1998 Ford Contour RPM High

Hello I am trying to find out if anyone knows what is going on. I drove to Houston from Dallas this weekend and when I arrived to Houston the car was fine. When I drove back home to Dallas. Suddenly at a stop light my RPM climbed all the way up to 3500 RPM by itself. I was not pressing anything. When I turned my steering wheel it even goes higher. I am not sure what is going on. My Car is a Manual Transmission and the only thing I can think of is that at the light the car was in Neutral, and had my feet off the accelerator and I was only pressing the Brake Pedal. I am not sure what is going on. Please help

thanks

John

1998 Ford Contour 2.5 L
V6 Manual Transmission

In the FAQs on contour.org

http://contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=7

Thanks for the Help... Also do you know why my RPM even go higher when I turn my steering wheel??

Thanks for the Help... Also do you know why my RPM even go higher when I turn my steering wheel??

Because its putting strain on the motor to run the power steering pump. Its the same reason why the engine idles higher whenever you turn on your AC to run the AC compressor.