Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting 1995 SE with 2.5L V6 cranks but won't start -

hello everyone .. i have a 1995 SE with the duratech 2.5 liter v6 . it has 102,000 miles on it . i am the 2nd owner.

the car ran fine (12/23/02).. it sat in an airport parking lot 1 week (over Christmas) upon return the batttery needed a jump(12/30/02). again when i drove home the driveway was full of snow and i turned car off and needed to charge battery as i am near the airport.
i drove around withit that day12/31 running errands and leavingthe car running in the parking lot so as not to have to risk another low battery condition.
i also put the battery on a trickle charger (2amp) that night , which had a 10.5 volt output, so the battery voltage may have dropped below what is necessary.
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1/1/03 i tryed starting it then i charged it and it cranked over fine but would not start. at first i thought this was a happy new year's present from the ford motor company and maybe it is as they may need revinue to pay the service people's salaries.

using a 10amp charger to bring voltage to where it should be . i heard wiring harnesses go bad behind pcm and under battery where rubbing occurrs but i think that is more on the 4 cylinder since i think they vibrate more - they are not as well balanced as a V6. i heard the insulation in 95 through 98 is improper and cracks and so forth esp in high temp climates - mine seems fine as NY is a cold climate.

when i turn the ignition and am supposedto hear the fuel pump for 1 or 2 seconds .. that doesnt happen .. i replaced the fuel filter and i am able to directly apply voltage to the fuel pump by applying a +12V to the relay terminal (after removing the fuel pump relay) and can hear the fuel pump motor wine quietly - which incidentally is probably hard to hear over the beeps coming from the ignition area of the dash.
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i also checked out the fuel cut off switch .. it was not tripped and it made contact as i was able to hear the fuel pump when i powered it through the auxilary fuse box in the engine compartment.

i just ohmed out my ign. coil and it seems good although

it is a 4 terminal connector and the haynes manual refers to a 3 term ( 4 cyl)

i get .5 ohms on one side and 1 ohm on the other side of the primary. the secondarys all seem good .. i dont know what the specs are for the primary 4 terminal connector. the secondaries have a 12k ohm between the pairs and infinite resistance on non pairs.
maybe the plugs are bad and the plug wires . what a pain in the rear to remove the front center plug boot i dont want to go through the plugs in the rear (next to firewall) -- i had to connect wires to my meter to get inside the coil to test the secondaries
there is battery voltage present on the primary coil incomingconnector between br/gn and bn/bk

crank and cam position sensors both ohmed out at 322 ohms (within spec)

relays and fuses and diodes in main and aux fuse boxes all seem (visually) good and suspect systems circuits fuses and relays and diodes have been removed and tested.

i am not sure what voltage swings should be coming out of the error code connector -- i dont have the code reader but am considering buying one at walmart for $25. so i used a digital meter (analog recommended) and the V swings seem very \very minute from like .2v to like .225 or .3 .. a tenth of a volt doesnt seem right for these test purposes.

so in the event that the fuel pump comes on for 2 seconds on ignition key turn or does not come on at all the computer is good. in the event the fuel pump comes on continuously the computer may be bad.
so the computer may be good but

i was trying to see if the power is getting to the PCM but my wiring schematic in the haynes manual has different colors than what i see on my pcm in the engine compartment passenger side corner firewall. Any body have the SERVICE MANUAL for the 1995 Contour SE with V6 ?

more recent events 1/5/03 :
the owner's manual indicates that the CHECK ENGINE light is supposed to come on for about 1 second upon ign. sw. turn.

I see no CHECK ENGINE light ( i haven't checked that that bulb is blown yet but ..) .. does this necessarily mean the computer is blown ? i pulled the PCM ( what a pain getting the steering fluid res. out) it seems to be good .
i removed the cover to see the chips all there with the coat of epoxy or similar clear resin . some little white powder and grainier existed on the surface and near the 60 pin connector which made me wonder if corrosion was going on. i noticed an EPROM chip with the UV window exposed which means it's not good if you want to keep the program in it's memory ) ..


special thanks to Lance K for helping out over the last several days through YIM .. he indicated that the KAM (keep alive mem - once gone means the computer may have problems coming alive as well ... but we have escalated this to YOU now !

also the charging of the battery without discon. of the bat. term. posts is apparently acceptable ( as i have done it several times and not had the car die the next day like it refused to do on newyears2003).

Thanks for your help all!
Eric S. Rochester, NY

As an ex-Rochestarian I can tell you your car just doesn't like being frigidly cold and covered in snow and is letting you know

Really don't have any knowldege to add, but if your battery went dead you'd lose the keep alive - so if for some reason the mixture or idle settings had crept way out at max over the last 100k miles to keep the car running it's forseeable that it'd have trouble starting after losing the memory. However - if you aren't hearing the fuel pump trip and you don't see the check engine light come on with the key to run position you're probably right in looking at the PCM. The pump is much easier to hear with the back seat removed btw.

Two simple things to try.

If the IAC (idle air control) is stuck shut, the engine should start and run as long as you hold the throttle slightly open.

If the engine is flooded you may be able to clear it out by holding the throttle wide open while cranking (which shuts off the injectors). In extreme cases of flooded engines, the rings wash out and the engine cranks very rapidly just like a jumped timeing chain. In extreme cases of flooded engines with washed out rings it may help to restore the compression by pulling the front plugs and squirting a little oil into the cylinders and then reinstalling the plugs and cranking again with the throttle wide open. Compression will return very quickly to the other cylinders once the engine is running. The exhaust will smoke for a few minutes.

It may help to determine if you have lost fuel or ignition. You can see if there is fuel by depressing the schreader valve on the fuel rail immediately after trying to start the engine. If the fuel is under pressure you should get a squirt of fuel. If it is not under pressure, you might get a drizzle or drip. You can check for spark by pulling a plug wire off any plug, inserting a screwdriver, holding part of the still exposed screwdriver shaft close to a metal portion of the engine while someone cranks the engine and observing if you get any spark. Make sure you hold the screwdriver by the handle, not the shaft, unless you enjoy shocking experiences. You can also check to see if the injectors are firing with the use of a noid light, if you have access to one.

Anything beyond this and you will probably need to have it towed to a shop.

I guess this never got posted but the fix was expensive.

$54 tow . $71 min. 1 hour diagnosis. The service supervisor (the pimp for the technician) said they 'thought they found the problem -- but that it would probably take till the next day and that the 'shuttle' stopped shuttling after 430pm.. ( I guess we got the car there about 230 or 3pm not sure) ..so i took the shuttle home .. I then got a messages saying they found the problem and come pick up the car (that day about 5or 530 pm) .[ I think they close at 6pm ].
When I told them what was wrong I said the computer was dead or not powered something to that effect. ]

It was found that the bus wire to the computer had been corroded away. He showed me the corrosion. (I had spent a week trying to find out what was wrong with the car the whole 1st,damn cold week of January.)

If the ass would have just told me bus to the computer corroded -- I would have been able to replace some damn wire myself .. apparently the tech spent 2 additional hours doing this .. but the pimp said 'it took a lot of time to find the problem' .

so 1hr diag + 2 hr labor is just $71 *3 = 213. + 8% NYS tax + $54 tow it ended up being just over $300..

Conclusion:
if no computer codes , pull the battery and pull the stupid black bubble wrap enclosure FROM UNDER THE BATTERY out and
check the wires under there for corrosion (probably from battery acid spillover) ..

The pimp indicated this was normal and that there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it .

...and a sucker is born everyday ..