Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting HELP! Third Gear Chugs, low MPG, not fuel pump...

I own a 2000 SVT with 47000 miles. A few weeks ago I was accelerating in a turn and the car almost died completely. After searching on here I found out it was most likely the fuel pump. So I took it in to the local Ford dealer, who replaced the fuel pump and cleaned the EGR ports (not covered under my extended warranty, I had a previous post about that whole ordeal). So then I started having this "third gear chugging" problem. Basically, every time I shift into third and hit the gas, the car sputters or chugs. Only in third gear. And I have been getting really low fuel economy (13 mpg). So I took it back to Ford, who told me this time it was the spark plug wires. So they changed the wires and plugs. I also changed the fuel filter just to see if that would help. Guess what - still the same problem. I don't trust the dealer anymore, so I had a local mechanic drive it with me, and he is out of ideas as well. Is the transmission electronic, maybe something wrong with sensing 3rd gear? Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

If you haven't done it yet, see if the injectors respond to cleaning. Add a high quality injector cleaner to the fuel tank. Also clean the throttle body. Doing an on the car intake manifold cleaning would not hurt either.

There are two posibilities in my mind. One is that there is still a slight ignition problem. About the only thing that hasn't been tried is the ignition coil pack. Usually when they fail you will have a constant miss, not an intermittant one. If you can find someone that has a know good coil pack try swapping it and see what happens. The other idea on my mind is that you have a slight lean condition under that exact load and thus the need for the injector and induction system maintenance from the first paragraph. This could have been agrivated from a better functioning EGR system.

I don't know, but these are posibilities worth checking.

does it chug when you stomp it in third, or is it due to the lower rpms you are shifting at?

I have the same problem. 00 SVT, immediately after replacing fuel pump, I have the chugging in third gear below 2500 rpm. I have seen one or two other posts here with the same symptoms also following the fuel pump change, but so far have not seen any conclusive fix. Many of the posts focus on plugs or wires, but I can't help but think that this has to be related to the new pump design (different than the original.) Any ideas out there?