95 Ford Contour, 2.5 Automatic Trouble starting in cold

[dc911]

I own a 95 Ford Contour, and have been having problems with this car for some time now, and have yet to figure out what it could be. Starting about this time of the year that car starts to act up, meaning that it does not want to start in the morning. Now I have done a lot of work on this car to fix that problem. I have replaced the following; Fuel Pump, EGR, O2 censors.

My best guess is I need to either clean or replace the injectors, I imagine that it can be costly but I a willing to do it to fix this.

Any opinions out there?

[Scrapper]

this mite sound stupid but have you changed wires and done tune up? well i had a guy with kinda same problem i told him get some wire dry and spray it down good on all plug wires and coil ect...it was starting hard in the cold and when it was wet out...anyway he did that and never had another problem if you do that and it helps then you'll know your on rite track...

good luck!!!!!

RICK.......

[beyondloadedSE]

Replacing the injectors is a DIY job. I swapped out my friends injectors in his svt contour and it took 30 mins tops. All you need is an 8mm and 10mm socket and wrench to undo the bolts that secure intake manifold, fuel rail, and EGR. The hardest part is pulling the fuel injectors off the fuel rail just because they are a friction fit.

Id start with the fuel filter. Changing the plugs and wires is a good suggestion too. Make sure to put some electrical grease on tips of the wires to get a good connection.

[dc911]

I started with the Plugs and wires, this week. The test was this morning, after having the car sit for the weekend. It started!! Thanks to the both of you. Only time will tell if this fixes it. I'll bet I am back soon with another question thank you again.

Derek

[Scrapper]

no problem guy..i'm glad it's working out 4 you...

RICK.....

[dc911]

Well back again, the same problem has come back with a vengeance. Again just to recap, I changed the plugs and wires, fuel pump, EGR, and O2 censors. The car will not start in the cold weather.

I moved to synthetic oil because I noticed the car burned a little oil. I may have rings that are or have gone bad. This is yet to be tested. I don’t know how much this is affecting the starting issue though.

So again my ideas are; it’s getting no air, bad ignition, fuel injector issues, or user error? You tell me.

[shorod]

Or getting too much air....

I'd suggest you put a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the fuel tank as well. Any brand should be fine, they all seem to work about the same. Of course for that to do its job, you need to get the car running.

Does the car act like it wants to start, or does it just crank freely without acting like it wants to fire?

Try pulling a couple of spark plugs after cranking it for awhile. Are they wet with fuel, or completely dry? If wet, you are probably getting plenty of fuel. Put the plugs back in, crank it for a few seconds, then hold the throttle completely open while trying to start it. Holding the throttle wide open (WOT) will turn off the injectors and may allow the car to start using the excess fuel from the few seconds of cranking.

If the plugs are dry, then it sounds like you might have a situation where you are not getting enough fuel into the cylinders. You will need to borrow a fuel pressure guage and see what fuel pressure you have at the fuel rail.

You may also want to check the vacuum secondaries if you can get the car started. They should close once the engine starts. If you get it started, will it stay running on its own, or will you need to hold the throttle partially open?

Good luck! You may also want to search on the forum at contour.org. I'm sure this has been covered on there before, so please search the forum before posting a new thread.

-Rod

[beyondloadedSE]

Originally Posted by shorod

Good luck! You may also want to search on the forum at contour.org. I'm sure this has been covered on there before, so please search the forum before posting a new thread.

-Rod

ding ding ding!!! This is why I link people to contour.org on over half my posts to threads that have already answered this question. Search the troubleshooting over there. I guarantee somebody has had similar symptoms.