Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Why why why!

Just when the car starts to run "ok", it hits th efan again.

Over the last couple years, weve had a prob with it jumpin time. SO we would tear it down, reset the chains and stuff, put it back together, and it would run good for awhile. Then the alt went back in dec. so we fixed that. Started the car, dead, again, stupid timing. SO we buy all new chains, tensioners, guides, arms. everythign under the timing cover. Fix it all, runs, but then it would have a oil pressure light only at idle. And if left at idle for about 30 secs, it would stumble, and try to die. SO we let it sit for awhile. then we decided to see how it was running. My mom was driving it for about the last two weeks, doing fine. I took it for a few test drives, to get as much old gas burned as possible, doing xxx mph on the highway. she ran just fine. Well then, it started to have a lil hesitation when getting on the gas in a spirited manner, which meant, it didnt happen when my mom was driving it.

But now, it has gotten to the point that as soon as you try to take off, roll off the clutch, you look like a first time driver trying to learn a stick shift. it bucks, and jump and cuts in and out like crazy.

so we changed the plugs, just changed the fuel filter, still does it. But, when its in neutral, and you rev the hell out of it, it does attempt to fall on its face. Sometimes when you push in the peddle, it will rev a lil, then "force" itself through about the 2500-3500k rpm range, and just rev like normal. But now, it just putters a lil, and then revs fine. But as soon as you try to drive, boom back on its face.

Any ideas?

We're at a loss, with my mom being kidan stranded with no car, and fighting a workmans comp battle and not being able to work.

i don't know if this helps or not but when my engine finally went it was due to the tensioner's being clogged up with oil sludge. Causing the chain to lose tension and then jump time.

Have you cleaned the carbon out of the Idle motor? Try driving in 4th gear 40 mph, give it gas, does it surge but still accelerate? If so, the ignition wires should be changed. Coil packs go bad, see if there are black carbon trails on the surface. I had a carbon track on the #2 plug (middle rear) but you changed the plugs. Did you use the Autolite double platinums? Maybe your oil pressure is low, you should not jump time so easily. Check egr,and see if there are any codes stored.

My first Contour V-6 had a similar problem early in ownership. Turned out to be the plug wires. Either they were bad, or I had two of them mis-routed. Double check the plug wire routing, then see if some fresh wires from a freindly CEGer near you will 'fix' the problem. Cost you near nothing to try...

Beyond that, also check/test the coil pack. I may have an extra if your mom needs it - I'll have to look.

My father routed the wires wrong, it ran weak and sounded like a VW beetle (old style)!

this happened without even touchin the wires. Im running the FRPP 9mm or 10mm wires, should i look into going back to some new stockers?

also, found this.

the spliced in wire was for my digital tach that i had in teh a-pillar a long time ago.

I kinda figured that the wiring harness was a sign of some big problem. Ive already replaced all the other wiring in the engine bay, outside of the recall, and the side of the harness inside the firewall/cowl part, was the only one i didnt swap out.

So im sizz out of luck pretty much right? Because thats a big harness that is strung throughout the dash right?

You are supposed to be able to unplug the latched piece from the module, see if you can, carefully. I would replace that module and inspect your wiring harness. I got some information on that module from alldatadiy.com:

EDIS module The Ignition Control Module (ICM) is a microprocessor-based device with coil drivers which make decisions about spark timing and coil firing. The module turns the coils ON and OFF at the correct time and in the proper sequence based on information from the Crankshaft Position (CKP) sensor and a pulse-width modulated Spark Output (SPOUT) signal generated from the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) . The module receives CKP and SPOUT signals and produces Profile Ignition Pickup (PIP) and Ignition Diagnostic Monitor (IDM) output signals which are sent to the PCM.


REMOVAL

Disconnect battery ground cable.
Disconnect Ignition Control Module (ICM) electrical connector by carefully lifting up on the connector finger ends while grasping the connector body and pulling away from the ICM.
Remove two retaining screws and remove ICM from bracket.

INSTALLATION

Position ICM to bracket and install retaining screws. Tighten to 3-4 Nm (24-35 lb in).
Connect electrical connector by pushing until connector fingers are locked over locking wedge feature on ICM. Locking the connector is important to ensure sealing of the connector and ignition control module interface.
Connect battery ground cable.



That module has many functions:

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Fix it first, maybe you will have it solved!