Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting I'm Scared as Hell. My car stalls & dies in traffic and hot weather without warning

Yesterday, I drove for about 4 hours with the AC on full blast (it was low on freon and not blowing out very cold air). When I hit traffic, and was just crawling along, the car would die. Usually, I could start it right back up again but twice, I was left stranded in the middle of a very busy interstate (I295 in NJ)for 10 to 15 minutes. The temp gauge never rose above normal. Very scary.

Anyone have any idea on what might be wrong? The local Ford mechanic is stumped and my warranty expires in less than 1000 miles.

i've had a similar problemsd after installing my kkm ,and once a hose going from my air intake 2 head came loose

I know this seems to be my standard answer, but it sounds like the problem is related to the air intake system. If the IAC is not working properly, at any temperature, the car may stall. More than likely, though it is either the Intake Air Temperature sensor or something else in the throttle body.

Hope it helps.

Has it ever cut out for a second while driving along?

1. was it hot as HE-- out that day?
(it is possible for it to be so hot outside that the A/C works poorly)
2. I notice a similar problem, but I do not stall my revs drop to about 500RPM then come back up after a second(I may be because I have stock intake)
3.you may have a dirty EGR
4. like stated above your IAT sensor may be wacky
5. That thingy (3/4'' diameter, 1.5" long silver colored doo dad) bolted to the intake manifold near the throttle body. This thing is an electricly powered valve controlled by the computer. It is what the computer uses to control RPM like a idle, warm up, etc.
It may also be wacky.

hope this helps somehow

It was about 90 degrees when my Contour started stallng. It only stalled in stop and go traffic. At constant speeds of 20MPH and up, I had no problem.

Maybe you had a bad tank of gas like I did? But it'll not be the case if your car doesn't die smoothly. When I had the problem, the car would just die all the sudden like I turn the key off. Try some fuel treatment from NAPA (use the max number of bottles they said).

I had the same problem with my ford taurus... turns out i needed a new timing belt. hope this info helps.

This was a symptom in my '96 SE, leading up to a fuel injector rail failure and replacement under the emissions warrenty. Eventually, you should see a CEL. Dog your dealer b/f the warrenty croaks. Good luck.

96redSE5spd,
How many miles and is it a Zetec or Duratec?
There's a TSB out there for the VCT system on Zetecs being overadvanced or overretarded, causing idle problems, but I'm not sure if VCT was on the Zetecs in 1996.

It could be the Idle air valve, EGR stuck open, MAF, TP or IAT sensor. But those would all light the CEL if sooner or later.

Contiques up to '98 had the fuel rail close to the lower intake manifold with side-port injectors which had a habit of vaporizing fuel in the rail in hot conditions. If your fuel pump is starting to go away (higher mileage) it might not keep the fuel pressure up high enough to keep it from vaporizing at idle. This would be compounded by the A/C compressor running constantly on a low charge and drawing a lot of current. Or the fuel pressure regulator could be faulty, too. Make sure the FPR vacuum line is secure.