Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting F.O.R.D....literally

Well, last night I was Found On the Road Dead again in my Contour.

Yesterday on my way home, I was at a stop light, and my Contour just died and would not start back up again. Temp was normal, 1/2 tank of gas, no check engine light, it just died. I tried to start it, and it turned over but would not start. Since it would not start, I had to get my Contour off the road. I had help getting the car to the gas station it died in front of. I can turn the key, and it tries to start but won't.

After the tow back to my friends shop, he turned the key and then it started right up.
Lately when I try to start the car it hesitates, then I turn the key for the 2nd time, then she starts right up.
We think 1 thing. Fuel pump.
Does anyone else have any ideas? Has this happened to anyone else? Please, any ideas would be very helpful.

With that kind of mileage, I'd say with a decent amount of certainty that it is a fuel delivery problem. Start simple. Change the fuel filter and try it then. If it's still not fixed, then change the fuel pump. Also, just for good measure, I'd run a fuel system treatment through with a full tank of gas once you get things restored to working order.

Edit:
Just out of curiosity, has the car ever run out of gas? If it has there's a damn good chance you need a new fuel pump. Not to say that 189,000 miles is premature for a fuel pump failure, but it's a possiblity that if you've run out of gas once or twice, that you've shortened the life of the pump.

I'm not saying it would be a waste to change it. I'm just recommending that she start out small (and inexpensive) by changing the fuel filter first, which couldn't hurt anyway.

We did change the fuel filter earlier this year (I think February?). But it couldn't hurt anything to change it again. I think we could probably change both fuel filter and fuel pump. Cross our fingers and hope it fixes it.

Also, we hooked it up that slick Snap On OBII code reader and no codes showed up as well. (Good there).

My car has never run out of gas. It seems once I get to 1/4 tank I just fill her back up.

I have kept up maintenance on my car very well.
This year:
New radiator
New Spark plugs/wires (autolite plat. plugs)
New accessory belts.
New Water Pump.
New tires.
Just change the inner CV Boot on the passenger front last night (and are keeping a close eye on the outer CV boot), and repacked the driver side outer CV boot last night (the clamp was loose or missing).
Rebuilt tranny installed.
Mobil 1 syn. oil and oil filter.
More stuff done, but I can't remember right now.
I've been towed back to the shop about 5 times so far this year. Fun!

I am happy to know my friend who works on cars. He is very good and detail orientated. He does the job right, no slop jobs out of him! I trust all of his work!

Next time it won't start, might be helpful to check if the spark is good. Since this problem seems to come and go, it may be a wiring problem. Not sure what year your tour is, but there was a recall for some of the older ones to replace wire harnesses. (Check for cracked insulation on electrical wires) If the fuel pump were clogged, I would think you would get some sputtering before the engine died, but it's hard to say for sure.

Symptoms are indicative of intermittent ignition module which I believe '95 Contiques' have in addition to PCM(EEC).

Fuel pump noise, under rear seat, should be heard briefly when ignition is turned to ON position before trying to start.

Try taking out the air filer, maybe it is starved of air. I had a friend with this problem, he took out the air filter and it was pitch black. It fired right up after that. I dunno, just trying to help, good luck

I will check the air filter as well. It has been replaced this year, but time has flown by so fast I can't remember right now when it was changed last (I think 2 oil changes ago).

I had my friend check prices on fuel pumps, and he said it would be about $160 So, I think for now we will change out my fuel filter, I think the fuel filter that is in the car now is a junky one from Walmart (Fram maybe?). So, we will replace it with a good one, I think he said Carquest sell Wix. And as far as I know they are pretty good.

After that, we will wait until it has that problem again and see if the fuel pump isn't engaging. Yesterday with all of the traffic, I really couldn't hear if it was engaging or not.

Another opinion I got was from someone at my work. They suspect the computer as the culprit. They think the computer got so hot, then a resettable fuse went. Then when it cooled off (when it was towed to the shop) it was able to engage again. I guess that makes sense. The computer was replaced with a junkyard computer when the guys did my tranny. Those good old cracked wires touched and fried the original computer, and they found one at a junkyard for like $60. So, that's another food for thought.

Sometimes on my car the main wiring harness to the coilpack comes up a little causing it to not power the coil pack. Mine only does this because the snap is broken. its worth a look.