98 Taurus Rough Idle

1998 Taurus (mfg date is 12/97) 3.0 V6

This car is a handful and my sister took no care of it. Right now this car is giving me some really bad problems. About 3 months ago we got this car back from my sister and i did the necessary maintenance that she did not do. Plugs, Wires, Checked the firing order (which was wrong), Changed the oil, Changed the air filter and Topped off any fluids.

Now this car can be very hard to start, i have to pump the gas a few times to get it going and then when it finally starts it idles and shakes. Also, if i don't hold the gas down when it starts and pump it a few times after it cant maintain an idle. After this though, the car runs fine (though still shakes at a stop and idles under 1 RPM). A few times now after traveling about 20-25 miles or so the car is a real bitch to start, even after following my usually method of start up it still wont start. When this happens i spend a half hour in desperation trying to get it to start. It does seem to have more problems under a 1/4 of a tank of gas or right at it but still even with a full tank it acts up.

Because of this we thought maybe theres a clog in the fuel line or filter and since i know my sister didnt replace it, we bought a new one (and the old one was very clogged). Still even after this, with a slight pick up in performance we still had problems. So after the new filter, we put some additive in the gas to see if it would help clean up any problems. And yet again, it still acts like garbage with only a slight pick up in performance.

The code from the machine says:
P0455 Evaporative Emissions (Gross leak/No flow).

Any help here? Im losing my mind and i dont know what to check next :banghead:
Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post!

1998 Taurus (mfg date is 12/97) 3.0 V6

This car is a handful and my sister took no care of it. Right now this car is giving me some really bad problems. About 3 months ago we got this car back from my sister and i did the necessary maintenance that she did not do. Plugs, Wires, Checked the firing order (which was wrong), Changed the oil, Changed the air filter and Topped off any fluids.

Now this car can be very hard to start, i have to pump the gas a few times to get it going and then when it finally starts it idles and shakes. Also, if i don't hold the gas down when it starts and pump it a few times after it cant maintain an idle. After this though, the car runs fine (though still shakes at a stop and idles under 1 RPM). A few times now after traveling about 20-25 miles or so the car is a real bitch to start, even after following my usually method of start up it still wont start. When this happens i spend a half hour in desperation trying to get it to start. It does seem to have more problems under a 1/4 of a tank of gas or right at it but still even with a full tank it acts up.

Because of this we thought maybe theres a clog in the fuel line or filter and since i know my sister didnt replace it, we bought a new one (and the old one was very clogged). Still even after this, with a slight pick up in performance we still had problems. So after the new filter, we put some additive in the gas to see if it would help clean up any problems. And yet again, it still acts like garbage with only a slight pick up in performance.

The code from the machine says:
P0455 Evaporative Emissions (Gross leak/No flow).

Any help here? Im losing my mind and i dont know what to check next :banghead:
Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post!


Which engine? Vulcan or Duratec? What is the 8th digit oif the Vin #?

Have you tried turning the key on for about 5 seconds without starting engine (repeating this procedure 3 times with a short waiting period after turning key off) This will pressurize the fuel line to the injectors, There is a valve tat could be releasing the pressure when pump is not in use or the fuel pump could be going south.

Mileage of vehicle?

Check the fuel pressure with a fuel pressure gauge. Your local autozone or Oriely's should have a tester in thier RENT A TOOL Program. Pay a deposit and get it back when tool is returned, or purchase one at parts store or Harbor Frieght.

Also look for a cracked or broken hose from the engine to the gas tank for the P0455 code.

Post results

Vulcan, and the eight place is a U.

I have yes, when its having trouble and i feel like ive flooded it i turn the key all the way back and wait a little while. Probably not 5 seconds more like 5 minutes.

Its up there 184000.

Tomorrow i will check for cracks in the hose as you have mentioned and see if i can get a hold of a fuel pressure gauge.

Get back to me if any of this information helps in diagnosing any other problems. Otherwise i will post again tomorrow with any discoveries or information.

EDIT: I used Fords VIN decoder and this should be anything you want to know:



Assembly Country:UNITED STATES Make:Ford Body Style:Sedan Restraint System Type (Passenger Cars) or Brake Type and GVWR Class (Trucks and Vans) - 4th Position

Brake System:STANDARD GVWR Class: Restraint: DUAL FRONT AIR BAG-ACTIVE BELTS Line,Series Body Type - 5th, 6th, 7th Positions

Vehicle Line:Taurus Series:LX Vehicle Type:Passenger Car Engine Type - 8th Position

Engine:3.0 L Cylinders:6 Fuel:Gasoline Model Year - 10th Position

Model Year:1998 Assembly Plant - 11th Position

Have you removed the vacuum line from the Fuel Pressure Regulator on the fuel rail to see if there is gas in the line???

For a flooded engine you hold the accelerator pedal to the floor , this disables the fuel injectors.

You could also have a injector that does not shut off flooding a clyinder. Does it seem to mice at times??

Is the Check engine light on ? If so read the codes and post. Even if the cel is not on get the codes read to see if you have any pending codes.

Did most of these issues begin after you performed the maintenance? If so, don't rule out out that maybe you got the plug wires wrong (it's happened to all of us) or maybe a plug is faulty or plug wire is loose. How did you determine that the firing order was wrong?

-Rod

Have you removed the vacuum line from the Fuel Pressure Regulator on the fuel rail to see if there is gas in the line???

For a flooded engine you hold the accelerator pedal to the floor , this disables the fuel injectors.

You could also have a injector that does not shut off flooding a clyinder. Does it seem to mice at times??

Is the Check engine light on ? If so read the codes and post. Even if the cel is not on get the codes read to see if you have any pending codes.

Quick update and answering questions i can. I will check the pressure regulator tomorrow.

Sometimes it does, it does fine for a bit and then it starts acting like crap. For instance, ill run you down on my days experience with this car. We went to three junkyards finding a part for an Audi. 1st place, we go there fine but when we left i went to start the car and it would not start right away so i pump the pedal and try again, it comes on but its putting so to speak and cant gain any rpms. The gauge was going between half an RPM and almost to one but never quite there. Im pumping the gas and nothing. I hold the accelerator and gradually it gets up to 2 RPMs and i stop. Then we go. This happened everywhere i stopped but just a day ago, i took my dad to an appointment, no problem, started ok coming and going. WTF, my car is bipolar lol Another time it started fine, drove 15 miles to a friends house. We went to run an errand and it refused to start. This happens alot. Also, sometimes ill get it going, shift and then even with the pedal to the floor and RPMS up to 3 it will slowly creep up to 30MPH. Any of this help?

And i went as you told me to check line under the car about 20 mins ago. Nothing looked broken or cracked or generally out of place. There was a line that ran from the tire well to the gas tank, one of these seemed loose going into the gas tank. I pulled on it to see if it would come out and it seemed snug, maybe extra length on the tubing?

The check engine light is on and i gave you the code earlier. P0455 Evaporative Emissions (Gross leak/No flow). If theres a way to cycle through the codes, let me know how. Heres a link to the reader we are using:

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/EQU1/3100/N0664.oap?ck=Search_N0664_-1_-1&pt=N0664&ppt=C0103

Did most of these issues begin after you performed the maintenance? If so, don't rule out out that maybe you got the plug wires wrong (it's happened to all of us) or maybe a plug is faulty or plug wire is loose. How did you determine that the firing order was wrong?

-Rod

No it was going on before this as well, though it got a bit worse after i did the tune-up. Seemed to be ok for a bit and then went back to acting up. This car went 2 years with absolutely no matienence besides a changed oil filter that wasnt even on snug enough (i didnt even have to try to get it off with my hand, it jiggled like someone turned it twice and left it). Caused a horrendous oil leak from it. Correct me if necessary here, but i know people who don't do matinence and ive heard that after putting new parts on, the car tends to perform better but break other older or broken parts due to the boost in performance. I dont know if that's true but i chalked it up to that and continued to try and fix each and every problem which now has got me here. Before this i replace the Camshaft Position Sensor (last code i got before now), and it made a big difference. The car actually slowly broke down without it. I dont know if thats normal or if that part controls something necessary for that car to run but ill say this, it was broken the car wouldn't start. I replaced it and had less problems but basically had the performance it does now.

Secondly i found the firing order from a diagram online found here:
http://www.fixya.com/cars/t2469767-firing_order_diagram

Imagine your facing the front of my vehicle, spark plugs are in front and then also in back. This shows a side profile so i just turned it to the way i see my engine and plugged the wires according into the distributor. I verified this is correct, as i didnt know it at the time, the firing order is on the distributor cap. It felt a alot better than before and it looked like 4-6 were wrong. Roughly here is what i remember it looking like, wires leading to the distributor were ok but not put into the cap correctly like this, starting from bottom of the distributor on the diagram : 456 132.

And we double checked because it started acting up a day or two after, we had the same conclusion as you: Maybe there loose or gaped wrong. All was in the correct place though, the wires tight and the spark plugs also in tight. I will double check tomorrow but im sure its fine.

What brand of spark plugs did you install??? Wires??? Did you check the gap on the spark plugs??

What brand of spark plugs did you install??? Wires??? Did you check the gap on the spark plugs??

I think they were a house brand from O'Reily and yes i checked the gap. 045 and i may have been just a hair off .046 but definitely no so far off to cause a mis-fire.

Autolite at 4 dollars a plug i think but i cant remember the grade of plug. Id have to look though to be sure.

EDIT: Would it seriously be this bad over a few spark plugs? That seems like an awful lot of a problem and a weird code from the machine over spark plugs.

Firing order:

3.0L (183 CID) 12 Valve

Firing Order: 1-4-2-5-3-6

Firewall side
http://www.mre-books.com/shopmanuals/images/30liter_fwd.JPG
Front of vehicle

Firing order:

3.0L (183 CID) 12 Valve

Firing Order: 1-4-2-5-3-6

Firewall side
http://www.mre-books.com/shopmanuals/images/30liter_fwd.JPG
Front of vehicle

Not my distributor, mine is square and lists the order on the distributor itself. I know its correct. Though the position of the plugs is correct in this diagram. I can take a picture if you like. The only reservation i hold about the plugs is the gap and ill put that on my checklist of things to do tomorrow.

EDIT: Im not trying to be cocky either im just confident in the order. I apprciate all your help. Thank you so much. I know my way around a car but by no means am i grease monkey.

On second thought, is there any reason i should question whats on the distributor?

My Distributor:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2yk0roj.jpg
http://tinypic.com/r/2yk0roj/6

Actually this engine does not a distrbutor per say, what you are referring to be the distributor is acutally the coil. The distributor is acutally called the camshaft Syncronizer with Camshaft Position Senor on the top of it. The Syncronizer is located where the distributor is shown in the picture.

Plugs should be fine.

When is does not start have you checked for spark?

Actually this engine does not a distrbutor per say, what you are referring to be the distributor is acutally the coil. The distributor is acutally called the camshaft Syncronizer with Camshaft Position Senor on the top of it. The Syncronizer is located where the distributor is shown in the picture.

Plugs should be fine.

When is does not start have you checked for spark?

No but how would i check for a spark?

If you have not thrown away your old spark plugs hook one up to a wire off of the spark plugs located by the radiator and put the plug against a good grround and crank the engine over and watch for spark.

Back again after a few days. I reviewed the above and have tried to locate some problem without anything seeming awry. I cycled through the codes and got four:

P1309

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/ford/
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P1309 - Misfire Detection Monitor not enabled
P0340 - Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction
P0455 - Evaporative Emission Control System Leak Detected (no purge flow or large leak)
P0102

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/p0102
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P0102 - MAF Circuit Low Input

I also re-gapped the plugs to find that they were indeed gapped wrong. The car runs better but now it jerks forward from gear to gear. Im guessing thats a misfire? Ill look into this other stuff here but if anyone else has some input that could help please post. Be back in a day or two
Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/p0340
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P1309 Misfire Detection Monitor not enabled

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/ford/
Copyright © OBD-Codes.comP1309 Misfire Detection Monitor not enabled

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/ford/
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P1309 Misfire Detection Monitor not enabled

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/ford/
Copyright © OBD-Codes.com
P1309

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/ford/
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P1309

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/ford/
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Have you checked the camshaft sensor wiring, removed the sensor to see if there is any dust inside the syncronizer and or sensor. Same with the MAF sensor.

IF you do replace camshaft sensor replace the synchnoizer also.

Have you checked any of the grounds?