Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Suddenly stops running right

2000 Sport, Duratec V6, 101K miles, automatic.
I can drive without any problems with the engine for several days and then, all of a sudden, loses all power, starts missing or shaking violently, sometimes dies. Turn it off, leave it for 5 minutes, and most often just fine. Replaced fuel filter, plugs are good, ran some seafoam thru it, still keeps happening. Seemed to be more frequent when it was hot out and running the AC. Any ideas?

Welcome. Any Check Engine Light codes? Scan (free service at Autozone and Advance) and post the CEL codes. Bad gas? Fuel Pump going?

Thanks Tony...will check later this week and post any codes. The CEL did come on about a week ago during an "episode". Have had the car about 9 months (been doing this since late May) and did notice the other day while looking thru owner's manual a single sheet of paper with "fuel rail problem" hand written on it...that is it, nothing else on the paper.

Dave: You might want to clean all grounding wire terminals in the engine compartment especially the one that comes from the engine computer on the right hand side at the back. Even if they look clean, slight corrosion can cause the computer not to read the sensor inputs correctly. Do not use any grease or lubricants when cleaning and make sure chassis body surface and screws are clean as well. You can protect them with lubricant after screwing them back on after a few days and have verified all is working OK.
I had this problem. At first I thought it was IAC and even when I cleaned the IAC the engine would stall out during idling or cut out momentarily at speed as though the ignition were being turned off for a millsecond and then back on. Cleaning the grounding terminals is also good preventive maintenance.
This 'little' issue can cause all kinds of problems from performance to reliability.
You could also verify that the connections to the engine computer are OK by unbolting the connector and withdrawing it and reinserting it carefully a few times. You must pull the power steering reservoir off its retaining bracket to do this. Don't bolt the engine computer wiring terminal back on too tight either.