tomewolfe
New CEG'er
Hi CEG'ers,
I've got an 'almost new' 2000 Contour SE V6 with only 54K miles on it! Owned by an older relative of a co-worker who gave up the car due to alzheimers, so he said. I've had it a couple , 3 weeks or so and every other friday it has started sputtering when I leave work. Both times this occurred with 1/4 or less of a tankful of gas. Two weeks ago the codes suggested the front O2 sensor or a fuel issue. I replaced the O2 sensor and the fuel filter, put in some Lucas gas treatment and filled the tank up, the check engine light was gone and my car ran fine for two weeks, until today.
On the way home today, when the gas got below 1/4 tank, it started sputtering and losing power. So far no check engine light but it did finally stall out in the driveway.
My question is: would a fuel pump that is 'going' work okay with a full tank but get worse as the fuel level goes down? I've heard that fuel pumps run hotter and wear out quicker when the fuel level is low. I've never had to replace a fuel pump. I'll drive her to the gas station tomorrow and fill'er up but this thing with my car needing money every payday is making me nervous. The AutoZone website suggests checking the fuel pressure with a gauge before changing a fuel pump, which makes sense. Maybe they'll be able to read some more codes for me if there are any...but I'm hoping not. Another issue might be contaminated fuel getting worse as the fuel level gets lower.
Pardon my rambling, I'm probably older than a lot of you and I tend to do that. So far I really like this car but the poor thing has suffered some neglect in it's life and needs some attention. I never SAW such a curled-up dashboard before! I'm cutting 3/4" plywood wedges and plan to contact cement it back down...we'll see! I reckon it's too late to get one of those "DASHBOARD REPAIR KITS " Ford had once upon a time. The struts and ball joints need replaced, and I'll do that if it keeps running. One CV boot needs replaced. The remanufactured calipers in front are supposed to be less than a year old, dealer installed, but they sure are rusty. Sometimes, as I delve further into this car, I wonder if the previous owner lived through Katrina. It's had ants ever since I bought it. It's great to have a website like this for me to get ideas and advice from those of you who enjoy these cars.
I'll post some pics once I have them, been too busy try to get her operational and safe, this is a DRIVER TRAINING VEHICLE for my youngest so I'm woking on getting it reliable first and if that happens we'll fix up the outside.
Happy Motoring, Tom
I've got an 'almost new' 2000 Contour SE V6 with only 54K miles on it! Owned by an older relative of a co-worker who gave up the car due to alzheimers, so he said. I've had it a couple , 3 weeks or so and every other friday it has started sputtering when I leave work. Both times this occurred with 1/4 or less of a tankful of gas. Two weeks ago the codes suggested the front O2 sensor or a fuel issue. I replaced the O2 sensor and the fuel filter, put in some Lucas gas treatment and filled the tank up, the check engine light was gone and my car ran fine for two weeks, until today.
On the way home today, when the gas got below 1/4 tank, it started sputtering and losing power. So far no check engine light but it did finally stall out in the driveway.
My question is: would a fuel pump that is 'going' work okay with a full tank but get worse as the fuel level goes down? I've heard that fuel pumps run hotter and wear out quicker when the fuel level is low. I've never had to replace a fuel pump. I'll drive her to the gas station tomorrow and fill'er up but this thing with my car needing money every payday is making me nervous. The AutoZone website suggests checking the fuel pressure with a gauge before changing a fuel pump, which makes sense. Maybe they'll be able to read some more codes for me if there are any...but I'm hoping not. Another issue might be contaminated fuel getting worse as the fuel level gets lower.
Pardon my rambling, I'm probably older than a lot of you and I tend to do that. So far I really like this car but the poor thing has suffered some neglect in it's life and needs some attention. I never SAW such a curled-up dashboard before! I'm cutting 3/4" plywood wedges and plan to contact cement it back down...we'll see! I reckon it's too late to get one of those "DASHBOARD REPAIR KITS " Ford had once upon a time. The struts and ball joints need replaced, and I'll do that if it keeps running. One CV boot needs replaced. The remanufactured calipers in front are supposed to be less than a year old, dealer installed, but they sure are rusty. Sometimes, as I delve further into this car, I wonder if the previous owner lived through Katrina. It's had ants ever since I bought it. It's great to have a website like this for me to get ideas and advice from those of you who enjoy these cars.
I'll post some pics once I have them, been too busy try to get her operational and safe, this is a DRIVER TRAINING VEHICLE for my youngest so I'm woking on getting it reliable first and if that happens we'll fix up the outside.
Happy Motoring, Tom