Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Power loss ... heatsoak maybe??

Ok this may seem kind of srrange but I find that my car feels very strong with crisp throttle response and lots of torque within say the first 5 minutes of driving. After this, it will slowly get more and more mild until it ultimatly feels like its down at least 15HP and 20lbs of torque. Throttle response will not be what it used to either.
Hmmm How do I describe what I feel with the throttle. When the car is still kinda cold, the throttle cable feels like its tight so just a small squeeze will make the car responde nicely. When the car is up to temp, the throttle cable feels like its made of rubber band. I squeeze the same amount but it barely makes a difference. It doesnt feel as quick to respond either. The pedal also feels softer. It takes maybe half the effort to press down.

I know this makes no sense but I have no idea what the hell is going on. The secondaries open fine and the intake has been cleaned (upper and lower). Motorvac has been done, plugs and wires change, MAF and IAT cleaned... I need the car to feel like how it does when I first turn it on.

Oh Oh Oh. Forgot to mention that heat doesnt seem to make as much of a difference. Take yesterday, it was 30 degrees celcius but still when I first took it out, it felt great..until I drove it for a while.

Lastly it doesnt matter if its street or highway driving. It just gets doggy.

Its a 98 SVT with a KKM, modded Y-pipe and no resonator. I dynoed the car and it gave me 164hp and 150lbs of torque but I was an idiot and had the defroster running (didnt notice). Anyway probably didnt take away much. I've also tried removing the hood liner but it didnt seem to make any difference. I then removed the big rubber seal at the firewall thinking that if it was heat, some will get out but I dont think it made a change either.

Anyone have any idea or experience anything like what I'm talking about?? I sound crazy!

sounds like heat soak...get or make a heat sheild.

This could also be a symptom of clogged cat or cats. This was a bigger problem on the older 'tours but may be the cause. Pull the hood gasket by the wipers and if you are still noticing a loss of mid/upper end pull on the highway, it's probably not heat soak. Might want to replace the fuel filter if you haven't already...

I'll try a heat shield or find a way of getting some air up there. I dont think it could be my cats because the car runs like a bat out of hell within the first 5 or 10 mins then starts to get slow but it has no probs pulling to 7K, just does so weaker than before.

I've already pulled the rubber seal at the back of the firewall where it seals the hood but didnt notice much of an improvment.

I changed the fuel filter at about 15,000 miles back so maybe its time for a change???