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Need some help..CEL on...Fuel Metering Sensor Left Bank

J

jstplnfrank

New CEG'er
Joined
May 31, 2007
Messages
7
Hello everyone, I'm a newbie at this, any help is appreciated.

I have a 98 Contour LX, Zetec, 120k...Havent driven it in about 8 months due to some problems. Want to get it back on the road :)
The last time I had the CEL checked, it said something about "Fuel metering system". The guy at AutoZone had no idea, took it to the Stealership, they said it could be one of a few things, 1st being my mass air flow sensor, or an oxygen sensor, or something else I cant remember.

Said it wasnt worth being fixed....anyways, it starts, drives, and when i am decelerating, it cuts off. Seems like it cuts off soon after there is no gas being pushed to the engine.

Want to get this car moving, been a great car for me. Any DIY suggestions, or what to try first??

Thanks again
 
I want to do that, but the car wont drive long enough for me to get it back to the store. Will try tomorrow to make it there in one piece :)
 
Lol, seems like there's always something. Got it started, took it for a .5 mile trip down to put some gas in (been almost empty for 8 months) The pump keeps cutting off as if the tank is full, but it's almost empty. I pulled out the nozzle a little to see if it would pump, but still cutting off.
Managed to pump about 2.5 gallons in about 5 minutes.
Any ideas??
 
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jstplnfrank said:
Lol, seems like there's always something. Got it started, took it for a .5 mile trip down to put some gas in (been almost empty for 8 months) The pump keeps cutting off as if the tank is full, but it's almost empty. I pulled out the nozzle a little to see if it would pump, but still cutting off.
Managed to pump about 2.5 gallons in about 5 minutes.
Any ideas??
Click to expand...


See the thread from only three days ago.

Steve
 
Hmm how does your car idle? I'm currently in the midst of MAF problems, and when mine acts up, I have an idle that bounces between 400-700 rpms. It'll idle at 400 for half a second, then back to 700 for half a second, and so on. When I clean it off and reset the computer the idle is clean at 700. (These are estimates by the way, I don't have a tach :p)
 
projectSHO89 said:
See the thread from only three days ago.

Steve
Click to expand...


Thanks for the direction, I called the dealership yesterday. At first they informed me that the coverage only lasts until 100k, but after checking again, they made an appt. for me to get it fixed.

Now I have to get the car running good enough to get to the dealership. Probably going to start with the o2 sensors, but am going to try to get it to AutoZone today for a code reading.
 
zorrex said:
Hmm how does your car idle? I'm currently in the midst of MAF problems, and when mine acts up, I have an idle that bounces between 400-700 rpms. It'll idle at 400 for half a second, then back to 700 for half a second, and so on. When I clean it off and reset the computer the idle is clean at 700. (These are estimates by the way, I don't have a tach :p)
Click to expand...

Car idles steadily, no real movement up or down, but I dont have a tach either, so i'm just going off of feeling.
I have been looking for a link on how to clean the MAF, cant find it. Been told that may solve the problem, want to help me out? :)
 
jstplnfrank said:
Car idles steadily, no real movement up or down, but I dont have a tach either, so i'm just going off of feeling.
I have been looking for a link on how to clean the MAF, cant find it. Been told that may solve the problem, want to help me out? :)
Click to expand...

Cleaning the MAF basically requires you to remove the MAF (the whole thing, not just the sensor portion) and spray some non residue electronic parts cleaner on the two electrodes.

Seriously, try to get that CEL code number posted. Because this doesnt sound like an MAF issue.

I drove my car without the MAF plugged in, and the car was driveable for quite a distance, the throttle response just plain blew though.
 
AliasJerk said:
Cleaning the MAF basically requires you to remove the MAF (the whole thing, not just the sensor portion) and spray some non residue electronic parts cleaner on the two electrodes.

Seriously, try to get that CEL code number posted. Because this doesnt sound like an MAF issue.

I drove my car without the MAF plugged in, and the car was driveable for quite a distance, the throttle response just plain blew though.
Click to expand...

Like Alias said, I don't think you have a MAF problem. It may be possible that you have an IAC problem? I'm not quite sure, I'm going out on a limb with that one. The whole "fuel metering system" bit I'm not really familiar with. I personally haven't heard that term used. But it wouldn't hurt to clean the MAF.

When I cleaned mine, I had first tried to remove the MAF screws, but to no avail. They are theft-proof Torx. *sigh* So I tried removing the clamps on either side of the sensor so i could pull the whole sensor assembly out, but once again, also to no avail. I nearly broke one of the hose clamps since it is almost rusted out, and I didn't have any on hand. I didn't want to fiddle with it, so I tightened it back up. But how to get to the MAF? Well, I took off the cover to the air filter! Just three simple clips and I was able to lift the entire hose assembly to get to the MAF. I used some isopropyl alcohol to clean the wire coils. I used a cotton swab dabbed in the alcohol to clean them. I don't generally recommend using this method, as I almost got a huge chunk of cotton stuck in the coils :D. The non-residue electronics cleaner is a much better option. I recommend trying to find a way to remove just the sensor portion, which is held in by those theft-proof screws.
 
Well.....an update on the fuel problem thing. I called my local Ford Dealership, talked to a service advisor. She informed me that she thought the mileage limit on the recall was 100,000, but she would check...

She called me back the same day and said that they WOULD be able to do it for free, no problem. I set up an appt, and dropped the car off.

2 hours later, they call me and say that they cant do it because there is 120,000 on the clock. the advisor said she checked with her mgr and he wont do it.

"so i have wasted my time i say to her." she says, "do you want to know how much it would cost to fix?" heck no, as you said you would do it for free....

I take her word that she knows what shes talking about, and i asked her who she talked to last week that said they would do it. she said " numerous people".

how crazy is that?
 
Man, that's bogus. That's why we all call them "stealerships." Get a mechanic that has one of those huge, fat, ridiculously amazing car computers to check it out. My mechanic has one, and it will tell EXACTLY what is wrong with the car. It shows the values of every single parameter that every single sensor is keeping track of.
 
Post the exact CEL code(s). As the pumping gas problem, use a stiff hose (or wire clothes hanger) to push the flap out of the way.
 
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