Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting I'll buy you a drink if you can help!!!!

I am freaking out! I was driving down the highway in the country, and I was coming up on a small town. So I had to slow down, I pushed in the clutch, pulled it out of 5th gear and into neutral to kind of coast down the speed, and the rpms shot up 500-750 rpms, then slowly went down. I thought, oh, I must have had the cruise on or something. NO, I stopped it the town at a light and pressed the accelerator and it went up to 3k and stayed there for like 4-5 sec., then slowly went back down. It did this all the way back home. Every time I went to shift, the rpms went up. What does this mean? Is the accelerator cable sticking? It this Throttle Hang? Is the butterfly sticking open? How can I correct these probs? Help me out guys, and I'll buy ya a drink! Thanks!

Sounds like a classic Throttle Hang fix is in your calling, bro. Id do that and i bet you that drink that it will fix that. Seems to be a huge problem with the Duratecs. HTH
Later,
Justin

Chuck - two weeks ago I purchased an SVT Contour after owning a 1997 SE for 5, relatively, trouble free years. The car was destoyed right after Xmas when a pizza diver ran a stop sign. The SVT is like my old Contour but on steroids. Only problem was the car was acting EXACTLY as you described in your post. Sooo, earlier this morning I stopped by my local hardware store and picked up several of the 1/2" copper pipe caps described by Ray McNairy under FAQ - "Throttle Hang -quick reversible fix". I chose the 3/16" size hole. The only thing I added was a hose clamp to gently squeeze the hose around the plug to assure the plug stayed in one place and would not allow air to pass around it. WOW! what a difference. It's like I bought a new car - no more throttle hang. I hope I'm not over reacting as I have only had the car out for 1 hard drive since the FIX but I believe I can safely say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU RAY McNAIRY. As Martha is fond of saying "it's a good thing". Hope my experience encourages you to give it a try. Rick

I'll do the fix this afternoon, and if it works, I paypal y'all a drink! Thanks guys!

There is an idle motor on SVT's. It's called the idle air motor or regulator. Look into it it's only $75.00 and it might fix your problem.

It is called the idle air control valve or idle air bypass valve. If it gets dirty and sticky it can cause this kind of a problem. You should clean it, and the throttle body, to see if the problem is diminished. A bad throttle position sensor can cause this too, but usually the upset is more extreme. Ray McNary's throttle hang fix can make a difference too.