Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting CEL and stalling

The Sport's at the shop, so really this is just academic, but I feel stupid for capitulating (I need the car fixed ASAP to get to work). The car's a Duratec with 80k on the clock.

Leaving work yesterday I started the car (sat outside all day in the cold). Normally it revs up to 1500 then settles back down to 1000 before I drive off. This time it revs up to 2000, drops to 1000, then fluctuates up and down until it sputters and almost stalls. It recovered back up to 1000 and ran just fine for the drive home. This morning it started normally. However, about 5 minutes on the road and the CEL went on. No problem, I thought, I'll hook up my laptop this evening. After work I went to start it; it revs up to 2000, then drops below 1000, sputters and dies. Every subsequent start would repeat the procedure. When the tow truck finally arrived (thank God for AAA) it decided to run long enough to pull out of the parking space and pull behind the flatbed.

I keep trying to troubleshoot this in my head, but I'm certainly not experienced enough of a mechanic. All I know is air/fuel/spark. If I hold the throttle it runs fine, it only has problems idling: IAC? I just replaced it this past spring. I noticed a strange smell when it was sputtering, maybe gasoline? I've heard from more than a couple people recently that there's an epidemic of fuel injector problems due to bad gas in the area. The tank is full, so I'm not sure its the pump. I replaced the plugs about two years ago with Autolite APP764s. I replaced a set of Bosch wires a few months ago because of hesitation with some OEM wires which solved that problem. If its spark, could it be the coil? I know having the CEL would certainly help here, but like I said I have to get it fixed ASAP to get to work. If this had happened a month ago I'd still have the SVT to take to work

Mine did something similar, where it would drop to 500 rpm very fast, catch itself, and most of the time just stall out on me, and my CEL was on too. I thought for sure it was the IAC, but I took it to a Ford specialist, he scanned it, and it revealed it was actually the IAT sensor had gone bad. So he replaced it with a brand new one, hasnt stalled since.

Typical symptoms of a faulty IAC valve. Can't control idle speed anymore.

Steve

The shop called this afternoon. The code was for a vacuum leak (don't know exactly what code, that's what the service manager said) and they found it was coming from the intake manifold gaskets. I don't know if it was upper or lower.

Once again, this was something I was planning on doing but kept procrastinating on. I was going to do a UIM/LIM cleaning in the fall, but school took over my schedule. I have all the gaskets (UIM, LIM, TB, etc.) sitting in my garage. Same thing happened with the water pump last year. Maybe now I'll stop being so lazy with preventative maintenance.

Well, I dont think tours like the cold that much. I got 2 tours a his & hers mine is a 97 v6 5spd & hers 98 v6 auto. both have been great cars but today I changed the 98 tour OE battery just to make sure it wouldn't go out on her this winter here in OH.
Any how this is what relate to this post the 98 CEL starting flashing tonight we were just running around getting some last minute shopping done. So I leave the car running when I come out the car idleing rough and the CEL blinking but car drives fine At the stop it's the same leave her in car run in the store and come out the car idleing rough and the CEL blinking again.
I work at AutoZone and I will have more to post after I do a little more research.

A flashing CEL usually means a misfire, IIRC. Check to ensure there's no water/ice on the plug cables or the plugs themselves. (And when were they last changed?)
I occasionally get water in the top, under the hood if the rain and wind are 'right', which wets the top of the coil pack, and can cause no start conditions. WD40 usually cures it for me.

I had the same problem this week with my '99 SE Sport 2.5 (w/ 80,000 miles). The dealer said it was the IAC. Unfortunately, along with that was a diagnosis of leaking upper and lower intake manifold gaskets and nearly-plugged EGR ports. The dealer also said that the MAF sensor needed to be cleaned.