I have a 1995 Contour SE (V6) with an automatic transmission. It has about 99K miles on it. I live in California.
My Check Engine Light has been coming on and off for a few years. I was forced into retirement (layed off) so I'm not driving it very much. Maybe 500-1000 miles a year. I read in my owners mannual that it had to do with emissions and so I did not worry about it too much until I had to have my car smog tested. It has passed the smog test twice.
In October the car stopped moving and I was told it was the transmission. I debated with myself on whether I should put so much money into this old car but I do like the car. It is so comfortable for me and fun to drive, so I had the transmission rebuilt and it is still under warranty. I noticed after the re-build that I could feel when the car changed gears. Prior to the re-build, it changed gears so smoothly that I never even felt it.
Last week when I was driving on the freeway, traffic came to a stop. I was on an incline and when we started to go again I noticed that my car did not want to. I had to give it extra gas to get it going. It seemed fine once it got going. When I got home and tried to go up the driveway, the same thing happened. Basically the car is running sluggish, especially from a stopped position. I immediately thought it was the transmission. I took it back to the transmission shop and the man told me that he suspected it was a clogged catalytic converter. A few hours later he calls me and says he's getting a EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) error and it will cost $300-$700. I decided to get a second opinion. My son has a friend who is a mechanic and he said the EGR wouldn't make the car act like that. It must be the catalytic converter. Bring the car to his shop, it will cost $300-$700. His shop is 15 miles away and I was not convinced that it was the catalytic converter and so I took it to a near-by muffler shop. The man at the muffler shop could not get the codes out of my car and so he did a pressure check (I think). He put a hole in the exhaust system and then he welded it back up when he was finished. He said the catalytic converter seemed fine and he suspected a fuel problem. I called another friend of my son's who works on cars and he has changed the fuel filter but it did not help. He thinks the tranny is bad.
So what do you guys think? What should I test or change next and in what order?
Thanks sooooo much for any help you can give!
Melba
My Check Engine Light has been coming on and off for a few years. I was forced into retirement (layed off) so I'm not driving it very much. Maybe 500-1000 miles a year. I read in my owners mannual that it had to do with emissions and so I did not worry about it too much until I had to have my car smog tested. It has passed the smog test twice.
In October the car stopped moving and I was told it was the transmission. I debated with myself on whether I should put so much money into this old car but I do like the car. It is so comfortable for me and fun to drive, so I had the transmission rebuilt and it is still under warranty. I noticed after the re-build that I could feel when the car changed gears. Prior to the re-build, it changed gears so smoothly that I never even felt it.
Last week when I was driving on the freeway, traffic came to a stop. I was on an incline and when we started to go again I noticed that my car did not want to. I had to give it extra gas to get it going. It seemed fine once it got going. When I got home and tried to go up the driveway, the same thing happened. Basically the car is running sluggish, especially from a stopped position. I immediately thought it was the transmission. I took it back to the transmission shop and the man told me that he suspected it was a clogged catalytic converter. A few hours later he calls me and says he's getting a EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) error and it will cost $300-$700. I decided to get a second opinion. My son has a friend who is a mechanic and he said the EGR wouldn't make the car act like that. It must be the catalytic converter. Bring the car to his shop, it will cost $300-$700. His shop is 15 miles away and I was not convinced that it was the catalytic converter and so I took it to a near-by muffler shop. The man at the muffler shop could not get the codes out of my car and so he did a pressure check (I think). He put a hole in the exhaust system and then he welded it back up when he was finished. He said the catalytic converter seemed fine and he suspected a fuel problem. I called another friend of my son's who works on cars and he has changed the fuel filter but it did not help. He thinks the tranny is bad.
So what do you guys think? What should I test or change next and in what order?
Thanks sooooo much for any help you can give!
Melba