Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting What's Wrong with My Car?

I was driving down the road today, about 30mph in 3rd gear, and having my stereo on I didn't even notice, but I went to accelerate and nothing happened. I looked down, [censored] my rpm was at 0. So I stopped and tried restarting it, nothing not even a single crank. The battery is 100% fine 12.37V on a voltmeter and all the electronics work fine. When you turn the key, NOTHING happens. Its kinda like turning the key without having the clutch pressed in, only it is. I just rolled over 59,000 miles a week or so ago It's still young . So thankfully I have this extended warranty, which payed $116 to get it towed to the garage and is currently paying for my rental car. I hope it's nothing major, I have an appointment next week to get my Spec Clutch / Flywheel and SVT stuff put in.

when you say nothing, you mean the starter doesn't even engage? Maybe crank sensor?

You know I had this problem last night...almost got me killed.

I finally got the Tour running well, in the past year I've probably put about 100 miles on it, mean while I've done:
New Battery
New Plugs
New Plug wires
Oil Change (yesterday)
Fuel pump
Alternator
and a few minor other things...

Yet I'm driving to work at about 9 pm last night...and my Headlights just go out...I couldn't see if the car was still on and since I was driving down hill I couldn't really hear much of anything...so I accelerate and nothing...then the steering wheel locks up and I know the car just shut off (meanwhile I'm like WTF cause its pretty heavy traffic) So I throw on the Hazards and well...THEY DON'T WORK. I see my only way to get off the road is in a closed shop thats up coming, so I use the momentum of the car and pull the steering wheel as hard as I could (its still locked) and manage to get off the road. So I sit there for a minute catching my breath...then I pop the hood...and when I open the door the footwell lights come on so I know the battery isn't dead. I check the dome lights..they work as well (however the radio does not..neither does any exterior lights) Needless to say I'm at a huge loss. Out of frustration I close the hood and figure I'll walk home (about an hour walk) get some sleep and deal with it in the morning (the car was parked at a mechanic shop anyway) So as I'm walking away I hit the auto lock on my key chain and I hear the car beep; so just outta curiousity I go back to the car and it cranks right up. Needless to say I've got <---that face at this point...but no time to waste i jump in the car and head for a better lighted area to possibly further diagnose whats going on...so I make the drive home and before I get into my neighborhood I get a CEL and notice the car is dieing(headlights went out again)...so I use the cars momentum to pull into an autozone...where I talk to the guy there to see if he had any knowledge of what the problem could be. He suggests the battery...so once we get the car to crank again...its in the 12.5 range so we rule that out (not to mention interior lights work so it couldn't be a battery problem). So then he thinks starter...but I show him that that couldn't be it because when it does crank..it cranks no problem..but when it doesn't, it does not even engage. Theres no spark...not even an attempt to start; the key just turns all the way with no reaction. So while we're brainstorming possible Ideas I tell him to get the scanner so we can find out what the CEL code is and we can go from there. As we walk back into the store he closes my door and it autolocks itself....WITH THE KEYS IN THE DAMN IGNITION. So as my night gets worse I have to make the 30 minute walk home to get my spare key, and then the 30 minute walk back to get the car. So I do that, and once I get back..autozone is closed and the guys are gone ( ) Needless to say I get in the car, crank it and let it sit for about 20 minutes...it runs no problem so I try to limp it home (all residential neighborhood) so as soon as I turn on the headlights, the car cuts off and refuses to engage for about 20 more minutes. So in the midsts of being frustrated, pissed off, and just down right disgusted...I crank the car and manage to make it home with the lights off (its about 11:00-11:30) I'm gonna do some work on it today to see if I can find out whats up.

Now I know that was a long, poorly worded paragraph full of run on sentences but I think it got my frustration thought. Eitherway, any suggestions. I didn't wanna hijac k...but I didn't see a point for a new topic...lil help

~darp~

well guys, i just picked the car up, turns out one of the ground cables for the ignition system that goes to the battery was in poor codition and it finally bit the dust. That said a busted cable just cost me damn near $250 (Tow + Diagnose/Labor + Parts) because the warrenty wouldn't pay for the tow or rental car, because I didn't have a Motorcraft Battery / Ford Bat. Terminals. *Sigh* I could have easily replaced it on my own If I knew what it was, oh well, live and learn I guess.

p.s. I'm not using the svt injectors, they appear to be in poor condition, I probably dont need them anyway.

apparently we're not talking about the same injectors , the ones I have are scratched/gouged up, and 2 appear to be physically broken on the end.