Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Performance Problems

My contour runs very cheaply. The engine likes to stall when the engine temp gets warm, I hear too much things from several people, Some say its my IAC valve, some say its my EGR valve, and someone else told me its my MAP sensor. Now the engine doesnt always stall. It just runs poorly under warm temp (when the needle gets right before the word NORMAL. I keep thinking, is it a fuel problem? Would changing my fuel filter and adding fuel cleaner additive in help make it run better, also most the time i start my car, I have to press on the gas peddle to get her to start. Any thoughts?

Well, changing the fuel filter won't cost too much at all, So I'd say give it a shot. Where about in Illinois are you. Hectir and I are always up for a road trip!

From your first thread:

Originally posted by KevContour:

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Hello everyone. I have a serious problem with my 1995 Ford Contour GL. First let me start on the history of problems here. I bought just recently a 1995 Ford Contour as my first car from people I would do work for. And they said only thing wrong with it is the head gasket was bad, making the car overheat, I took it to some mechanics, they said the same thing, saying it would cost over $2000 to fix (outragous!) So I bought a Haynes manual and did it myself. Got all done, replaced practially every gasket above the cylinders. The main problem I found before I did work was: car overheated because the fans wouldnt go on (replaced the ECT to try to solve, that failed) my temp fix was to unplug the ECT and the fan would goto High speed. but that annoyed me seeing my CEL on.
Got the head gasket replaced and got everything properly assembled. And went to start, didnt start, pushed 1/4 down like the book says, it works fine. I let it idle for a few minutes to test it out, seemed fine. I put the car in Reverse to take it out of the driveway, (engine temp = in the Normal range), immeaditly, the engine died, all my lights came on (Oil, battery, CEL.) I snooped around, later unplugged my MAF, worked fine (but hadta press 1/4 down on gas to start tho) I went to Autozone, spent a nice 100 dollars on a new MAF, put it in, worked fine (also noticed fans go on, made me happy) drove it home, worked great. few days later went shopping, put it in my driveway, shifted to Park to get the items out of the backseat, (left car on), then i shifted back to Drive to put it all the way in, Engine died, at this point, im furious. I looked around for loose cables, none were found, my next step was to, Reset the computer, Unplugged the battery overnight, next day put it back together, started it, let it run, after engine heated up, shifted into gear, engine died. I noticed I can let the engine run for awhile, and the Fans wont go on anymore. My engine is a 4-Cylinder, 16-valve. I am right now lost, unless Autozone sold me a bad MAF (even tho it said remanufactured, and tested) Could my Computer be broken? I would be really happy if i could get some help, I would hate to have to take this to Ford.... They are expensive........ Thanks

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Have you been checking for DTC's (codes) ???

How sure are you that you got the static timing correct?

Does the engine temperature ever come up to normal on the guage? Since the ECT controls the fans, and they come on if you unplug it (overheat condition), perhaps a wiring problem is affecting the signal. If the signal is not correct, the mixture will be affected.

Improper timing or a mixture problem can cause low idle and loss of torque. This would cause stalling. A mixture problem should give a code.

Hate to say this, but your original MAF was probably fine. When you unplug it, the engine goes into failure mode logic and infers air mass values, most of the time pretty successfully. Remember, cars were calibrated for years on speed-load tables before MAF systems came around.

Also, the fans going on at high speed when ECT is lost is another failure mode action, and is a normal reponse. Like the previous poster said the fan control sounds wacked, so check codes to see if you have a P1474 (low speed fan)) or P1479 (high speed fan) present. These are not codes that will set a CEL, so you have to actively scan for them.

Double-double check your cams are aligned with the crank pulley, as the previous poster also alluded to (static timing). Quick story: I changed the timing belt on an Acura Integra once (DOHC I-4), and at first I was only off by one tooth on one of the cams and the car barely started. Then after fixing that all the marks would look nicely aligned...until I tensioned up the belt and the cams would move. Turns out I had to start with the cams slightly deflected to have it turn out correctly.

And what special alignment is required for the VCT cam? That's another animal I've never had to deal with.

Im Kind of sure my timing is good, the contour starts pretty well when engine is cold (having to use no gas peddle.) It is all when the engine is warm the problems come along. The timing feels right because I can drive it for awhile with no problem... Right now I just think my Fuel system might be dirty, so I added some STP... ill see how that does... (Also replacing fuel filter)