Okay gents,
Here’s my dilemma. Car is practically going through convulsions at the moment. A lot of sputtering and misfiring; which began almost three years ago. I’ve tried working it out through the sage advice in the forum, but I’ve run into a brick wall.
I have a 95 SE, 2.5, MTX w/84,000 miles. I’ve only made two puny mods, the KKM intake and Eibach springs. The KKM went in around summer 2002 after reading what I saw here and liking the reviews.
I point out the KKM install for a reason – shortly thereafter (12-18 months), is when I started experiencing the first indications of coughing and spitting. It wasn’t bad at first, but got progressively worse. Even after re-installing the stock intake, the misfires kept on coming, so I ruled out the KKM as the culprit for the problem. In summer 2005, dove down to Germany from Norway and the DPFE hoses popped off on the trip back up north.
Did the forum research and completed the following without breaking or ruining anything: the TB clean, the UIM clean, and cleaned the IAC valve. Posted a help question on the forum and was led to either the Bank 1 pre-cat was clogged or the DPFE was bad. Replaced the DPFE and both hoses hoping the pre-cat was not the issue. Misfire symptoms continued and within three months, the ceramic in the underbody cat failed and was banging like an out of tune church bell. Got fed up and replaced the entire exhaust system down to the underbody cat. Expected the sputtering to go away; but nope, car’s still acting like a ----- still sputtering and misfiring.
The only time the acceleration is smooth is when the car is under load, above 3000 RPMs, a sudden surge of power and smoothness emerges at over 3500 RPMs. Other symptoms are when the car is in 2nd and 3rd gears at under 2000 RPMs, I hear what sounds like back blasts (or low-toned pops) in the exhaust chambers; at least it sounds like that’s where they’re located. Like the fuel is either too rich or too lean. The pops go away when the RPMs are over 2000. Forgot to mention, the CEL first showed itself in summer 2005 during the trip back to Norway. It has not returned following the full exhaust install. I plan to have them read at a Ford dealer tomorrow if I can get in. It will probably cost me $100; everything is expensive here and almost nothing is free.
Sorry for the long-winded version; but as you can see, there was history.
Thanks in advance for any and all offers of assistance.
PS - Does anyone know of any really good re-build shops on the east coast that cater to Contours? Preferably points in the Chesapeake Bay area (MD or VA) and potential points further north. I'd hate to get rid of the car and am considering a nearly complete engine re-build down the road.
Here’s my dilemma. Car is practically going through convulsions at the moment. A lot of sputtering and misfiring; which began almost three years ago. I’ve tried working it out through the sage advice in the forum, but I’ve run into a brick wall.
I have a 95 SE, 2.5, MTX w/84,000 miles. I’ve only made two puny mods, the KKM intake and Eibach springs. The KKM went in around summer 2002 after reading what I saw here and liking the reviews.
I point out the KKM install for a reason – shortly thereafter (12-18 months), is when I started experiencing the first indications of coughing and spitting. It wasn’t bad at first, but got progressively worse. Even after re-installing the stock intake, the misfires kept on coming, so I ruled out the KKM as the culprit for the problem. In summer 2005, dove down to Germany from Norway and the DPFE hoses popped off on the trip back up north.
Did the forum research and completed the following without breaking or ruining anything: the TB clean, the UIM clean, and cleaned the IAC valve. Posted a help question on the forum and was led to either the Bank 1 pre-cat was clogged or the DPFE was bad. Replaced the DPFE and both hoses hoping the pre-cat was not the issue. Misfire symptoms continued and within three months, the ceramic in the underbody cat failed and was banging like an out of tune church bell. Got fed up and replaced the entire exhaust system down to the underbody cat. Expected the sputtering to go away; but nope, car’s still acting like a ----- still sputtering and misfiring.
The only time the acceleration is smooth is when the car is under load, above 3000 RPMs, a sudden surge of power and smoothness emerges at over 3500 RPMs. Other symptoms are when the car is in 2nd and 3rd gears at under 2000 RPMs, I hear what sounds like back blasts (or low-toned pops) in the exhaust chambers; at least it sounds like that’s where they’re located. Like the fuel is either too rich or too lean. The pops go away when the RPMs are over 2000. Forgot to mention, the CEL first showed itself in summer 2005 during the trip back to Norway. It has not returned following the full exhaust install. I plan to have them read at a Ford dealer tomorrow if I can get in. It will probably cost me $100; everything is expensive here and almost nothing is free.
Sorry for the long-winded version; but as you can see, there was history.
Thanks in advance for any and all offers of assistance.
PS - Does anyone know of any really good re-build shops on the east coast that cater to Contours? Preferably points in the Chesapeake Bay area (MD or VA) and potential points further north. I'd hate to get rid of the car and am considering a nearly complete engine re-build down the road.
