got the spark plugs out, they seemed to be freshly installed. Got a new set of wires, took a break, and took it for a spin. Darn idle was still rough, now I started bitting my nails out of frustration.

Fuel pump, working; got it out tested by a friend at his shop, worked by specs. Since I was at it, I changed the fuel filter, hoping for my problem to be solved. but nahhhhh

3. transmission.... drained the fluid, and topped it with top grade. Checked all the sensors, ran diagnostics, everything was in working order but the problem wasn't gone.

4. checked alternator, thinking that the engine might not got it's share of power, but no, it was alright.

5. looked into timing, it was all good

now I really ran out of all the options that I could think of/or might've been suggested until a former CEGer saw this thread and suggested another idea.

there is an A/C connector plug under the cooling fluid reservoir. so it happens that moisture got in and was starting the A/C compressors alternatively. :shrug::shrug::shrug:
opened up the plug, cleaned it up because it was kinda dirty inside for some reason, and it was a bit damp.

plugged everything back in, took it for a spin, I let it idle in my driveway and what do you know, it ran beautifully.

Afterwards I went to the beer store, bought a 2 4, fried some stake and celebrated my achievement.

girlfriends car is having the same problem, actually to a point that i stalls, but the weird thing is that it mostly do it when i'm driving up a hill,
It could be many things, air/fuel intake, stark plugs/wires and for the weirdest reasons, the transmission. changing the fuel filter is inexpensive, you should do it.
Does it have any guts when you floor it? Does it stall at stop signs? Maybe it's the speed sensor..

Cheers,
 
Well I checked the spark plugs and wires last weekend, the wires looked good tested them and the resistance were good. Plugs 1 and 2 looked good but when i removed 3 and 4 they were soaked with oil :shocked: So I'm thinking it's the cylinder head gasket (right?) Just don't want to spend anymore mula on this car :blackeye: how difficult is this to change? I'll search the forum for a DIY write up. Although the car runs good now, no more stalling. The MAF was changed, but today got a CEL. Will be taking it to autozone to get scanned.
Good to hear you solved your problem.
 
Spark plug wires could need replacing even if they look ok; mine did. Also, replace the PCV valve just to be safe. The vacuum line to mine was kinked/clogged, and causing problems like this on mine.
 
Hello,

I'm new to this forum, I've registered a while back but I couldn't post anything just until now, I've read mostly all of your posts but I couldn't find an answer to my problem.

I've just bought a '98 Contour, 4 banger, auto (thinking of swapping it when the budget allows but I'm having seconds thoughs when I'm thinking of the cost of doing that). I got a $$$ good deal on it, 85k miles and counting, grey, all stock, the car looks great, body is solid.

I've just put a brand new rear suspension on it because the springs broke the same day I bought it, on the way to her new home ($ 800 CAD..ridiculous)...One thing is for sure..she's a keeper now.

Here's the current problem happening for the last week:

The car is lacking serious power:shrug: ; I know I can't expect much from a 4 banger but I can feel it when something ain't right. It's idling rough also, and what I mean by that is that the idle is normal for 3 seconds, the RPM drops suddenly, close enough for the engine to stall, and it automatically revs up and gets into the normal idle, it's a continuous loop. (only happens in "rainy" days)

On the road, she's behaving fine under 100 KM/h. If I try pushing her over 100, the gas pedal starts shaking crazy. It happens every once on a while, mostly on sudden acceleration.:mad:

I checked the air filter, cleaned the intake up, threw a K&N filter, it seemed alright, no problem there:bah: . I'm gonna check the fuel pump and the fuel filter this weekend.

Did anybody else have this problem?

All help is appreciated,

Thanks in advance.

BTW, what tachometer do you Zetec guys have added-on to your car? Mine does't have one, I'm thinking of putting a set of 3 dials for RPM, oil pressure and battery charge. I need to have those when I drive, crucial.

_____________________
Alex.

1998 Countour, Zetek VCT, stock, K&N air intake.

So did you fix it? This is what I would d:Check fuel pressure , replace PCV valve ,both O2 sensors ,Idle Air Control Valve,Throttle Positioning Sensor ,Do a compression test ,Do a leakdown test ,fuel filter change , DPFF valve change.

Do one at a time , and see if it improves. I would start with changing the IAC valve .
Good luck
 
So did you fix it? This is what I would d:Check fuel pressure , replace PCV valve ,both O2 sensors ,Idle Air Control Valve,Throttle Positioning Sensor ,Do a compression test ,Do a leakdown test ,fuel filter change , DPFF valve change.

Do one at a time , and see if it improves. I would start with changing the IAC valve .Good luck

I did, long time ago; read post #4;
 
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