Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting SVT stuttering under heavy throttle... And more!

Geezus my 00 SVT is not well...

Did a search... came up with maybe spark plugs (and/or wires) but it could be something else:

Particularly in 2nd and 3rd gear (and often in first), if I really get on the gas hard and try to get to redline, right around 4200ish RPMs, I get really really bad stuttering... Almost like a fuel shut off and bad enought o throw me back and forth on the seat. It'll happen about 6-7 times before I finally get of the gas at around 5700ish RPMs. But it only does this under WOT.

Could it be a dirty injector or something? I haven't tried anything like a bottle of Techron or some other fuel treament yet... That might be next but I thought I would pick at the brains here first.

About 47k miles and just changed the oil (Mobil 1 10w-30) on saturday but it has been doing this before that.

Another thing I noticed... If I pull away and short shift into second or third and the RPMs drop a little (like to about 1000 or so), I hear this really odd rattling/vibrating sound from what sounds like the bottom of the engine bay. Goes away once it gets to about 1500 RPMs.

Ugh... wish I could've afforded the extended warranty.

Cheers in advance.

PS: Yes, it still rough idles, for those that remember, but I'm going to try and reset the computer in a moment.

Update - pulling 4 and 11 fuses did nothing. I'll try the battery tomorrow.

I hate resetting my presets.

un plug your secondaries and see if it still does it, you should just feel no power at 4k but if there freaking out opening and closing i have heard of this happining before that could be the prob. def. worth a try. just unplug the plug that goes into the imrc box that sits ontop of the front valve cover. Good luck

I think that we could rule out a dirty injector. If that were the case, it would do it all the time.

You stated that you have a rough idle? And this happens at around 4200ish in the RPM range? I would check my UIM for a leak. Try pressing on the manifold and see if the idle changes. My Mystique has had a rough idle for sometime now and I finally got around to pulling the UIM and found that the several of the seals in the gasket were crushed. I cleaned things up and put a new gasket in there. It helped a great deal.

Do you still feel the surging even during lite acceleration? If so, I would go with the above. If not, then if could be the fuel filter or possible the fuel pump as well as plugs and wires. How many miles do you have on the car and have you changed the plugs and wires recently?

Aaaah... Thank you thank you!!

Just some extra info (Although I did put it in the post though ) - 42k miles.

What would suck is I had my fuel filter and IMRC replaced around 22,000 miles or so. Yeah the IMRC was a different feeling problem, like many had here. It would buck and stutter like mine does now, but just fall flat after certain RPMs and wouldn't go faster than 85-90 on the highway.

Only happens when I go wide open throttle... It's running fine everywhere else.

Hmmmmm... maybe plugs will go in next huh?

It sounds more like you have lost fuel pressure. Try changing the fuel filter. If problem persists, find a fuel pressure gauge and read the fuel pressure when it is acting up.

Unfortunately, I can't feel your car from here. Since I can't, do look at the plugs and wires. I'm betting on a fuel problem though.

I just noticed that you have a 2000 which has a returnless fuel system. A common problem on them is a plugged fuel inlet screen on the fuel pump module. Pull the pump module out and throw the filter screen disc away. You don't need it. There is still a conventional sock inlet filter inside the module.

You can pull the pump without dropping the fuel tank, but you will need to enlarge the hole in the floor pan under the rear seat. With a search you should be able to find a wealth of info on the returnless fuel pump problems complete with pictures on how to get to the pump and repair the hole in the floor pan when you are finished.

I just went through this hell this weekend. The problem is the filter in your fuel pump assembly. If the problem is the same as mine, you will notice it more when your gas tank is ¼ tank or lower. You have no problems when accelerating slowly, but when you get on it gets starved for fuel around 4,500 RPM. You will eventually have hard starting problems. My research in here and at the parts store indicates that Ford changed the fuel pump in mid �??99 and later models. I have a �??00 SE sport, but I�??m assuming the pump is the same or similar. Our fuel pump is actually housed in a sump that is submerged in the tank. The problem is that there is a circular filter on the bottom of the pump sump that gets clogged.

I assume that the fuel starvation is due to sump being drained under hard acceleration. The sump is unable to refill quickly enough due to the restricted flow of the filter.

Now for the bad news.
1) No one�?�..I mean no one sells the parts individually. All I was able to find was the entire assemble from Ford for about $270.00 (In MA)
2) The pump is a pain in the a$$ to get to. The repair manual tells you to drop the fuel tank. I found this very difficult because my car does not have a rubber sleeve in the fuel filler tube. The metal filler tube goes directly into the tank. There is some sort of a seal where the tube enters the tank that I found very difficult to separate.


What I did.

I ended up enlarging the opening under the seat to remove the pump assembly from the top without dropping the tank (completely at least). The opening I made is a rectangle about 12�?� by 10�?�. The problem here is that there is very little (as little as 1/8 inch at some spots) between the tank and the sheet metal. I would be very careful enlarging the hole, or you will cut the fuel line. You might want to try to drop your tank first, you will at least need to lower it to cut a hole under the seat without clipping a fuel line.

I then removed the whole assembly and threw out the circular filter. I then took apart the sump and cleaned it out with carb cleaner. I noticed that the fuel pump has another filter on it. This filter is referred to as a strainer.

This next part is probably optional, but at this point, what the hell. I purchased a new strainer for a 95 tour for about 12 bucks. I cut the old strainer off of the v shaped frame on the old one. You will know what I mean when you see it. I then made the mesh filter fit the old v shape with a bit of epoxy and a zip tie.

I then put the whole thing back together. Patched the hole and Walla.

One last thing. When your tossing around the sump, be careful not to break the while ceramic resistor due hickey on the float assembly. It sort of looks like 2/3 rds of a piece of stick of gum. This is for your fuel meter. If you break it you will have to solder the tracks at the break.


Good luck!

You're exactly right.... after 1/4 tank, it gets really bad.

Will it get worse? I'm flat broke (and naturally, my tank is almost always 1/4 full ) and I missed a payment on my extended warranty (and haven't talked to them yet) so I don't know if it's going to cover it.

I suck at money.

How long did it take you do do youself?

It will get worse. You will start to have problems starting the car. If you skip replacing the strainer it will cost next to zero. It took me about 3 hours to get the pump out and put back in. Most of the time was wasted trying to drop the tank.

Looky.

http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=general&Number=224276&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=1#Post225608