Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting car loses ability to accelerate when climbing hills

I have a 1996 Contour GL that recently started losing it's ability to accelerate when driving/climbing. The car still has power (the engine is running), but when you push on the accelerator nothing happens. Sometimes if I slow down enough (to 35 mph) I can get it to accelerate again, but often I just have to pull over and come to a complete stop for a few seconds and then go again. Any suggestions or ideas on what the problem is? Thanks,

Peggy

Any problems with the tranny lately? How about service? You could also look into your fuel filter.

This happened to me once on a cross-country trip from Minnesota to Arizona. I had a 1984 Buick at the time.

My catalytic converter was clogged.

Got a new cat, and everything was fine again.

The transmission fluid was drained/changed and that seems to have helped some, although there are times that it still 'quits' (btw, the transmission is automatic - I forgot that in my first post), but it is better.

The fuel filter was replaced about a year and a half ago.

Also my boyfriend & his friend wanted to change the transmission filter, but when they tried to do that, it wasn't very accesible to them. Does anyone have any tips or info on doing that? Thanks again...

Peggy

I too own a '96 GL with automatic. On hilly roads I noticed a lack of power to accelerate at times. When this happens it's usually when I'm somewhat low on gas (quarter of a tank remaining). After I fill her up, the power seems to be back and I can take the hills better.

Mines is with the V6.