Need help with hose location/function !

[Pegasus]

Hi all!

My nephew's '99 2.0L DOHC Contour is running hot. He brought it over originally because it wouldn't run. I found a goofy-looking disconnected hose on the bottom of the intake manifold and plugged it in. The car ran "okay" after that, but tends to run hot (about 250 degrees according to my ScanGauge II). I replaced the water pump, thermostat, gauge and fan sensors. Fans kick on around 210 degrees and the thermostat also works, but the car still gets hot.

Regardless, I'm wondering if this goofy-looking hose could be causing an excessively lean mixture. I've attached photos and hopefully someone here can maybe post a picture of how it SHOULD look. He bought this car second-hand and I'm thinking the previous owner jury-rigged this whole mess.

The crowd here has helped alot so hopefully you all can help with this!

First picture is the way I found it when the car barely ran

Second photo shows hose connected, but car idles kinda rough and runs hot

Third picture shows the other end of the hose that was disconnected from the intake manifold.


See attached pictures and tell me what is wrong :shocked:

 

[iskoos]

I am surprised nobody replied to this yet. One reason is that Not many people have 4cyl. engines in their Contours. I have a 95 Contour with Zetec engine.
I cannot say for sure but by looking at the hose location, I want to say EGR connection. I have the EGR tube connected to intake at that point but mine is a metal tube and I believe it should be a metal tube. But yours is 99, some things might be different in yours. If it is EGR hose, your car will not idle at all with all that unmetered air entering the intake; putting the hose back will fix it for sure. I am puzzled how this has to do with the car running hot though. EGR actually cools the combustion temp.
Again although it feels like, it may not be EGR. Can you not follow the hose and see where it is coming from? I cannot imagine it would be going to brake booster as you didn't mention any braking problems. So I assume your brakes function properly.
Have you checked your thermostat? Is it opening? It is an easy check, your upper hose should be hot)
Wish I could help more. I really spent lots of time on my Contour past 12 months but from pictures I can't do much...
Hang on though. Somebody should chime in....

 

[iskoos]

Man, I looked at the pictures again, it has got to be EGR connection coming from the EGR valve man. I cannot imagine something else could be going there. Where it is pointing is directly under the throttle body and my EGR tube is connected to intake right there. I can also see(in the first picture) your starter motor, part of alternator and IAC valve in your first picture. So it has got to be it...

 

[Pegasus]

iskoos, thanks for the help! I'm thinking there should be a PCV valve somewhere in this picture.

Regardless, some extra info. With the hose disconnected, the car WOULD run, but not idle. Also, the brakes hardly worked which makes since because the manifold could'nt hold vacuum with the hose disconnected. Attaching the hose allows the brakes to work and the car to idle *somewhat* smoothly BUT...

After I made this post, I put the car up on ramps, started it and got under it. This "hose" is definitely not stock since there was a very loud "hiss" under the car coming from that hose. In addition, the soft hose was COMPLETELY COLLAPSED as if all of the air had been sucked out of it. Since it couldn't completely collapse, there is still some air going through it (resulting in the hissing noise).

I unplugged the hose and put a large rubber cap over the nipple at the intake manifold. The car idles better (but lower RPMs) and I've not yet had a chance to drive it yet.

Also, not sure if it matters or not, but with the hose connected and the engine warmed up, the air coming from the exhaust is ultra-hot. I mean like hot enough to scald the back of your hand. Not mildly hot (like my Crown Vic).

I wonder if anyone here with a '99 2.0 could take a picture of the underside of thier car for comparison purposes. Thanks again for all of the help!

 

[iskoos]

Alright, no matter what, the car will idle very poorly or not at all with that hose diconnected because you are creating a huge vacuum leak at the heart of the intake manifold. It still feels like EGR connection but if your brakes feel hard with this hose disconnected then it may be the brake booster connection. Either way it shouldn't be hard to find. Just follow that hose and see where it is going.
I am not surprised that the hose collapses(especially if it is not the original stuff) because intake produces great amount of vacuum at idle.

I am still puzzled why your car is running so hot though. You may have another issue here. Make sure to attache(or replace that hose) and make it airtight. Vacuum leak would mess up your air/fuel ratio and creates lean mixture which may result higher engine temperatures but not to the extends what you are describing. I mean I haven't heard that hot exhaust gasses.

Are your sure your thermostat working? I measured the coolant on my car and it should be around 210F at the operating temp.

 

[BrApple]

pcv valve is located in/near the exhaust manifold ....


also the egr pipe is metal and therefore I do believe it bolts into the manifold.

 

[iskoos]

Yes, the EGR pipe is metal and bolts into the manifold with two screws on my Contour. And yes PCV valve is far from this location. It is hidden between the Cat. and the engine block(exhaust side).

Pegasus, follow the darn hose and see where it is going to. If it is for brake booster, there should be a check valve somewhere in the line.

Wish I could be there...

 

[iskoos]

I looked at your 3rd picture again and you kind of show where the hose is connecting to.
Ford definitely changed something between 95 and 99. My car is not configured like this.

 

[BrApple]

brake booster line is smaller and come out the side of the manifolf near the brake booster.

 

[BrApple]

I looked at your 3rd picture again and you kind of show where the hose is connecting to.
Ford definitely changed something between 95 and 99. My car is not configured like this.

yes. a 99 does not have an egr system, it has the VCT instead.

 

[iskoos]

yes. a 99 does not have an egr system, it has the VCT instead.

That does explain it pretty well then. With no EGR system, you won't have EGR valve or EGR pipe runs from the exhaust to intake. I now wonder what that hose is though.

I looked up VCT and it stands for "Variable Cam Timing" definitely my old Zetec doesn't have. Though it doesn't sound like something that could replace the EGR system. If there is no EGR system, then something must be doing a similar thing for emission control. Hope somebody with 99 Contour enlightens us.

 

[FIND]

yes. a 99 does not have an egr system, it has the VCT instead.

Gawd I was wondering for a minute there, cause I was looking at my wife's old 99 and I felt stupid. I'll have to get back to you on the hoses cause I drew the wrong stuff.

 

[mcgarvey]

I just replaced that hose on my car last week because it collapsed under high vacuum. It does indeed go to the PCV valve via a metal pipe that runs under the thermostat housing. That metal pipe runs toward the radiator, where it joins the PCV valve with a short rubber adapter. The PCV valve is on the side of the engine block, facing the radiator. The hose that goes on your pictured manifold nipple is 5/8" at one end and 5/16" at the other and there is no substitute for the $20 dealer part-- been there done that. Every dealer will have that hose because it's an extremely common failure. From your picture it appears that someone attempted to rig something up in place of that special hose, as the shape is different. As I said, that won't work so don't bother. Get the correct one and a good hose clamp and be done with it.

Also the car running lean from the vacuum leak could be the cause of your hot running condition. HOWEVER, I do not believe it's really running at 250 degrees! If you're getting that number from the OBD system I suggest you replace your ECT sensor and check it again.

 

[BrApple]

That does explain it pretty well then. With no EGR system, you won't have EGR valve or EGR pipe runs from the exhaust to intake. I now wonder what that hose is though.

I looked up VCT and it stands for "Variable Cam Timing" definitely my old Zetec doesn't have. Though it doesn't sound like something that could replace the EGR system. If there is no EGR system, then something must be doing a similar thing for emission control. Hope somebody with 99 Contour enlightens us.

the VCT adjusts the exhaust cam timing to act like a egr system ...

 

[Pegasus]

I'll be going to the dealer today to see if I can hunt down the "special" hose that should go there.

My apologies, but I should have been clearer on my initial post that the third picture (top.jpg) shows where the other end of the hose is connected to (with an aftermarket hose clamp).

I have had absolutely zero luck locating the PCV valve. I have a rough idea of where it *should* be, but for the life of me cannot locate it. Where is it and how is it replaced? Under the car or from the top?

Thanks again for all of the input, I'm hoping that replacing this funky tube with the correct item will fix the overheating problem.

As for the thermostat, yep, I replaced it AND boiled it to test, it opened at 190 degrees. I've replaced the ECT sensor TWICE and both units reported the overheating issue.

I replaced the water pump even though the impellers on the old unit looked just fine.

Backflushed the cooling system and, with the bottom hose on the radiator disconnected, hosed water into the top hose and verified a good flow through the radiator so I don't think its plugged.

I have a code reader (actually two, an Actron and a ScanGauge II). Currently the computer is not throwing any code but I imagine it will if I run the car enough.

Also, recently replaced all plugs and wires. Old plugs were light tan (with worn electrodes) but otherwise normal.

Using my point-and-shoot infrared thermometer, all four exhaust manifold temps are within 10 degrees of each other.

One other strange thing that might help; from a dead-cold engine, after about 5 minutes the cooling fan on the radiator will kick on before the gauge temp shows anything at all. After about another 2 minutes, the gauge in the car will suddenly swing to about the middle position and, provided I don't drive the car, will remain at about the middle even if I let the car idle for 30 minutes. However, once I drive it down the block then the temp starts to rise towards the H mark and stay there.

Thanks again for all the help. Let me know if more pictures can assist in the diagnosis.

 

[amc49]

BrApple is right, no EGR, has VCT. That is PCV inlet. Chase down the hose and where it goes, should go around right side of engine to end up in front of engine behind the exhaust manifold and catalytic converter. PCV valve is located there in the main engine breather assembly. Where hose goes on intake manifold needs a hose clamp. That lean can overheat the engine especially with the entire opening open. Also, there is no distributor on that engine, just a coilpack.

When it indicates or is hot the fans are on right? you should know the temp gauge does not actually read actual temp like in the old days. It is merely a switch that PCM uses to show temp, meaning it will move all at once when PCM says engine warmed up and will move toward hot when PCM detects overheat. No slow rise like a real gauge, you can tell that with your equipment. Should show like same temp even though scantool may show a range of maybe 180-230 degrees, all good temps to PCM. Therefore it shows normal.