Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting I'm Scared as Hell. My car stalls & dies in traffic and hot weather without warning

96redSE5spd,
How many miles and is it a Zetec or Duratec?
There's a TSB out there for the VCT system on Zetecs being overadvanced or overretarded, causing idle problems, but I'm not sure if VCT was on the Zetecs in 1996.

It could be the Idle air valve, EGR stuck open, MAF, TP or IAT sensor. But those would all light the CEL if sooner or later.

Contiques up to '98 had the fuel rail close to the lower intake manifold with side-port injectors which had a habit of vaporizing fuel in the rail in hot conditions. If your fuel pump is starting to go away (higher mileage) it might not keep the fuel pressure up high enough to keep it from vaporizing at idle. This would be compounded by the A/C compressor running constantly on a low charge and drawing a lot of current. Or the fuel pressure regulator could be faulty, too. Make sure the FPR vacuum line is secure.