Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting just about ready to give up.

here's the story. got a 95 mystique 4cyl auto. 173k . when i got it about 6 months ago it was stalling at stop signes intermittently, and overheating (heat worked fine).
got the car for my daughter as her first car, wanted something that might last a year or so. i did a basic tune-up and it was working ok, hadn't started to work on the overheating or stalling yet. went out one morning to move it and it wouldn't start. solenoid was clicking but main starter motor wasn't turning. so i pulled the starter motor and tested it out, and it worked. while i was under there i noticed that the knock sensor was busted off. probably by the last person to remove the starter (which wasn't fun). i put the starter back in and replaced the knock sensor (hoping that would fix the stalling issue) and found the starting problem to be a really bad ground. so i fixed that. and the car started and ran pretty good. for about 2 minutes. then it started to go down hill. was hard to keep running, wouldn't idle, cel came on, sounded like the timing was way way off. i looked around and made sure i didn't forget to reconnect something. everything looked good.
i had it towed to a trusted garage. they just called me and said they were throwing in the towel.
they said:
it has spark,
the timing is good,
only computer error code is a temp sensor error. but shouldn't affect it at this stage,
compression is good,
fuel is good,
they replaced plugs, (the plugs get black really quick during their starting attemps).
they have put 4 hours into it and have no idea. it looks to them like it should start.

Does anyone have any idea's.

-Zenophryk

Welcome . Need to scan the codes (at Autozone or Advance) and post the exact codes.

Or do it yourself.
http://www.thorssell.net/hbook/eectest.html

In addition, you need to fix the overheating problem. That could be the issue there. Check if it is bad thermostat or Water pump, or radiator fan not coming on or plugged radiator or just needing a flush.

If the temperature sensor code is the ECT sensor the cooling fan will run nonstop and the car will run rich, but it will run.

at the moment i can't actually get it to start and run for more then 15-20 seconds. so it's not overheating anymore. i think the problem is a plugged radiator, i'll deal with that one if the car gets running again.

Get the ECT fixed it will make the car run like crap. Maybe you forgot to hook it back up when you did the starter? After that code is gone, clear the ECU (pull battery or fuse)Then see if it starts running better. As said before the fans should be running if it is the ECT. I wiggled one of the connectors apart when I was doing my alternator and the car was running pretty crappy till I found that it was loose it was giving me the ECT code. The timing belt also could have jumped this could make it run bad. If it never has been changed you might want to do it soon.

Try to get some codes.
Don't give up!
Does it turn over fast or slow?
These engines are finiky on timing. Check the timing using the tool through the cam slots method while at TDC.
How does the timing belt look?

I agree that you are going to have problems from the ECT sensor and most likey it will need to be fixed to resolve your problem, but I wouldn't rule out fuel quality yet. It is not as common as it once was, but if the car has been sitting for very long, it could be stale fuel. Stale fuel often acts like your description.