2000 Contour miss and Check Engine

A little puzzled by this one. A miss problem that I thought I had fixed
came back.

Last summer our 2000 Contour Sport V6 (2.5L, 5-speed, 60K miles) developed
a miss with an intermittent Check Engine Light. I took it to the local
AutoZone and had the codes read, and it was a misfire in cylinder 1.

Changing the spark plug did not solve the problem. The plug I removed was
clean, too. Since we have _two_ 2000 Contours (the other is an SVT), I
removed the #1 plug wire from the SVT, put it on the Sport, and no more
miss. So I bought a set of wires for the Sport, and the car ran better than
ever.

Then, this past week, my wife reported that the car "shuddered" some at
idle, and rpms dropped below normal. A couple of days later, she said the
CEL came on a few times and the car seemed to be missing again. So I drove
it to work. Sure enough, the miss is back, worse than before. Driving it
home from work, the CEL was flashing, which I understand to mean that excess
gasoline is in the exhaust, which could damage the catalytic converter.

Took it back to AZ -- misfire in cyclinder 1. It hasn't been driven since.

So what do you think? My first thought is to swap the coil pack from the
SVT to this car, and see if that is the problem. I doubt that the new wire
or plug would be the cause - too much of a coincidence. It could also be a
fuel injector problem.

Any suggestions from your experience would be appreciated. I'd rather not
take it to the local dealership - their service garage reputation is not so
good, and I'm willing to spend a little time.

Craig
[to reply directly, change the VERB to a NUMERAL]

"Craig Williams" > wrote in
:

> A little puzzled by this one. A miss problem that I thought I had
> fixed came back.
>
> Last summer our 2000 Contour Sport V6 (2.5L, 5-speed, 60K miles)
> developed a miss with an intermittent Check Engine Light. I took it
> to the local AutoZone and had the codes read, and it was a misfire in
> cylinder 1.
>
> Changing the spark plug did not solve the problem. The plug I removed
> was clean, too. Since we have _two_ 2000 Contours (the other is an
> SVT), I removed the #1 plug wire from the SVT, put it on the Sport,
> and no more miss. So I bought a set of wires for the Sport, and the
> car ran better than ever.
>
> Then, this past week, my wife reported that the car "shuddered" some
> at idle, and rpms dropped below normal. A couple of days later, she
> said the CEL came on a few times and the car seemed to be missing
> again. So I drove it to work. Sure enough, the miss is back, worse
> than before. Driving it home from work, the CEL was flashing, which I
> understand to mean that excess gasoline is in the exhaust, which could
> damage the catalytic converter.
>
> Took it back to AZ -- misfire in cyclinder 1. It hasn't been driven
> since.
>
> So what do you think? My first thought is to swap the coil pack from
> the SVT to this car, and see if that is the problem. I doubt that the
> new wire or plug would be the cause - too much of a coincidence. It
> could also be a fuel injector problem.
>
> Any suggestions from your experience would be appreciated. I'd rather
> not take it to the local dealership - their service garage reputation
> is not so good, and I'm willing to spend a little time.
>
> Craig
> [to reply directly, change the VERB to a NUMERAL]
>
>
>

Craig,
Check the routing of the spark plug wire to #1. It may be getting
pinched against something or running too close to an exhaust, or...if the
wire hangs free some distance from the boot, it could be fatigue from
flapping around while driving.
One quick thing to do..
At night, preferably in total darkness, raise the hood and crank it
up...and watch...the problem might become obvious...



--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

Remove sp to reply via email

Good suggestion, but on the Contours the wires are neatly routed through
"looms" (I think that's the term) that really leave no margin for error.
Plus the car ran well for 5 months before this latest incident.

I'll try the "dark night" test tonight.

Craig

"Anthony" > wrote in message
...
> "Craig Williams" > wrote in
> :
>
>> A little puzzled by this one. A miss problem that I thought I had
>> fixed came back.
>>
>> Last summer our 2000 Contour Sport V6 (2.5L, 5-speed, 60K miles)
>> developed a miss with an intermittent Check Engine Light. I took it
>> to the local AutoZone and had the codes read, and it was a misfire in
>> cylinder 1.
>>
>> Changing the spark plug did not solve the problem. The plug I removed
>> was clean, too. Since we have _two_ 2000 Contours (the other is an
>> SVT), I removed the #1 plug wire from the SVT, put it on the Sport,
>> and no more miss. So I bought a set of wires for the Sport, and the
>> car ran better than ever.
>>
>> Then, this past week, my wife reported that the car "shuddered" some
>> at idle, and rpms dropped below normal. A couple of days later, she
>> said the CEL came on a few times and the car seemed to be missing
>> again. So I drove it to work. Sure enough, the miss is back, worse
>> than before. Driving it home from work, the CEL was flashing, which I
>> understand to mean that excess gasoline is in the exhaust, which could
>> damage the catalytic converter.
>>
>> Took it back to AZ -- misfire in cyclinder 1. It hasn't been driven
>> since.
>>
>> So what do you think? My first thought is to swap the coil pack from
>> the SVT to this car, and see if that is the problem. I doubt that the
>> new wire or plug would be the cause - too much of a coincidence. It
>> could also be a fuel injector problem.
>>
>> Any suggestions from your experience would be appreciated. I'd rather
>> not take it to the local dealership - their service garage reputation
>> is not so good, and I'm willing to spend a little time.
>>
>> Craig
>> [to reply directly, change the VERB to a NUMERAL]
>>
>>
>>
>
> Craig,
> Check the routing of the spark plug wire to #1. It may be getting
> pinched against something or running too close to an exhaust, or...if the
> wire hangs free some distance from the boot, it could be fatigue from
> flapping around while driving.
> One quick thing to do..
> At night, preferably in total darkness, raise the hood and crank it
> up...and watch...the problem might become obvious...
>
>
>
> --
> Anthony
>
> You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
> better idiots.
>
> Remove sp to reply via email

How many miles were on the plug you took out? Also you did change ALL
the plugs correct? Changing one could lead to a problem because the
others would have worn some and the resulting larger gap "could" alter
the timing in that one cylinder (smaller gap on new plug causes firing
to advance slightly, had that happen in my wifes vehicle when a plug
failed and I only replaced that plug. You could hear the difference when
you started the engine, and it shook a bit. Replaced all the plugs and
the problem went away.

--
Steve Williams


"Craig Williams" > wrote in message
...
> Good suggestion, but on the Contours the wires are neatly routed
through
> "looms" (I think that's the term) that really leave no margin for
error.
> Plus the car ran well for 5 months before this latest incident.
>
> I'll try the "dark night" test tonight.
>
> Craig
>
> "Anthony" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Craig Williams" > wrote in
> > :
> >
> >> A little puzzled by this one. A miss problem that I thought I had
> >> fixed came back.
> >>
> >> Last summer our 2000 Contour Sport V6 (2.5L, 5-speed, 60K miles)
> >> developed a miss with an intermittent Check Engine Light. I took
it
> >> to the local AutoZone and had the codes read, and it was a misfire
in
> >> cylinder 1.
> >>
> >> Changing the spark plug did not solve the problem. The plug I
removed
> >> was clean, too. Since we have _two_ 2000 Contours (the other is an
> >> SVT), I removed the #1 plug wire from the SVT, put it on the Sport,
> >> and no more miss. So I bought a set of wires for the Sport, and
the
> >> car ran better than ever.
> >>
> >> Then, this past week, my wife reported that the car "shuddered"
some
> >> at idle, and rpms dropped below normal. A couple of days later,
she
> >> said the CEL came on a few times and the car seemed to be missing
> >> again. So I drove it to work. Sure enough, the miss is back,
worse
> >> than before. Driving it home from work, the CEL was flashing,
which I
> >> understand to mean that excess gasoline is in the exhaust, which
could
> >> damage the catalytic converter.
> >>
> >> Took it back to AZ -- misfire in cyclinder 1. It hasn't been
driven
> >> since.
> >>
> >> So what do you think? My first thought is to swap the coil pack
from
> >> the SVT to this car, and see if that is the problem. I doubt that
the
> >> new wire or plug would be the cause - too much of a coincidence.
It
> >> could also be a fuel injector problem.
> >>
> >> Any suggestions from your experience would be appreciated. I'd
rather
> >> not take it to the local dealership - their service garage
reputation
> >> is not so good, and I'm willing to spend a little time.
> >>
> >> Craig
> >> [to reply directly, change the VERB to a NUMERAL]
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Craig,
> > Check the routing of the spark plug wire to #1. It may be getting
> > pinched against something or running too close to an exhaust,
or...if the
> > wire hangs free some distance from the boot, it could be fatigue
from
> > flapping around while driving.
> > One quick thing to do..
> > At night, preferably in total darkness, raise the hood and crank it
> > up...and watch...the problem might become obvious...
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Anthony
> >
> > You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just
make
> > better idiots.
> >
> > Remove sp to reply via email
>
>




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