Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Rough idle, stalling, 96 contour 2.0 zetec atx

Greetings.

This post is pretty lengthy, but i figured rather that than one sentence. Here we go.


Vehicle is a 1996 Contour with the 2 liter Zetec and Automatic transmission, having 145k miles.

When i got the vehicle, it barely ran at idle, with the "surging" type behavior - however the "surge" was just in the very low idle speed, and the surge would be to bring it back up to where it almost should have been - it wasnt surging to any rpm above idle at all, as some describe when using this term.

After you get the vehicle moving, its perfectly fine, running smooth, and acts like it should, it was only when at idle, the idle gets worse, often stalling, and mad rough.

When I moved it to where I have been working on it, I found Contour.org, and began raping these threads for all the nfo I could - this was 4-5 days ago. From what i read, the symptoms most likely pointed to the IAC valve.

Upon examining the engine compartment, i noticed that the line that connects between the egr, pcv, and iac had been spliced with some cheap makeshift tubing, and it was sucked almost all the way shut and leaking.
Also the "T" that connects the pcv tube to the egr tube was real loose, and falling off of where it meets the engine.

There were a few wires that had been frayed on various sensors, and wet with oil that was leaking from the top of the engine, valve cover i believe.

Antifreeze was darker looking, and oil was black, with slight oil smell. The pcv filter was oil ridden and so old it crumbled at my manipulation.
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I changed the oil, oil filter, fuel filter, pcv, and added some new premix coolant after changing the pcv- so i havent flushed the cooling system as of yet, just dumped some and added till a little over max.

The "T" rubber connector as decribed above, I put back onto the engine with a hose clamp.

I took out the IAC unit, and it looked as if the gasket had been leaking, and it was semi dirty. I used all the cleaning procedures from the site, and moved the plastic accordian thing inside it up a little with a screwdriver, but didnt do too much with it for fear of damage. -inspected it for a bit, and nothing really moved on it it seemed like- id really like a "thru" view or explanation of what parts move inside it in lame mans terms..

It was cleaned with brake parts cleaner, and not oiled before reinstalling with a new gasket and a little compound.
(seemed like it could have used an oiling tho)

Than the rigged air lines, were eliminated and a new rigging was set up, but not a lot of attention was paid, since at this point, i didnt know this was a crutial line, after all it looked like a wire cover sheathing.
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Reconnected the battery, and started it up - same thing was happening. Grew balls to take it to autozone kind of 2 footed style, using the brake as a clutch to keep it running in gear.

The single code it read out was P1504, and was saying something about oem part this or that. I told him to clear it, and he did. After a start or two the code was gone.


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This left me thinking i had no choice but to replace the IAC, but as usual, came to dig thru threads, looking for alternatives.

Earlier, I located what i believed to be the EGR valve on the firewall - it had a small rubber tube to the bottom of the TB, and the 2 plastic "accordian" lines that look like wire sheathing.
Removed it, and popped the cap on it and cleaned and manipulated the filter, which was hardening and compressed.
Everything about this part seemed in good working order, and i could blow with force into the bigger air hole and have it slightly come out the top one. The insides of the tubes leading in looked clean, and i sprayed them out anyhow.

Now, i eliminated the hose that was rigged initially, and by me, with some good rubber gas line. I was sure this would have an impact, since it seemed if i tapped the gas, i could at times, hear some kind of phht sound, like a mini truck braking. - this sound seemed to be coming from the rigged hose.

The rubber "T" that connects to the pcv, engine, and hose in question, was cleaned out since it had some moderate deposits in it.

The throttle body was cracked open and i than sprayed mad carb cleaner down the walls and some into the pipe i could see looking down into it. also into the smaller hole in there on the TB inner wall. The TB wasnt all that dirty.


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Reconnected the battery, and tried starting with no pedal a few times, but it didnt happen, since i dumped a good amount of carb sleaner into it, so i floored it and cranked to start.

Seemed to act the same, but after it idled for a bit it appeared that the faulty idle had improved ultra minimally. I let it idle for 5-6 more minutes, and not too noticable change.
I took it around the block a few times, and it seems its improved some - but now i do notice more of a "gap" in response when i hit the pedal from idle, to where it kicks in fully.
Seems like the idle is "more stable" even when in gear, but when it is put into gear, it still shakes pretty hard from not getting what it needs, and still idles up and down in moderate concession, this is how i think a car with a clogged fuel filter may sound, is how i can describe it.

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My next step, is to take the iac off again, and figure out if its working mechanically. Ive gotten interested in testing it with a 12v source, but i cant find the procedure - ive also read hooking up the wrong polarity will instantly ice it - so im reluctant.

Maybe oil up the moving parts inside it.


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Than, I figured i might as well post... This is one lengthy post, I know - and if youve read thru it, and have anything to comment, i thank you very much.


also - id like more info about what parts move in the iac, etc, so i can verify movement, as all i did was move the plastic a little.



peace

took off the iac, and egr for cleaning/lube.

iac was cleaned again and this time worked it up and down lightly with some lightweight oil. seemed to function a lot smoother.

egr was moderately dirty inside, cleaned well and oiled plunger.

after reassembly, and battery connection, stated up and after a few minutes idling it seemed to have improved pretty much, even in drive - but especially in park.

the shaking has gone down noticably, and also notable smoother idle.

still the same problem, but far less. its almost to a bearable point now -- either that or it was so bad this improvent has me temp hyped out.

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any suggestions, or was the post too long heh.

it almost seems like when i hold a few rpms in park, i can barely make out small stutters now and than - not enough to really notice, but there.

the only thing i could think of that you havent mentiond might be a vacume leak...someone should chime in with a more solid answer. good luck!

after cleaning the egr valve i noticed a small almost whistleing noise coming from the engine compartment now.

i am assuming its the egr gasket, since it was worn, and i tried supplimenting it with some black gasket silicone.

going to install a new one and see if it makes a difference aside from killing the leak. im not sure if this is the final issue causing the roughness

egr gasket replaced - air leak noise eliminated, car running the same.

how long since you changed your spark plugs, wires, and ignition coil?

i cleaned the plugs pretty good when i got it. i did discover the valve cover gasket was leaking down a bit into two of them.

after your post, i replaced the plugs and wireset, but this hasn't changed the condition of the way it runs. Im doubtfull that a new coil will solve anything(but i dont know a whole lot) and id probably replace the iac before this, since there doesnt seem to be an issue with it.

can the coil go intermittant and cause this condition?

my next steps are to begin replacing things like the iac, coil? but im hesitant since i really believe a guru will have the correct solution(s) - maybe pending more nfo?


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id like to add that after the car warms up, the problem almost worsens, since its at a lower idle, so putting it into drive makes it lower still.
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Also in the morning when i come out to start it, it wont start till 3rd or 4th try - before that it starts than drops out some seconds later. I can do the multiple starts, or i can put my foot on the gas for 15 seconds or so untill it will idle on its own.


please, any comments or tips greatly appriciated.

I seem to having a similiar problem. I just recently replaced the spark plugs/wires. i have a 96 contour, 130k miles. This has not fixed the problem.

took off the iac yet again for further inspection, cleaning and oiling.

from what i read iac resistance should be between 7-13 ohms, mine read 12.6 - 12.7. i also hooked it up and turned on the key, it jogged up for a sec, than dropped back down, apparently operational.

took the car on the freeway, since it hadnt been there in some time, to no avail.

im noticing however, that the "chug" worsens with the car warming up. thats - as it warms up , the idle drops further ( which seems normal enough?) causing more shaking.

the shaking is felt mostly in the steering column, but its the entire car overall.

any tips or pointers greatly apprieciated.

im not sure where to go from here... or even from before.. which is why i keep trying to mess with the iac valve

I'm having the same problem, and my IAC was replaced new only a couple of months ago. I'm suspecting the computer, or one of the sensors that send input to the computer. Maybe a crankshaft position sensor? Just a guess. With mine, at times it idles smoothly at 1500+ rpm, and it times it tries to idle at 500 or below, which makes it very rough. It seems that the computer doesn't really know how fast the engine is running.