Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Help!! Car won't start

Went to start it and it started then died. Tried again and wouldn't start at all. Waited a couple of minutes and it started but then instantly died. Now it won't start at all. Any ideas, bad gas??? Any ideas would help before I just get it towed.

Try these things...

Pull fuses #4 and #11 in the under bood fuse box.
This will reset your PCM.
Wait 5 minutes before replacing them.
Start the car...

If it doesn't work, try starting the car, with the throttle **slightly** open.
If it starts and continues to run, but stalls
when you release the throttle, the IAC is frozen or full of carbon..

If neither of these work, then you may have water in the fuel line that has frozen and created a PLUG.
Put the car inside a friend's garage, and let it sit till the plug thaws out.

Well I got her towed on a flatbed and placed in myu garage. I'll try these things tom. The tow guy said its very rare that a fuel line would freeze but we'll see in the morning.

There are so many things that it could be. Your best advice so far was to try starting the engine again, but hold the throttle slightly open. If it starts but has trouble idling, that it is likely the Idle Air Control valve sticking. Cold weather seems to bring on a lot of failures of these. You may be able to clean it, but if it dies not respond to cleaning, it may need to be replaced.

Vapor lock can also cause this problem. I read on the ASi certification book trying to find out why my '95SE is stalling just like yours, and they gave vapor lock as a possible cause.

My car is doing the same thing.

two words: BAD GAS! (not that kind!)

Seriously, its very possible that bad gas is the culprit. I had the same problem 2 years ago. Apparently, these cars can't handle bad gas. Try adding gasline antifreeze or octane boost to the tank, add premium fuel(from another, reputable gas station!), and beat the crap out of the car for about 20 minutes(I meant hard driving, not with a hammer! :p ).
You will probably have to keep your foot on the gas while driving to the gas station to keep it running, but it'll be worth it if that's the problem.
That worked for me...

I have 3 bottle of STP Gas Treatment sitting in the porch behind my seat. I've already used 6 bottles in the last few months. All but one time I used them because the car stalled.

Well I tried all those things and it still won't turn over. When I turn the key from to the on position, not start there is a buzzing noise coming from I think the silver disk looking thing right by where the TH fix goes. Is this normal??? Also the red light on the dash stays lit for 3 seconds like its supposed to then rapidly blinks for a miutes then just starts blinking in no pattern. Is this normal?? I've never paid attention to these two things till now. Also what are the chances of this being a fuel pump?? Or water pump?? Fuel filter?? I don't know much about car but would just like to get her running so I don't have to get it towed to a garage... Also I have 62K on the car wioth I think the original water pump.

I had a problem similar to yours last winter. It was the IAC. I would start it, it would run for a little bit, then die. I could watch the tach fluctuate, then drop. It has started to do it again this winter It just stalled on me tonight when I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment. Has anyone else had this happen AFTER having the IAC replaced?