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Code 1383

Y

yamichi

New CEG'er
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
Messages
29
Location
Eugene, OR
Background- My friend is moving to dubai and giving me his 99 contour (base model i4) for el cheapo. He's not moving for a couple months yet and his check engine light is on. I go for a ride with him yesterday to see what's up with the car and in first gear it lugs HARD... 0-60 in about 45 seconds, no exaggeration. Once it's in second it seems to be alright. He says his mileage has gone down quite a bit also. He said it started when another friend of ours changed the spark plugs. He seated the plugs and wires and the car wouldn't start. Took them out, re-seated everything and tried again and it started but it's had this problem ever since (about two weeks). CEL is on so we took it to an auto parts store, they scanned it and it spit out two things- code 1383 and emissions status yellow.

I'm not worried about the emission status thing yet but everything I can find online says that code means cams over-retarded. That makes sense for the poor power, bad emissions, and craptastic mpg. So my question is- how does one go about fixing this? I googled a fair bit and found something about a VCT (but it's also a pricey part from what I found) and it doesn't make sense that changing the plugs would mess something up like the timing control.

So any help would be appreciated. I'm new to Fords but not to cars. I spent a lot of time working on my old saturn and I tinker with my supra any chance I get. I've got most tools on hand and most info. I'll be buying a chilton's manual shortly but any quick input would be great as right now the car is somewhat unsafe and sounds like it's gonna die.

Thanks in advance, y'all.

Edit- Pulled a forum noob move and didn't search first. Found a thread about this code and three people said "Check the VCT plug"
Any pictures or pointers as to where this plug is? Is it somewhere that it might get knocked around by a klutz doing spark plugs?
 
to answer your last part, yes it could. its right on top of the valve cover. its the plug closest to the timing belt cover.

you can see the plug just to the left of plug wire number 1 in this picture.
290zqtf.jpg
 
striker2 said:
to answer your last part, yes it could. its right on top of the valve cover. its the plug closest to the timing belt cover.

you can see the plug just to the left of plug wire number 1 in this picture.
Click to expand...

You rawk! OK so if we reseat the plugs and cables, pull that thing and make sure its wires aren't exposed or loose, is there a chance it will fix itself or will we need to readjust the timing manually?
 
if the timing was correct before hand, then its not likely to be off afterwards, unless it jumped a tooth. but that would only happen if the belt was loose from either a failing tensioner or a stretched belt, in which case it needs to be replaced anyways.
 
More Info!
I think I may go back and rename this thread. This contour may not be long for this earth. I'll be driving it tonight so my info will be more firsthand but here's what I know now.

Last night, Eddie couldn't push the brake pedal down- it resisted and he couldn't get it to stop. Since he's not a car person, pulling the hand brake didn't occur to him so he slammed it into park. He said there was a lot of noise (this was at parking lot speeds at least) and then the brake pedal was back to normal. Any ideas what new monster THAT would be?
 
well if he slammed it into park while moving he likely destroyed the trans, or if its not dead yet it will likely be dead very soon.

the brakes not working could be the master cylinder going or the brake booster.
 
OK so I drove it home- about 20 miles.
Jesus balls... scary stuff. It felt like it was making about 37hp and pressing the throttle didn't seem to have any impact. If I pressed the pedal about 10-15%, it was noticeable. Beyond ~10% nothing changed at all other than how loud the motor was.

so... wtf?

That plug goes into a cam position sensor, correct? Can the sensor be pulled as well as the plug? Where would I find the TPS on this car? Does anybody have an exploded diagram of the zetec engine somewhere? I'm having a hard time tracking one down. The Zetec is a non-interference engine, right? So even if the timing belt is totally fubar, the motor is still salvageable.
I don't know if I wanna tackle this or not... sigh.

Any help? Any other info I can get to make diagnosing this stuff easier? Been quite a while since I've tinkered with an engine like this one :D

as usual- thanks in advance.
 
No, sensor required for engine to start and run. I'd be much more worried about the damage done by throwing trans in park. Even at 10 mph should have totally destroyed trans. I'd be telling ol' Eddie to stay out of cars, that move could cause a complete loss of control and serious accident, even kill someone if done at faster speed. Putting in park while moving usually breaks transmission case or something serious like it. All this trouble from changing wires, amazing.........................
 
yamichi said:
OK so I drove it home- about 20 miles.
Jesus balls... scary stuff. It felt like it was making about 37hp and pressing the throttle didn't seem to have any impact. If I pressed the pedal about 10-15%, it was noticeable. Beyond ~10% nothing changed at all other than how loud the motor was.
Click to expand...

When you say the engine got louder, do you think the RPMs went up or just the intake sound of a lugging motor. The car probably doesn't have a tach right? What did it sound like?

Either way I would have to say it was a tranny problem. If the RPM went up the tranny is slipping. If the engine just lugged with WOT, then the tranny is probably going into multiple gears or something.

When you were driving did it shift or just stay in one gear?
 
ACM- I didn't mean permanently- I meant to replace/clean it.

Bug- the rpm would go up sometimes, usually it just sounded louder. If I sat at about 15% throttle, it would slowly but steadly climb and then shift... I think I want to do an oil change and change the tranny fluid- see if anything is in there... like metal parts :(

And yes- I told eddie how bad what he did was. To be fair, the lugging/not accelerating started before he dumped it to park though. this car probably isn't worth it but I like solving problems.
 
OK so I got the car opened up this morning and jacked it up and all that fun stuff. I now have some questions though...

A) the coil pack (I think) has the numbers written on it:
100_5561.jpg


and so do the cables:
100_5563.jpg


BUT the cables don't match up. As in, Cable number 2 goes to spark plug number 3... wtf? So the question (Other than what I'm thinking is a neverending wtf) is- do I put the cable marked 3 on the termination for 3 or do I put the cable that is on PLUG 3 on the termination marked 3?:confused:

Also- I reiterate- is there a way to remove this sensor to check it for wear/damage/dirt/whatever? I've removed the plug and it looks good but I would like to pull the sensor to clean it and/or replace it if possible.
2nd also- Where are the EGR and PCV on this motor? Anybody got a pic for me?:shrug:
(random tidbit- here is the link to my picasa album regarding work on this little puke. I'll update it as I do stuff- partly for posterity, partly to ask questions, partly to educate Eddie on why he shouldn't be allowed in things with motors.:nonono:)
 
pull the plug wires off and start over. put the wire numbered 4 to cylinder 4 and the coil pack terminal labeled 4. do the same for the others.

you will probably have to remove the valve cover in order to remove the VCT solenoid.

there is no EGR, the VCT on the exhaust cam replaced it. the PCV valve is located in the oil seperator (kind of traingular shaped piece that has 3 bolts holding it to the block) on the radiator side of the block, behind the exhaust manifold.
 
Alrighty so I couldn't get the valve cover off and I didn't want to force it without knowing more. Should I need a pry bar or something to work it loose once I get all the bolts off?

I'm 99% sure that this car isn't worth the worry any more. It seems like it has motor AND tranny trouble- maybe some brake trouble too. Unless doing a fluid change and a timing belt change will fix it, I just don't see this car being worth the amount of money and work that real transmission work will probably cost.

thoughts?
 
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