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2.5L Duratec shaking like it's scared

2.5 Always!

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
67
Hey Guys,
Something went wrong last night with my car, it's a 2.5l duratec mtx... I did my weekly WOT and this time riight after i got out of 1st gear (did rolling in first did not drop clutch) my engine started to vibrate really bad. i stopped in a gas station lifted my hood looked under. i might of smelt a TAD bit of anti-freeze, however when i started the car again it shook extremly bad, ever when i was sitting in neautral and gave it some gas... when i am moving at a low speed it the sound doesn't get louder but a vibration gets stronger. I have no slipping in the clutch or anything of that sort. The sound is coming from the driver side of the motor below the intake... that's where the tranny is but i don't have any slipping or anything. however my rpm's take longer to fall down to idle. i already had the throttle hang fix and that's besides the point it would cause me motor to shake like a ceasure<~~ can't spell... i know it's really confusing how i explained it but that's what's happening. shakes when started, faster you go more virbration, noise coming from driver side engine bay, not slipping, also a pop when making turns... i kept this car in such ship shape and this all happened last night...
 
did you throw a CEL when this happened? It sounds awfully like you lost ignition on one of the cylinders but its hard to tell based upon the description. You also talked about a noise... Is it possible for you to get a sound clip?
 
that's the thing, no cel, never blinked once... the ignition part is VERY ify because the hard i hit the gas like half throttle the vibration would leave and come back as the rpm's rise. no hesitation, no valve tap, no weird colored smoked coming out of the rear. boggles my mind. doesnt it just look confusing lol? so far i know for sure it's not the drivetrain as in clutch/fly/mtx-75, could it be a hub bearing but how would that cause the whole motor to shake at initial start up... i mean it does smooth out after like 2 seconds of running but the crank and rpm drop from start up is one hell of a cycle... whatever it is can't be dammaged anymore. i drove directly home parked her in my driveway. i wish i had some CEG fellows around here to look at it. you guy's are smart enough though to figure it out verbally... just ask any questions that come to your mind. after work today i'll have more of an update hopefully. thanks for the reply aliasJeRk
 
A pop when turning would make me suspect something with the wheel bearing or cv shaft areas. Of course I randomly broke a wheel stud once while playing on the highway in my mazda and got some weird vibration until I stopped and tightened the lugs that had loosened all of a sudden.
 
It isn't a wheel stud, or a CV joint, as the car does this in Neutral and while stopped.

I'd suspect you either broke a roll restrictor/motor mount, or you've got an ignition problem (fouled plug, bad wire, etc, etc) with the way you say it tends to go away upon throttle application at first, etc.
 
Thanks Ray, I will do a ignition test, run my cel codes, etc... after work. could you explain exactly what a roll restrictor is... the plugs, wires, igniton coil/distrib was replaced about 2 years ago, i am a daily driver with this car and alot of miles were put on the car since the 2 years have passed. well it might the ignition actually, with my exhaust i noticed a slit backfire or pop while dropping the rpms to shift. aka backfire... that's usually unburnt fuel correct? and with bad ignition... now where getting somewhere.
 
::Update:: I was talking with my boss and he noted in his old stang when his water pump failed, it caused his motor to shake just how i explained it, the temp did not rise or anything no overheating, for that the engine was getting coolant but not enough pressure, so when the motor was trying to turn the seized bearing or w/e it was causing the motor to shake, could that be the reason why i smelt some anti-freeze when i was under my hood? it is very odd that i was looking at a how-to on the water pumps last week... is their a actualy way to check if the pump failed without taking it out? i guess i have my weekend planned out... thought i was going to be able to relax lol
 
Normally the water pump will leak out the seep hole when its on its way out although some of these motors have plastic impellers which seem to fall apart without warning.
 
If something was seized but since the waterpump runs on its on belt it would be very easy to check for sure. Is the AC on by chance and have you watched the other belt for a second?
 
The a/c was off the whole day. Should I try and turn the a/c on and check both sides of the motor? i was informed even if the w/p seized the pully would still turn however internally she (motor) will shake...
 
It isn't a wheel stud, or a CV joint, as the car does this in Neutral and while stopped.

I'd suspect you either broke a roll restrictor/motor mount, or you've got an ignition problem (fouled plug, bad wire, etc, etc) with the way you say it tends to go away upon throttle application at first, etc.

+1

Check the mounts. If they are all fine, then pull your full pump fuse, start the car and let it die, do this a couple times to get all the fuel out of the fuel rails. Then pull one spark plug at a time, put it into the spark plug wire and lay the whole thing (spark plug IN the spark plug wire) on the manifold and get someone to turn the car over, if it sparks, that one is fine. Do this for every cylinder until you find the problem one. Change the spark plug, if that dosent work, change the wire, and if that dosent work, its the coil pack.
 
I will do that, however couldn't i get a friend to hold the throttle at WOT and than try and start... Ford made their cars not to start if the throttle is on the WOT position... i fooled many people doing that... my friend patrick fooled me while we were on a road trip in Ohio... we stopped to get gas... got back in the car the car didn't start... i got all hot headed lol like wtff man ford proves itself again! lol funny in the end... back to this though... instead of pulling the fuse, letting car run till it dies etc...
 
No.. well,. not for this reason.

You are correct that WOT shuts off the injectors from FLOW, but the reason you are draining the lines is for fuel vapors or drips.

If you aren't 100% WOT, the PCM doesn't SEE that you are WOt, or there is any hiccup in between it will spray fuel. You don't want that with a spark plug laying on your manifold, trust me.
 
Good Call... Is their a test to check if the w/p failed or should i just take it off and look at the impeller etc...
 
pop the belt off and see if the engine smooths out. Remove the "duratec" plastic cover in the front, then rotate the tensioner down by hand and slide the belt off.

Start the car and see how it feels. (warning: DO NOT DO THIS FOR LONG. If your waterpump is fine, you have now disabled it. Your car WILL OVERHEAT IN 5 or 10 minutes... only do this enough to see)

Re-install the belt when done. While it is off, inspect it for cracks in the belt, etc.

cracks in ONE rib are fine. cracks in all the ribs are fine. The problems are when there are pieces of each rib that are MISSING (fell off, etc) or when you have one crack that is in a straight line across all the ribs.

If the cracks are "staggered" on all the ribs to where they aren't touching each other, then its okay. But if the crack goes in a straight line across more than one rib, or there are pieces of a rib missing, replace it while you are in there anyway.
 
Thanks Ray, I will do a ignition test, run my cel codes, etc... after work. could you explain exactly what a roll restrictor is... the plugs, wires, igniton coil/distrib was replaced about 2 years ago, i am a daily driver with this car and alot of miles were put on the car since the 2 years have passed. well it might the ignition actually, with my exhaust i noticed a slit backfire or pop while dropping the rpms to shift. aka backfire... that's usually unburnt fuel correct? and with bad ignition... now where getting somewhere.

Engine mounts are polyorethane parts like big bushings that hold the engine on the subframe and body. To check the engine mounts, ask sb to put step on the gas suddenly, and you look at the engine movement, see if it moves alot and pops. then check them visually. I am not sure about 2.5 but usually in most of the front wheel cars there are one on the tranny, one on the front of the engine and one at the side of the engine blockon the subframe. As ray said, and you feel pops when you turn, it looks to me, they should be the problem.
 
Engine mounts are polyorethane parts like big bushings that hold the engine on the subframe and body. To check the engine mounts, ask sb to put step on the gas suddenly, and you look at the engine movement, see if it moves alot and pops. then check them visually. I am not sure about 2.5 but usually in most of the front wheel cars there are one on the tranny, one on the front of the engine and one at the side of the engine blockon the subframe. As ray said, and you feel pops when you turn, it looks to me, they should be the problem.


Yes there are three, two on the engine side, one on the transmission side.
 
Yes there are three, two on the engine side, one on the transmission side.
Ok i finally had some light to look at the motor... A bushing/mount below my intake... ontop of my tranny... The bottom bracket was screwed onto the tranny the side on the sidewall... Their is a cylnder bushing like piece with a bolt going down the middle... the bolt snapped... i don;t know the part number or what it is... all i know is that it was bolted on TOP of the tranny i would add pictures but my cell phone doesn't send them properly to my email... if someone feels they know what it is or can know please pm me with your cell phone number and i can picture text you it... their are some numbers on the part itself... some of them or hard to see but these are it: ZV1.4311P4.60 , NEXT ONE IS 97BB-7M124-CH, FINAL F4SWE
If someone can figure that out your my hero haha i can't for the life of me... hopefully someone on here or from the dealer can help me today... oh i did check the w/p anyways it's perfect 100% so is the pully, tensioner and belt is still new, just this time i had day-light and i found the problem in 2 minutes of looking at the car... actually i was still in my work clothes
 
called the dealer and tried to explain i don't think that guy knew his left hand from his right hand... i told him i will be up after work unless someone can figure it out on here after that i could get the part from Bill J...
 
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