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Runaway RPM

holy crap. i cant believe no one told this guy to check his intake gaskets... spray carb cleaner or a similar product around the gaskets and listen for any surges or changes in rpm
 
Not sure I follow completely, Smalls. Where precisely do I do this? I'm only somewhat versed in engine lingo/maintenance.
 
where your upper intake matches up with your lower intake, and where your lower intake matches up with your heads. spray carb cleaner all around where the gaskets are. if you have a leak, the engine will suck the carb cleaner in, and you will hear a noticeable difference in how the engine is running. the same exact problem happened with both of my contours and i had to replace intake gaskets on another one at a shop that i worked at last year. i believe that this is the most probable cause for your idle issue.

edit: on my silver svt, whenever i would push the clutch pedal in, or take it out of gear on deceleration, the rpm's would rise to about 4,000. it was the strangest thing. everyone said the same stuff (TP sensor, IAC, throttle hang) it ended up being intake gaskets
 
Interesting. Well, I've got carb cleaner handy, so I'll definitely give this a shot tomorrow.
 
BrApple said:
from my understanding it most important in how the atx will shift.
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TPS....does what :confused:

One way of checking the tps sensor is with a volt meter....to rule out a possible problem.


Take some time and do a UIM/LIM rebuild. Change the gaskets.

Also make sure to check your hoses....for any cracks etc etc. It wouldn't cause this much of an idle...but it's def something that can add to a problem that is already occurring with your high idle problem.
 
Well, I saturated the UIM/LIM gaskets as best I could, given the limited access. I'm sure I didn't cover 100% of the area, though. Unfortunately, this didn't produce any result.

Before I start tearing things apart, anyone have any other ideas?
 
if the car is parked and idling, and you hit the gas a little then release, do the rpms come right down?
 
jsark said:
Update:

ime I arrived at work. The better news is, I think I found my problem.

Let me know if my logic is sound:

- Old, dirty IAC = holds an idle, but causes periodic runaways
- Old, clean IAC = won't hold an idle, but doesn't cause runaways (yet)
- New IAC = hopefully solves both problems

Anyone have additional ideas?
Click to expand...
I def agree with that. My car was doing the same thing until I cleaned my IAC. Now it won't hold an idle to save it's life. i'll be replacing the IAC today.
 
http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/member.php?u=52184mnewxcv:

Funny you should ask that. Just got back from the grocery store and I was thinking I needed to post some additional info that I thought was noteworthy.

From what I can tell (I have yet to experience otherwise), the runaways occur only while the ATX is in drive. If in neutral or park, I can gun the engine repeatedly and it always drops off to correct idle RPM (650ish) instantly. I'm no pro, but for some reason, I think this is very relevant.
 
You might check the throttle body to make sure it is closing properly, but I doesn't sound like thats the issue. I've got nothing else to throw out there at the moment.
 
Heywood said:
You might check the throttle body to make sure it is closing properly, but I doesn't sound like thats the issue. I've got nothing else to throw out there at the moment.
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thats why I asked if it happened when the car was parked. I figure if it was sticking open for any reason, if the car was in N then it would have floated pretty much to redline with no load on the engine. But thats not the case, so I think it rules out throttle body and pedal related issues.
 
1. If the intake manifold gaskets were bad....then he would be having a misfire..causing a check engine light in cylinders.

If it was the tps sensor you would have rps kicking high and trans shifting alittle bit harder.

If it was an IAC...it does just that....Controls the idle...you would be having some signs of haunting and high idle....but your getting no haunting issues...from what you said.


Personally....when the car is neutral and everything runs okay? then it's not an engine issure....it is a transmission issue.
Sorry man...but your gonna have to get your trans checked out!
 
I didn't read through the whole thread but it does sound like the TPS. I had the exact same problem (it was almost scary) but it turned out to be a short in the wiring for the tps.
 
greasemonkey1489 said:
I didn't read through the whole thread but it does sound like the TPS. I had the exact same problem (it was almost scary) but it turned out to be a short in the wiring for the tps.
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When its in neutral it revs and idles fine though. So it's not that.

Please people stop just reading one thing and making these posts...:nonono:
 
Slow down buddy, mine would rev up and then something would happen and then the rpms would go to normal. I read enough to hear his symtoms, so before you haul off Harrry, why don't you give the advice a chance. I had the exact same symtoms the OP is having.


Have you swapped TPS's with one that works or a new one just to test if you have the same issue?
 
greasemonkey1489 said:
Slow down buddy, mine would rev up and then something would happen and then the rpms would go to normal. I read enough to hear his symtoms, so before you haul off Harrry, why don't you give the advice a chance. I had the exact same symtoms the OP is having.


Have you swapped TPS's with one that works or a new one just to test if you have the same issue?
Click to expand...

If it was a tps sensor on an automatic trans car...the shifting would be hard and it would be hitting in each gear!...because it would be reving high while shifting between gears. Obviously thats not an issue in here.
 
To be honest, I'm tempted to try the TPS, although I'm not confident it's the problem. I've got two Contours (a '98 and a '98.5). I actually changed the TPS on the '98 a year ago because of the very symptoms Harrry described (hard/banging shifts).

The shifts on the '98.5 (the car in question) are fairly smooth, but when the engine is in runaway mode, the ATX hesitates to commit to the final shift. It's like it wants to stay at 4k RPM. Only when I let my foot off the accelerator completely, does it finally shift. Note that this is only true for the final gear. All other gears shift properly at expected RPMs under all conditions.

The runaways have become almost continuous. What began as an occasional anomaly, has become the norm. I can't get a mile down the road now without the engine wanting to spiral up. And that's on residential streets!
 
jsark said:
1. when the engine is in runaway mode, the ATX hesitates to commit to the final shift.
2. It's like it wants to stay at 4k RPM. Only when I let my foot off the accelerator completely, does it finally shift.
3. Note that this is only true for the final gear. All other gears shift properly at expected RPMs under all conditions.!
Click to expand...

If at first it was in a selected gear..and now it's spreading...That tells me its a transmission issue.
 
I don't think "spreading" is an accurate description, but I hear you regarding an ATX issue. So let me ask you all this:

If it's an ATX issue, what would be going wrong with the ATX that would make the engine want to runaway, and to maintain the runaway once the ATX is shifted into neutral/park? This doesn't make sense to me.

Remember, the ATX performs as-advertised, except at high RPMs at highway speeds, where it *sometimes* hesitates to make the final shift (but eventually does when pedal demand is eliminated). Personally, I wonder if the engine misbehaving is causing the ATX to misread the shift cue. As in, the engine's doing 4k RPM, so the ATX thinks you need torque vs speed, and hesitates to give you the final gear.

I dunno...
 
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