Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting headscratcher

have a 99 CSVT, with about 50,000 miles. Only mods have been autolite double platinum plugs and ford racing wires, installed about 7,000 miles ago. Was driving to Wisconsin for a weekend getaway, and half way up (about 100 miles), the car started to lose power. It would still go, but was really struggling. No CEL came on. Once we got to destination, car sat overnight, and in the morning drove okay. On hwy home same thing. No power, struggled up hills. Got within 60 miles of home, and pulled off the hwy for gas, got something to eat, examined car. Could not find any obvious problem. Sat for about 1 hour, started car up, plenty of power. Got on hwy again, after 30-40 miles, no power, car wouldn't accelerate out of toll booths, etc. but no CEL. Managed to get car home. Did not experience any bad smells, air filter is clean, water temp was steady, oil is clean & proper level, heard no hissing, saw no collapsed hoses. HELP!!!

Autolite Double Platinum plugs, huh. Did you buy them from BAT? If so, they aren't the right heat range (too cold). *Might* be fouling at highway speed. I know that when I'm on the highway, I'm not driving in closed loop very much. When in open loop, the car runs richer than in closed loop, resulting in slightly cooler combustion temps, which may keep the AWSF22FS plugs that BAT sells from attaining self-cleaning temp. Just a guess.

Also, did you use dielectric grease on both ends of the new wires? Get them hot without that grease and you might get bad contact. Might not be enough to set a misfire CEL (misfires are VERY complicated to detect and their detection algorithm is as complicated).

Could be a dirty fuel filter, but it really sounds like a plugged cat. Mine seemed OK when cold and when cruising around town, but after warming up, the exhaust was extremely constricted and power dropped way off. (Especially at higher RPM) The only smell I could pick up was a mild 'hot/burning' smell which was from the extremely hot cat converter. Engine temp went up a little. If your car runs OK below 3500 RPM, it could be the IMRC stuck closed.

Originally posted by tw0wheelin:

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Could be a dirty fuel filter, but it really sounds like a plugged cat. Mine seemed OK when cold and when cruising around town, but after warming up, the exhaust was extremely constricted and power dropped way off. (Especially at higher RPM) The only smell I could pick up was a mild 'hot/burning' smell which was from the extremely hot cat converter. Engine temp went up a little. If your car runs OK below 3500 RPM, it could be the IMRC stuck closed.

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fuel filter was changed about 2 months ago when I replaced the water pump. Drove the car in to work this morning, and it ran like crap. It will eventually get up to 60 or 70 mph, but very reluctantly, and won't hold speed going up hills. Air filter is clean. Is there a test for bad cat?

I'm guessing it's your cat. Is the engine feel like it's missing? You might have lost a coil pack and only running on 4 or 5 cylinders. Doesn't really sound like that though. The cat is relatively cheap compared to coil work. Not hard to replace the spark plugs real quick either. Good luck.

Originally posted by Patrick:

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I'm guessing it's your cat. Is the engine feel like it's missing? You might have lost a coil pack and only running on 4 or 5 cylinders. Doesn't really sound like that though. The cat is relatively cheap compared to coil work. Not hard to replace the spark plugs real quick either. Good luck.

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doesn't seem to be missing. thanks for your advise.

Main cat should be under warranty for 80K miles. It can be replaced for around $250 at your average muffler shop, dealer will charge about $400.

Check Fuel Filler Cap too. Sometimes they allow a vacuum in the tank to build up which would effectively reduce fuel pressure. When it loses power, pull over, loosen cap, retighten, then see if power is back....It's free so it is worth checking. Could be clogged filter on intake of fuel pump too though..

It's not the plugs & it's probably not the coil.

Plugs won't act that way & the coil should trigger a CEL for a missfire.

The gas cap idea is good. Though very loose/leaking and it throws a CEL as well. (Evap Control leak/etc)

My guess is the IMRC box is failing. Once it's get's nice and hot it doesn't open or doesn't hold the secondaries open.
Since it's closed at start up it won't throw a CEL (P1518) & since it works occasionally it won't throw a CEL (P1519) either.

mechanic says CEL 1137. Replaced o-2 sensor, and showed me how distorted it was. Car runs much better, but still not quite right.