Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches New England Can someone PLEEEEEASE help me......

My Contour GL (1995 - bishop375's former ride) STILL has its stalling problem. This is what it does: Start the car, the idle sounds a little funny, put into gear (reverse OR drive), take foot off brake and poof - stall. It does this about once a week.

It used to do it VERY seldom, then the frequency increased, so we brought it to the mechanic. They originally could not find a problem, or even get it to stall out while they had it.

Recently (less then a few months ago), it finally threw a code - Neutral Switch. So we had that replaced....problem NOT solved. It stalled again and again, same routine.

Then about a week and a half ago, it stalled WHILE I had my foot on the gas and the car was moving. It again threw a code - Throttle Control Switch. We had that replaced. Problem still NOT solved.

Today, I drove my usual 4 miles to work (but I stopped on the way to buy stamps). I get back in the car to finish the ride to work, stalling routine all over again. Same story.

It seems to us that it does this "act" when it gets warmed up, then turned off, and started right back up again.

Does ANYone out there have ANY ideas?....because my mechanics seem to only be fixing non-existent problems.

Please help!

I have no idea if it could be as simple as this or if it's the same problem, but when I first got the GL, I had some near-stall issues.
The mechanic said it was due to a dirty MAF.
He cleaned it and it cleared up the problem, for a good 6 months or so.
The problem came back, so I took it upon myself to inspect the MAF myself.
The wires inside the sampling tube were more than just dirty, they looked corroded and brittle (even after I cleaned them using the cleaning how-to from the FAQ on this site)
I bought a new MAF and she's been fine ever since.

Oh yeah - we also has the O2 sensor replaced in the process - another code that was thrown. Again, problem NOT solved.

What does the MAF replacement cost? (We have put so much $$ into this car, that it's getting ridiculous.)

Is it easy enough that I could do it myself? (I don't trust my mechanic at all anymore.)

It's REALLY easy. No need for a mechanic at all.
I'd say, give it a good inspection and cleaning first before buying one. A magnifying glass might help to inspect the wires.
I can't remember the price of a new one right now, but I can look it up.

edit: MAF for 2.0liter engine from fordpartsonline.com $144
MAF for 2.5 liter engine $192

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

I am really not willing to put ANY more $$ into this car unless i know for 100% certainty that I am spending it on the CORRECT cause of the problem. As you can see from my previous posts - I have spent a lot (and I mean upwards of alomst $1000) on things that did not fix the issue.

Sorry to hear about your troubles Robin. Does it seem to be worse due to the wet weather we've been having, or has this been a constant problem, even on dry days? This may help folks to diagnose if it isn't the MAF. Cleaning the MAF sensor will only cost you a couple dollars for the electronic cleaner and would be a good first step in determining if that might be the problem, like Kimmy said.

I just did some searching on the Troubleshooting section for the word "stalling".
Lots of different suggestions on that one.
Some suggest plugs and wires, others suggest PCV and the emissions tube connecting to the PCV.


hope you can find it.

Now that I think about it - the last fix that the mechanic did (the Throttle Control Switch) *did* seem to be the solution.....until this week of wet, sticky, tropical weather. Thoughts?

clean the MAF and IAC Valve.