Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Lost the engine maybe ???

I was doing something stupid today on my high mileage 98 SVT (about 240,000km) and I might have damaged the engine... its my guess.

It was totally empty on the highway so I decided to do a quick to speed blast to see how fast it would go. Around 220km/hr I noticed the check engine come on so I eased off and let it cost down to 100km. I pressed the gas lightly and I could feel that something was not right. Felt a little rough. I exited the highway and right away on the street I could tell that I'm not running on all cylinders. Very rough and lower RPM but I couldnt hear any mechanical type noises from the inside of teh car or see anything strange in the rear view in terms of smoke or loss of fluids. Also no back firing or smell of gas or anything.

So when I come home, I put the car in neutral and rev slowly and I heard a faint knocking type sound at a certain RPM... maybe like 2k but it goes away above or below that RPM. Engine still feels rough. The engine temp is normal and I checked the oil which is synthetic and always has been since I've had the car from 88,000km and it was all there.

I'm thinking that if it was an issue where I had no spark on one cylinder, wouldnt raw fuel go into the cylinder and cause lots of backfiring? If so, then I dont suspect any spark issues. What about a fuel injector going? Is that possible? Would mechanical probs like spun bearings show up as an engine code?

I'm going to pull the plugs and wires and put my old set of wires and plugs which are worn but work. Aside from that, is there anything basic I can try for troubleshooting?

Well, Im not entirely sure how this would work on the Duratec. But I had a problem once, a couple of years back, I downshifted going up hill, and as soon as the engine was given a little more stress. I got a flashing CEL, and the engine just started shaking... Not smooth running at all. I thought I had super jumped timing... But remembering what I had learned on this website, flashing CEL ment Misfire or No fire. Took it to auto zone, they told me cylender #2 was not firing. So, I bought a new coil pack, new spark plugs... and a very nice guy on here (R_G where did he go?) sent me some Ford Racing Wires for free. Did my "tune up" went for a drive, and it ran perfectly. If you're CEL came on, I would say theres a chance of a couple of occurances. I would say you might have a super misfire, or no fire on one of the cylenders. OR it might be the knock sensor on you're engine, and basically telling you that you have rod knock, im not saying that to scare you, just telling you the possibilty. The best way to know, is to go to a local autozone, or advance auto, and have them scan the code. You get the code and post it here. We can REALLY help you from there.

it sounds like fouled plugs or wires

...thats what i was thinking when i was reading your post

I just picked up a code scanner that was on sale (some tiny thing .. INNOVA 3030). Anyway it came up with the following two codes.

P0303 (which sounds like someting relating to misfiring on a cylinder...which it would tell me which but I can look at the basics)
P0430 which is probably because I dont have precats

So I'm going to start with plugs and wires which I have at home right now. If that doesnt do anything for me, then what would be the logical next step? Coilpack you think or maybe a failed injector? Not sure which would be more prone to failiure if I was at high RPM for a while during that run that I did...

God I hope the engine is fine.....

wait I just found that the code does say cylinder number 3.. Now to find which one that is on my car

Pulled out plug number three and it actually looks like the electrode had partially melted and touched the thing that overangs (not sure what thats called). This is my fault because in the summer I experimented by putting Copper plugs by champion in the car. I know they should not be in there. I forgot that I had those in there. The car did feel like it was running well with those but I guess it doesnt put up with stress as well.

Go get some Autolite APP764's, Pep Boys has them. You might have just knocked some carbon loose from the revs, and shorted the plug, it happened to me once.

Well I put in some used ford plugs I had (cleaned and regapped) - not ideal but at least for the test...

Well the car idles fine and drives under light loads ok but under moderate loads, especially lower RPM (say around 2000), it misses pretty badly. It has not tripped another CEL but I didnt stay on it long. In any case I'm wondering at this point if it might be fuel related. Maybe I'm just not getting proper fuel to that cylinder which is why it could have overheated and melted the electrode. I'm going to try throwing in a bottle of injector cleaner with my next fill up and in the meantime I will drive it really gently. I dont think this will do anything though.

Anyone have any other suggestions maybe?