Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Wont stay running in the cold

I just bought this 2000CSVT on thursday. Everything was fine until saturday morning on my way into work. The car wouldn't start. It was a cold morning. The battery was turning over but the engine wouldn't start running. So I tried turning the key and giving it gas at the same time. and it stays running until I let my foot off the gas.

I drove the car like that.. stalling several times on my way into work. By the when I got off work around 4pm the sun was out. it had warmed up and the car didn't give me any problems. just started right up.

I think it may be the sensor. I don't think that it is the fuel pump itself because it's fairly new. It was replaced about 1 year ago with an OEM pump. Anyone heard of this happening before? Why is this only happening when it's cold outside?

Clean the IAC valve.

IAC cleaning
from Ray's UIM/LIM how to in Duratec Maintenance how to.

"Replacing the IAC gasket:
(From IAC faq)
Over time, the IAC (Idle Air Control) valve becomes sticky due to buildup from the EGR and PCV systems. It can stick partially open such that idle quality is adversely affected, and engine RPM's will not drop below 1500. For a while, blipping the throttle will restore normal idle, but this only works for so long.

The fix is to remove the IAC valve by unbolting the two 8mm bolts that hold it on and disconnected the wiring plug. If you are careful enough, replacement of the gasket will not be necessary. The gasket costs less than US $1.00, so it is no tragedy if you destroy it. Once the valve is off, spray it out with some carb/intake cleaner and make sure any gunky residue is gone. Reattach, and you are done. It is a lot cheaper than a new IAC, which runs around US $70. Note: Ford claims the IAC cannot be cleaned, but this is not true in my experience." Ray.

From Ford CD
Idle Air Control (IAC) Valve


Removal

1. Disconnect battery ground cable

2. Remove the air cleaner outlet tube and resonator assembly.
3. Disconnect the main chassis vacuum line.

4. Disconnect the ignition coil and radio interference capacitor wiring.

5. Remove the fuel line bracket retaining bolt.

6. On 2.0L engine equipped vehicles, raise vehicle on hoist.
7.
7. Disconnect the engine control sensor wiring or fuel charging wiring (depending upon application) from the idle air control valve (IAC valve) at the idle air control valve connector.

8. On 2.5L engine equipped vehicles, remove retainer for engine control sensor wiring from the upper retaining stud bolt.

9. Remove the two idle air control valve retaining bolts or stud bolt (depending upon application).

10. Remove the idle air control valve and idle air control valve gasket.


Installation

1. Note: If scraping is necessary, be careful not to damage idle air control valve or intake manifold idle air control valve gasket surfaces or drop material into intake manifold.

Clean idle air control valve gasket mating surfaces.

2. To install idle air control valve, reverse Removal procedure. Tighten the fuel line bracket bolt to 8-12 N-m (71-106 lb-in).

3. On 2.5L engine equipped vehicles, tighten the retaining bolt and stud bolt to 8-12

4. On 2.0L engine equipped vehicles, tighten the idle air control valve retaining bolts to 8-11 N-m (71-97 lb-in).

Edit. Location of IAC for Duratec
http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=7

Yeah it has happened to me before not in my Contour but in a Ranger I had. It turned out to just be bad gas. When the engine was cold it would stall unless you stayed on the gas. Went to the gas station topped off with premium took care of the problem. Kind of hard to drive a manual that way, working all three pedals at the same time. Hopefully it is something simple like bad gas or dirty IAC, Good Luck.

I filled the car up only once so far. the car requires premium gas. i also put STP gas treatment in it. would that have any bearing on this problem?

If you are running premium it probably isn't the problem, if it was that would be a rare case.

I would guess very strongly that it is the IAC. Same thing was happening to me, I replaced it and all of the problems disappeared.

Thanks. That was exactly what was wrong. No more problems.