98' Issues: Stalling, Loss of Power, Revs on its own

[jwestlak]

I am looking for some help with my 98' Contour SE 4 cylinder (standard). It is a bit of a long story, but hang in there, because this has been a mystery problem for me and the local dealerships/mechanics.

Two years ago my wife and I moved from Michigan to Texas. During the drive down the contour died (my wife was driving the car and I was driving the moving truck...so she just said that it lost power and wouldn't start up again). Luckily we were towing another car, so we switched cars. To get the contour up on the cups (2 wheel towing) we pushed it up the entrance ramp of the freeway and let it roll down onto the cups (brilliant!), but we forgot that the car won't respond well if it isin't on, so we didn't get the brakes on in time and skipped over the cups (incredibly stupid)...several hours later with the help of some nice gentleman from Missouri we finally got back on the road with minimal damage to the contour.

We get it to Texas and take it straight to the dealership...they tell us that the timing chain has gone and must be replaced. They do this and the car runs again, but is not the same. It stalls infrequently after acceleration, it has lost the ability to pull itself up hills and you practically have to floor it to get it up a steep one, the acceleration sucks, it revs on its own when you come to a stop and the a/c is on. It also runs hot (right at the edge of the normal range) unless you put on either the defrost or the a/c. And on top of that it bucks in second and third gear before it warms up.

Since then we have had the IAC replaced, several fuel filters replaced, found out that the fuel filler neck was rusted out and had that replaced and the O2 sensors. I have changed the coil, spark plugs, wires and PCV valve. I also noticed some oil going into the spark plug valley, so I replaced the gasket (sorry I forgot the name) and I replaced the thermostat.

At this point I have also performed the Tony el cheapo catalytic converter test with no luck. The original dealrship that we took it to says there is no way they got the timing wrong and want to charge me ~90 to check it out again...I had someone else check it out (local mechanic) and they said that wasn't the problem.

From reading through the posts here it seems that the problem could be one of three: EGR or related parts, catalytic converter (if I did the Tony test incorrectly or what not), or bad mounts (either transmission or motor).

If anyone has some tests that I can run or ideas...please share!

Thanks,
Joe

 

[hourang]

check for vacuum leaks with some carb cleaner? might help to get a code scanner with live data. my scanner tells me all the values for the o2s, fuel trims, tps %, maf reading, engine temp, etc. it was nice on mine it always shows in the A-L range for the engine temp yet using my scanner the temp is only like 200 deg in that range. got the scanner for $65 on ebay

 

[AliasJerk]

sounds like the engine isnt timed properly, are you throwing a check engine light at all?

 

[JoeM]

Timing, and head warp possibly.

These are interference motors. If the timing belt went, chances are you could have a bent valve as well.

The 2.0 zetecs end up with some pretty bad head warp, and if the dealership didn't deck it and test it before installing, i think they owe it to you to fix it properly. :shrug:

 

[hourang]

Timing, and head warp possibly.

These are interference motors. If the timing belt went, chances are you could have a bent valve as well.

The 2.0 zetecs end up with some pretty bad head warp, and if the dealership didn't deck it and test it before installing, i think they owe it to you to fix it properly. :shrug:

wrong, zetecs are NON interference motors.

why the heck would you pull the heads to swap a timing belt?

 

[andreslobo]

Timing check

Timing check

You didn't say whether or not you are getting a CEL. It would be helpful to know the codes, but if not, your cam timing could still be off.

The only true way to check the timing of the cams is to pull the valve cover, install the timing tool and see if you are at tdc on cyl 1 or 4. If your local mechanic didn't do that then you don't know if the timing is off. If the timing is off, you will get symptoms similar to what you described and depending on the severity of the error it may or may not thow a code.

The zetec is non interference so a bent valve is likely not the cause.

But of course it could be any number of other things as well.

 

[jwestlak]

Thanks everyone. Currently I don't have a check engine light. I have had a CEL in the past, but it was intermittent at best and hasn't come back since I cleaned the MAF.

Few questions: Hourang, first what code scanner do you have. Also how do you check for vacuum leaks with carb cleaner?

andreslobo: what is the timing tool and where can I get one?

Thanks!
Joe

 

[hourang]

Thanks everyone. Currently I don't have a check engine light. I have had a CEL in the past, but it was intermittent at best and hasn't come back since I cleaned the MAF.

Few questions: Hourang, first what code scanner do you have. Also how do you check for vacuum leaks with carb cleaner?

andreslobo: what is the timing tool and where can I get one?

Thanks!
Joe

i got one like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/U381...Z390033983148QQptZMotorsQ5fAutomotiveQ5fTools

with the motor running, spray carb cleaner (carefully) on your vacuum hoses. if there is a leak, the carb cleaner will get drawn into the motor and cause your idle to dip up or down (its flamable). so basically just spray around your vacuum hoses and listen to your idle.