Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Well...it's almost time to burry the Contour...

Unless I can figure the damn problem out today or tomorrow, my sisters car will be towed to the dealer she bought it from, and will be trader back-in to get a different car.

I just had the car towed to my mechanic who has been working on cars for 30 years, and even HE cannot figure out what the hell is going on with the car. I have been trying to diagnose it for almost 2 weeks now.

I've replaced the plugs, plug wires, ignition coil, IAC valve, PCV valve, and verified that the EGR is working perfectly and had the ICM verified by machine that it is working perfectly.

I've made a few posts already but just to sum it up:

The car starts, idles to 3000 RPMs, tries to come back down below 1500 RPMs, starts shaking and backfiring, and stalls. Sometimes in 1 second, sometimes it will keep reving itself back up and down for 30 seconds until it eventually just gives-up and dies.

The only other thing I MAY do is substitute another PCM to see if it makes a difference. Why? Because I've tried a whole bunch of things to try and get a CHECK ENGINE light/code but am not able to.

I've pumped the EGR with 10" of vacuum to open it completely with the engine running at cold idle, and I get no light. I disconnect the IAC and get no light. I disconnect the MAF Sensor and get no light.

This just boggles my mind...and I've already had too many headaches trying to figure it out that I'm just about to give up all together...

Just lettin' you all that tried to help me know whats going on...and that I thank you all for your input:)

I don't know what year you have....but check the wiring leading to your PCM, passenger side goint into the firewall. Is the insulation cracking or flaking off. Look at the rest of the wiring under the hood is the insulation flaking or cracking...I had a devil of a time with my car starting and then dieing out, sometimes would start fine other times it seemed like a different car. went ahead and removed intake manifolds for cleaning, etc. and found that the insulation to my injectors was completly gone. Also the insulation going to the pcm at the firewall was also flaking and or gone. When I pinched the wires at the wires leading into the firwall the car started perfectly and ran fine. Had the wiring replaced under warranty.

Can you give us more information? Year, Model, Engine type, etc?

My wiring problems was with a 95 contour 2.5L. The wiring is under warranty to 100,000 miles. Check your wiring......is it flaking or gone?


Bob

Make sure they replace ALL the wiring under the hood. The dealer tried to take shortcuts and I had to contact the area Ford Rep to make the Dealer comply....... No one wants to tell you about ther wiring since it is a pain in the ASS to replace and is a big job. After mine was done it worked like a champ. Make sure you have them replace the wiring going to the fuel injectors too - that harness if about 500 dollars all by itself if it wasn't under warranty.

Let us know how it goes! Ford used cheap wiring in these cars to save money...upper management decision...had their head in a ivory dark place to say the least!
Glad I could help!

Regards,
Bob T.

Brian,

If any components are damaged because of the wiring, it is covered under the warranty.

Regards,
Bob

Check the upper and lower intake manifolds. The gaskets may be leaking. Too much air leaks in screwing up the air/fuel mixture. Mine is currently doing that now and I can see the gaskets are a little warped. I've got about 98k on it now and I think that's basically about it for me too, so it was fun while it lasted. Time for me to start looking for a new car.