Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting 99 SVT fuel delivery problem

I have a 99 SVT. When I am low on fuel (under half a tank), my engine misses when i drive it hard. Here is an example: If I am at a stoplight with a quarter tank going straight, then I floor it and run through a few gears I will have no problems. Now say I am at another stoplight but taking a right, if I floor it right away, as I am turning, by the time shes at about 5 on the tach, she will miss badly all the way up to the rev limiter. If I shift to third, the problem will still happen. The only way to get it to "sette down" is to get off the gas and let the car just coast straight. As you can see, this makes it rather difficult to merge on to streets when one has to hurry to get up to speed....
I have absoultley no problems when I have over a half a tank, I can beat the hell out of the car and it is perfect. I replaced the fuel filter, because it was cheap and i did it myself, but that didnt help. My ford dealership said it could be the fuel pump, or a problem with the actual gas tank, which i find hard to believe. Please let me know if anyone has experienced this problem, and any fix for it!!

Thanks
Matt Urness
AIM - matty2244
email - mattu2244@hotmail.com

IIRC, the pickup is on the right side of the tank so that would explain the fuel sloshing to the left side of the tank. It would be pretty hard to get 7 gallons to be only on the drivers side of the tank. I also don't believe that this would be a problem because I have ran mine down under the 'E' and still been able to get on it while I have been turning.

Most electric fuel pumps have a small sock on them to pre-filter the fuel. If that sock falls off of the pump that would make the fuel pickup a fraction higher. Not having the sock it would now be quite a bit easier for it to suck in a bubble. I would think that this problem would come around under 1/4 tank and very heavy cornering.

You could always try to simulate a corner by parking the passenger side of the car on something that is higher then the drivers side. If you disconnected the fuel filter from the system a quick tap of the key would tell you if this theory would be correct. If it is sucking up a bubble no gas will come out. If its getting fuel you will have a small mess.

Just a thought.

If yours is new enough to have the returnless system, you may have a plugged screen on the pump pickup. It seems to be worse when the tank is low. This screen is not very large and seems to plug easier than the sock on the return system type of pump. You will need to pull the pump out of the tank to clean it. It might be worth trying a fuel additive that helps to clean out water to see if it helps clean the screen before you take the pump out.

About a month ago Ford issued a service message about "contamination/debris" in the fuel tanks of 1999-2000 Contour/Mystiques. It says if the FDM is replaced, it may be necessary to clean/flush the fuel tank. Otherwise the debris left in the tank may cause the replacement FDM to fail.

I've heard that this debris may be mold flashing that has broken off inside the tank and clogging the jet pump screen, but I am not 100% sure.