Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting major loss of power at around 4k rpm

My 95 GL makes it to 100,000 miles and 2 days later, it has what looks to be a serious problem. It accelerates fine up until around 4000 rpm when it just basically crawls at 1/4 the normal acceleration and sounds like the engine is being very very strained.

Could it have something to do with secondaries opening/not opening?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Ben

I was having a problem like this but only in first gear. At around 5k RPM my engine seemed to stall a little and didn't have that nice linear increase in RPM in the power band. I checked the engine and the o-ring that holds the MAF to the throttle body (I guess that is what it is) wasn't very tight. I tightened this but it didn't seem to fix the problem. I was kind of low on fuel (even though my low fuel light never came on) but I decided to go fill up on some premium gas (usually I use only regular). That seemed to fix the problem but is this totally coincendental (however you spell it)?

That sounds like exactly what it is.

Being you have a 95 they are vacuum controlled. Check out the system for leaks, cracked hoses, etc.

Also they could just be too gunked up to open. A very common problem.

When it loses power does it feel like it loses all power and jerk a little? I had my fuel pump go and it used to do that at around 4K when my fuel was lower than the 1/4 mark. First I thought it was just a bad reading of the fuel but it started doing it sporadically even when the fuel was at the 1/2 mark so I replaced the fuel pump and it's been fine since.

My car has almost 50k miles. Is it normal for the fuel pump to go bad around this period??

>>It accelerates fine up until around 4000 rpm when it just basically crawls at 1/4 the normal acceleration and sounds like the engine is being very very strained<<

My 98 Mystique does about the same thing. I have a KKM cone filter and since it mainly displays this problem on warm days when it's over 65 degrees I was thinking it had to do with heat soak and perhaps a heat shield would help. However, I never noticed it doing it in warm weather before I installed the SVT throttle body last year even though I'd used a KKM filter for a year prior to that.

Could it be the secondaries being stuck and why would it only do this in warm weather? How would I check this on a 98?

Jeff

Josh at Baylor,

I wonder if your fuel pump isn't on its way out. As pacman suggests by his experience.

You can check fuel pressure with a gauge. I believe there is a schraeder valve on the fuel rail.

To check secondary operation, you should be able to see them open. Without loading the engine, it may take to 4K RPMs to open, but you should be able to see the linkage move when they do.

I do believe there is a ford specific OBD-II code for IMRC failure. But who knows how long it takes to trip that.

TB

My car has almost 50k miles. Is it normal for the fuel pump to go bad around this period??[/QUOTE]

Joshua...you might just have a clogged fuel pump filter. If this repair is going to be at your expense, you might want to try cleaning the pump sump filter yourself. The "returnless" pumps have an additional filter disc on the bottom of the sump that seems to clog very easily. When the tank is full, fuel will enter the sump from the top, when low, 1/4 tank or less, the fuel must enter through this disc filter. If it's clogged...no go! Pic here... Returnless Fuel Pump EXPOSED!

...Ed

Whats the engine in the GL? I have the Zetec and mine does it. It also pulls a CEL at about 70-75mph. Anyone have a fix for this one? Or maybe the problem?