Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Severe loss of HP

My girlfriend has a 96 Contour v6 5 speed 60k and very regularly maintained. She blew her water pump a few months ago (and thanks to the forum, I replaced it just fine). Because she's not very big into cars, she drove probably 20 miles without a working water pump. Although I thought there were no problems and she got lucky, she has lately had a severe loss in hp in the lower range. It seems that once she gets into her power curve, it seems fine, but before that it's VERY sluggish. Probably couldn't beat an old civic off the line The dealer said that it was the intake manifold, but she didn't know to ask what about the intake manifold was wrong. she thinks they said something about replacing it. They also want to charge her $580. I told her not to do it, and to let me check here first to see what everyone here thinks. I think it's just possible she needs a tb cleaning. Let me know what you think.
-Elia

A TB cleaning is always a good place to start.

Elia! I've had the same thing happen to just days ago. My opinion is that the engine was damaged by the heat (piston rings, pistons and cylinder) I might be wrong though.

Have you had a compression test on the engine.

I will be getting mine checked any day now.

It is possible that the intake might need overhaul (see intake overhaul in the how to section)

Hope this helps

Regards

A good cleaning of TB and EGR passages just behind it can do wonders. A new fuel filter is also a good idea. The plugs and wires are about due for change also.

The dealer said that the codes were p1518. Does this really warrent "will have to pull intake off" as the invoice says? Somehow I'm not too sure...
-Elia

sounds like a bad intake manifold runner control actuator to me. happened to me a few months ago. check the cable that runs from the little silver box screwed to the front of your engine to a spring loaded lever under your throtle body. mine snaped so the computer was giving a 1518, secondaries stuck open when in truth they are actually stuck closed. it's worth a look, as it is much cheaper than paying the dealer to remove your intake. do a forum search on IMRC or 1518 for more info as to potential problems.

Thanks a lot for all your help, everyone. I have one more question - What exactly are secondaries? I did a search on my problem, and a lot of people refer to secondaries, but I can't seem to figure out what they are. Thanks a lot.
-Elia

Secondaries are set of extra, larger, air intake ports that open up at higher engine speeds. (Roughly 3700 RPM+) BTW: you can look the meaning of your codes here:
http://contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.cgi?s=probs&display=checkengine

in fact if yur secondaries are jammed open it causes a severe drop in lowdown torque as the engine is not running properly

what normally happens is the engine runs normally untill yu hit a certain rev amount (as potsed earlier approx 3700 rpm) and then this actuates a mechanism to open a second inlet system (laymans terms yu suddenly have an extra set of lungs)

more air is being pumped into the engine so the ECU pumps more fuel which mean bigger bangs = MORE POWER (GRUNT GRUNT)

however if like me yu are having problems with yur secondaries not openeing yur car will get to approximate 5000 revs and stop there as there is not enough air / fuel mixture to continue (in top gear) however and back to my original point if yur (like me) jam your secondaries open yu regain your top end at the expense of bottom end torque

so the choice is yours

the reason why i am going on about this well yur 2ndaries may be jammed open but the actuator could look like it's closed

this could be an easy solution!

Here's another strange twist to all these problems. Last night, her radiator light went on, and this morning there was a pool of fluid under her car. The water pump was thoroughly checked, and there seems to be absolutely no problem from my installation, though the problem is concentrated in that area. What kind of a problem (other than wear and tear) could make a water pump blow? I get the feeling maybe these two problems are actually unrelated. As far as the secondaries go, where are they located and how do I play with them? THanks a lot.
-Elia