2000 ford contour please help

kara12116 · 08-13-2007, 05:16 PM

My daughter has a 2000 ford contour. Last week when she was coming home her car became very sluggish and lost speed going up hills. It was like the engine was bogging down. At one point the car stalled. She was able to get it started and she made it home. I than changed her fuel filter, plugs, air filter and wires put some carborator cleaner in and some fuel injector cleaner and that seemed to help. Now yesterday the car did the same thing, I checked the plugs they were dity I cleaned them and them ran seafoam cleaner through the car which seemed to work fine until she started driving home and it was once again sluggish on the hills. Anyone please help!!!!

Jason43 · 08-13-2007, 05:59 PM

I4 or V6?

kara12116 · 08-13-2007, 06:45 PM

it is a 4

Jason43 · 08-13-2007, 07:15 PM

My first guess would be fuel pump. 99-00's have a close to 100% failure rate. Try filling the tank and see if that helps. If it is the pump, it will get worse as theres less fuel in the tank. I suppose severely clogged catalytic converter could cause the same symptoms. Other than that, I don't know much about specific issues with the Zetec I4, so hopefully Pre98 will chime in.

carlos80 · 08-13-2007, 07:48 PM

how about just idleing? hows the acceleration then? Check engine light on? check for vaccum leaks, tap the MAF senor see if it helps? Do regular checks fluids, filters air and such

kara12116 · 08-13-2007, 08:26 PM

The car idles fine,when in park and you push accelerator you can fell it bogging down, the check engine light was on but it has gone off oddly enough I haven't checked the sensors I will probably take into the ford place to get diagnosis

Jason43 · 08-14-2007, 01:30 PM

Don't take it to the dealership just to have the codes read. Autozone does it for free. Have them pull the codes and post them here.

carlos80 · 08-14-2007, 07:21 PM

You mentioned cleaning the spark plugs were they carbon fouled? Does it smoke when running? If it does what color smoke? See if you can get the codes pulled it would be of great help in trying to pinpoint your problem

lisafere · 08-17-2007, 06:43 PM

get the air intake cleaned out for less than $200. I saved my daughter's old car that Ford said after they got the print out would cost atleast $1000 to find the problem (not even fix it) Good luck!

carlos80 · 08-17-2007, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisafere

get the air intake cleaned out for less than $200. I saved my daughter's old car that Ford said after they got the print out would cost atleast $1000 to find the problem (not even fix it) Good luck!

That FORD said? What do you mean? Dealer?

doony62 · 12-21-2008, 08:54 PM

I have a 2000 Ford Contour and when I am driving my car seems sluggish all of a sudden with the RPM's taking a sudden dive each time I feel the engine seem to bog down. I went to autozone and had them hook me up. They said it was a vaccuum leak and/or a clogged catalytic converter problem. The problem is the catalytic converter is a very exspensive part for this car being over $500 and I don't have a clue as to what the vaccuum leak may be! I am still trying to figure out how to change the driver's side high beam for crying out loud! lol Just got the struts and brakes done! If anyone knows anything about this sluggishness with the RPM's going down (what the vaccuum problem could be???) let me know. Does this have something to do with the gas mileage even as mine seems to be bad! And if anyone knows what a person has to do to change that drivers side head lamp I'd appreciate the info! Thanks Sheryl

Davescort97 · 12-22-2008, 02:06 AM

About the possiblity of a vacuum leak or a plugged converter. The engine sucks in air to be mixed with fuel and this air/fuel mixture is detonated in the combustion chamber to apply force to the crankshaft which turns the driveshaft through the transmission. When you have a vacuum leak air is leaking into the intake somewhere causing a too lean mixture, hence bogging down and no power.

On the other side is the catalytic converter. It processes the exhaust after it leaves the combustion chamber. It burns what's left of the fuel that isn't burned in the combusion chamber. If too much raw fuel is left over it overtaxes the cat and will eventually block it.. If it is blocked it will cause back pressure. This back pressure will keep the exhaust from flowing out of the engine and hence, it will bog down and have no power.

They test the cat with a vacuum gauge which will read at 17 inches or less if it is plugged. Another way to check for a plugged cat is to take it loose and see if the engine runs better. A vacuum leak will also cause a low reading on the vacuum gauge. A low reading on a vacuum gauge will cause really bad mileage. So if it's too much air going into the motor or too little exhaust going out the motor it will cause problems. catalytic converters are so expensive because thy contain precious metals. A worn out or plugged cat is worth $50 to $80 at the boneyard.

The high and low beam is combined in the same bulb. To change a bulb look directly behind the headlight assembly and there should be a round cover to rotate counterclockwise to take off. After taking the back cover off you have access to the bulb. Unplug the wiring connector and unscrew the lock ring counterclockwise. Now the bulb should come out if you give it a good pull. It is a good idea to replace both if one is bad. They both wear out at pretty much the same rate. The bulbs operate at such a high temp that even a little oil from your fingers will cause one to overheat and explode. So, clean the glass of the bulb with alcohol before putting it back in and don't touch it..

Hang in there, things will get better.

Dr.John · 12-31-2008, 09:48 PM

Davescort97 is right on all counts! Loosen the catalytic converter then stomp on the accelerator. If the RPMs stay high without bogging, you know you have a clogged catalytic converter. This problem is common on most Mercury/Ford models I've looked at with bogging problems. Another insight is consider buying an genuine Ford manual on eBay. They go for $10 to $40 each and are LOADED with good info about replacing things like headlights. I hope you make progress! John

gratefuldiver · 05-12-2009, 01:21 PM

Sorry for reviving this long dead thread but is this true..??

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason43

My first guess would be fuel pump. 99-00's have a close to 100% failure rate. Try filling the tank and see if that helps. If it is the pump, it will get worse as theres less fuel in the tank. I suppose severely clogged catalytic converter could cause the same symptoms. Other than that, I don't know much about specific issues with the Zetec I4, so hopefully Pre98 will chime in.

Thanks!

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