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Interesting Starting Problem

Sinmastah

CEG'er
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
71
Location
Bloomington MN
Hey, I have a problem when I try to start up my car. It's a 95 Mercury Mystique, Zetec engine, auto. When I start up my car, it idles around 2k RPM, when it normally is around 1k RPM. This started about a week ago, when it only seemed to happen about 50% of the time. Now it's much more frequent.

Driving around doesn't seem to have much of an issue, however sometimes the car jerks, or suddenly drops in RPM and then picks up again. It hasn't stalled on me yet, but it has come close once or twice. I was searching the forum on here, and it seems like it could deal with the computer "making bad decisions" And that a reset was needed. I was supposed to clean the throttle body and the IAC, however could not find them in the engine bay. I did remove the terminals from the battery however, so that the computer could at least reset. When I started the car, same problem occurred.

My check engine light goes on after a bad start up, and seems to go away after about 5-10 minutes of driving. However when my car jerks, or has a sudden drop in RPM, the check engine light comes back on. The oil, trans, and coolant fluids are all ok, and I just got my oil changed roughly 3 weeks ago. I haven't had any major work on the car, but I did get the front end re-aligned with new tires. The car only has around 86k miles, and is a '95.

Another interesting piece of information, when I drive, let's say I bring it up to 4k RPM in first gear, and then take my foot off the accelerator, it seems to drop extremely fast down to about 1k RPM. Perhaps I'm just looking for things that might be wrong with my car, so this might not even be a problem (or could be normal for the car).

Anyways, anyone have ideas? Someone at work suggested injector cleaning fluid, which I just put in my car tonight... Fingers crossed on that one. I thought that it might be the problem with the computer needing to be reset, and the throttle body and IAC being dirty, however shouldn't it start up just fine after resetting the computer? At least, that is my thoughts on it, and I could be completely wrong. I'm not a car expert by any means, and I'm looking for any advice on how to fix this issue. It might not be a major issue now, but I don't want anything major to come of it.

Thanks in advance
 
An update: It idled high twice after startup, but dropped down almost immediately. I still feel jerks when I'm hitting the gas, however they only happen once every few miles. The check engine light pops up for a minute or two, and then goes away. I will try to get it scanned at Auto zone, however I'm not sure they can scan it if the light isn't on. However I'll try to do that sometime today.
 
since its a 95 (and thus OBD1) you should be able to use a jumper wire on the correct connector to make the CEL flash the codes. i cant remember where the connector is off hand but PM blu_fuz or BrApple as they should know.
 
The connected is in the top right of the engine bay. I went to O'Rielly auto parts and got the codes to be scanned. CarX wanted $60, and Advanced auto parts didn't have the right connector. Anyways, here are all the codes.

KOEO
335: EGR feedback signal is/was out of range - EVR or PFE
519: PSP switch/circuit open - PSP h Pedal Position (CPP) circuit fault - PNP (power steering)
157: Mass Air Flow signal is/was low or grounded - MAF
158: MAF sensor is/was high or short to power - MAF
(He said it was probably reading 0)

KOER
159: MAF sensor is/was out of range - MAF
336: PFE sensor signal is/was was high - ">PFE (exhaust pressure)
411: Idle speed system not controlling idle properly (generally idle too high) - ISC
129: No MAP or Mass Air Flow sensor change during "goose" test - MAP MAF
167: No Throttle Position sensor change in "goose" test (must get at least 25% rotation) - TPS
521: Power Steering pressure
 
Sounds Like a Loose/crack hose

Sounds Like a Loose/crack hose

Id look around for a broken vaccum hose or a crack in the air or egr system it could trigger all those codes and system is compensating for lack of power with rpms...
 
Was going to say the same thing. Had the same problem (high idle in neutral, very rough when in drive). Turned out to be a vacuum line and triggered a whole buch of codes as well.
 
I'll go look through the vacuum lines when I get back to my hometown Friday, that way I'll actually have a garage to look through this stuff. Also, do I need to take off the intake system to get to the throttle body and IAC?
 
Started after Service was done or before?

Started after Service was done or before?

where u have the service done? Problem started after ervice was done or before? Post a link to a good vacuum diagram if you find one... One way to go for those is to register for a user acct with autozone.com...Although their php links are allways terminating it seems, so dont post those.
 
Started after Service was done or before?

Started after Service was done or before?

where u have the service done? Problem started after service was done or before? Post a link to a good vacuum diagram if you find one... One way to go for those is to register for a user acct with autozone.com to find sometimes feeble but sometimes useful diagrams(hey its free)
 
I had my car's front end re-aligned at a place called Tuffy's, and they also changed my oil. I went to a random local tire shop to get my 2 front tires replaced. I'll go look for a vacuum diagram.
 
Update: Cleaned the MAF, Throttle Body, and IAC. Nothing worked. I'm guessing it is a vacuum leak. We were going to test it out with the brake cleaner, but the guy at O'Riellys gave us flammable brake cleaner... So I might have to find some time to get that taken care of.
 
There is a point in there where you are supposed to stab the throttle wide open for a fractional second and also quickly yank the steering wheer 1/2 turn right and left. Not doing that is what makes the MAF response, goose response, and power steering error codes show up.
 
Well, now my car is stalling while driving. Stutters when rpms are low, seems to be ok at high rpms. I can floor it, and it will work for about half a second, then die down for half a second, and then repeat for a few times, until it seems to work.
 
I changed the Fuel Filter, and it worked for a few days. However now it started up again.

The Filter hasn't been changed in 16 years, is it possible there was so much crap, that it got gunked up again? Any ideas?
 
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