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1995 Ford Contour *FIXED*


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dood
User

Nov 13, 2012, 1:22 AM

Post #1 of 27 (10544 views)
  post locked   1995 Ford Contour *FIXED*  

had a running 95 Contour but needed an alternator, replaced the alternator and now the car starts runs for a few seconds and stalls. Now i was told this was the Maf sensor and to unplug it to see if it runs. so i did... and it runs... rough. it idles high and back down but it does run. i checked the ecu for codes and all i get is 111 which is system fine. i looked up online how to test Maf sensor and i have a good hot and a good ground but not a good signal ground i check the ground going to ecu with key on and jumping it to hot to see if my test light glows but it doesnt. just incase the car is different ive replaced the Maf sensor with a new one and its still doing same thing with no code. any ideas whats going on? could the run a few seconds then stall be coming form somthing else? thanks

1995
Ford Contour GL
2.0 4 cyl
130k miles


(This post was edited by dood on Nov 30, 2012, 5:50 PM)


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 13, 2012, 4:27 AM

Post #2 of 27 (10509 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

You need to just go back and check your work. Look for damage to the intake snorkel or hoses left disconnected that attach to it.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



dood
User

Nov 13, 2012, 8:36 PM

Post #3 of 27 (10472 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

everything is plugged in, all vacuum lines are connected, air intake is all tight and connected.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 13, 2012, 8:38 PM

Post #4 of 27 (10465 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

What's the code number that it's currently setting?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



dood
User

Nov 13, 2012, 9:15 PM

Post #5 of 27 (10457 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

"111" over and over. which means system okay.

during the testing of the maf sensor both my ground and hot are good, its when i get to letter "c" which is "signal ground" ground coming from the ecu, its suppose to be reading 12 volts as well and it isnt. is this a problem with the ecm or sometihng else?


(This post was edited by dood on Nov 14, 2012, 12:36 AM)


dood
User

Nov 14, 2012, 3:56 PM

Post #6 of 27 (10426 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

ok so i disconnected neg - battery cable and reset the ecu, now it will run with the MAF plugged in but idles really really rough. i have to give it a little gas to keep it running, still no codes. any ideas?


(This post was edited by dood on Nov 14, 2012, 6:20 PM)


Discretesignals
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Nov 14, 2012, 4:53 PM

Post #7 of 27 (10421 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

Why did you replace the alternator? You stated all this started happening after you replaced the alternator. Might want to go back over your work and see if there is anything that was knocked off or pinched when you did the alternator. If everything looks good, what is the voltage at the battery terminals with the engine running?





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


dood
User

Nov 14, 2012, 6:26 PM

Post #8 of 27 (10414 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

I thought the alternator was bad, how i always checked this on other cars was by removing the positive cable and it should continue to run.. but this car did not... i replaced the alternator and it still died when positive is removed and i had the old one tested and it was fine. im getting 14.4 at the battery at idle it will jump to 14.8 which i tihnk is high, @ 2500 ^. this all actually happened a step after the alternator.. i noticed the wireing harness to the injectors were shot, dry rot and falling apart so i got one from a junk yard to replace it really common problem for these cars i guess took awhile to find a good one. then the next start up is was idling rough. i cant tell if its because of to much fuel or to much air. i also read that the cts or ambient temp sensor being bad could cause it to run lean. but like i said im not getting any codes.


Hammer Time
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Nov 14, 2012, 7:28 PM

Post #9 of 27 (10411 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  


Quote
i always checked this on other cars was by removing the positive cable and it should continue to run.



Whoooowwwww.............. Never, ever do that again. That is the fastest way to fry every computer in your car.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Nov 14, 2012, 7:29 PM)


dood
User

Nov 14, 2012, 7:52 PM

Post #10 of 27 (10404 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

well im 24 and have been working on foreign cars for about 7 years now and have never had this problem until i came across a POS american car.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 14, 2012, 7:56 PM

Post #11 of 27 (10400 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

You can fry a foreign car the same way, just as fast.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



dood
User

Nov 14, 2012, 8:50 PM

Post #12 of 27 (10395 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

ok this still doesnt help my situation. my ecu is not fried, this car is running to lean or to rich and its a sensor or somthing like i said ive heard it could be a temp sensor or sometihng. anything other then telling me i freid something i know i didnt would be much appreciated.


nickwarner
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Nov 14, 2012, 9:54 PM

Post #13 of 27 (10393 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

How do you happen to be so certain what isn't bad when you don't know what is? You very well could have damaged the ECU permanently. Just because the car will run doesn't mean the ECU isn't damaged. Most people think of a fried one meaning stone cold dead, but usually its smaller individual circuits, like capacitors that control the injectors or transistors that engage other controls that get damaged by the voltage spike caused from someone disconnecting a battery while its running. Also, it doesn't matter one bit if its American or Japanese, most parts for both are all made in Taiwan anyhow.

If you think its a lean or rich condition, hook up a scanner that reads data pids and see what the O2 voltage is. Or chase down someone with an oscilloscope and monitor it directly at the sensor. If you think its a temp sensor, put a multimeter on it and see what it reads in comparison to actual engine temp. Don't guess at it, test it. I have a feeling its not a sensor.


dood
User

Nov 15, 2012, 6:29 PM

Post #14 of 27 (10364 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

im going to check the voltages on the sensors tonight but last night i found out the car ran fine after i heated my garage up to 77 degrees. and will stall when its cold.


Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Nov 15, 2012, 6:52 PM

Post #15 of 27 (10360 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

Which sensor voltages are you going to check out? Take a look at the engine coolant temperature sensor voltage. Also inspect the ECT connector and make sure it isn't all green.








Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.

(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Nov 15, 2012, 6:54 PM)


dood
User

Nov 17, 2012, 5:36 PM

Post #16 of 27 (10317 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

tested all my major sensors all read fine except ect which stayed at .04 never changed with temp change. i tried running car with it disc. and there was no difference with the idle just the fans ran on high. i pulled the ecu and will be replacing it as soon as i can. i sure hope this is the fix, idk where else to look.


Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Nov 17, 2012, 5:48 PM

Post #17 of 27 (10316 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

If you unplug the coolant temperature sensor and check the voltage in the connector on the white/green wire, you should see 5 volts with the ignition on. Do you see 5 volts? Unplugging the temperature sensor should also set a trouble code in the ECA. Is there an ECT trouble code stored? If you were back probed in the sensor connector on the brown/green wire trying to monitor ECT voltage, you were reading the ground side of the sensor which should be around 0.1 volts. You need to be back probed into the white/green wire to see ECT voltage.

Obviously the ECT wire to the PCM is good because the PCM turned on the coolant fans when you disconnected the sensor.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.

(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Nov 17, 2012, 5:55 PM)


dood
User

Nov 17, 2012, 7:45 PM

Post #18 of 27 (10304 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

i dont have a brown wire i have a black and white and a green and white. the black is a constant 12v ground and the green is suppose to be a signal wire to the ecu im guessing. with the sensor plugged in and key on i put positive probe on the green and negative probe on neg of battery and thats what gave me the .04 volts.


Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Nov 17, 2012, 7:56 PM

Post #19 of 27 (10301 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

The black might be brown, sometimes the brown wires turn black..LOL.


If you have only .4 volts on the green/white that means that the coolant temperature sensor is dropping only .4 volts, so the ECA equates that to around 215 degrees F. That isn't right if the engine is stone cold.

When you unplug the connector, you should see 5 volts on the green/white wire with ignition on. If you do, plug the connector back on and back probe the black/white wire. It should be around .1 volts. If that is good, it needs a new sensor. Make sure your meter is grounded good. Best place for the meter to be grounded is at the negative battery terminal to get accurate readings with your meter.

The sensor might not be the cause of your problems, but it is a problem that needs to be fixed. The coolant temperature sensor reading is very important to the computer when it comes to the fuel curve and ignition timing.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.

(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Nov 17, 2012, 7:59 PM)


dood
User

Nov 20, 2012, 2:22 PM

Post #20 of 27 (10261 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

put in a known working ecu and still have the same problem. so heres my question. since the care will run better with the maf sensor unplugged (yes i replaced the maf sensor) what does unplugging the maf sensor do? since no sensor is it running more or less fuel as a default?


note - is it possible to reverse the 2 wires for the ect? this was replaced by someone else not to long ago, i wouldnt think it would matter since its dc but does anyone know for sure?


(This post was edited by dood on Nov 20, 2012, 2:32 PM)


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 20, 2012, 2:32 PM

Post #21 of 27 (10255 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

It forces the computer to use default values.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



dood
User

Nov 20, 2012, 3:57 PM

Post #22 of 27 (10248 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

i understand it does that, as i said in my post, but what are the default values. more or less fuel


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 20, 2012, 4:08 PM

Post #23 of 27 (10245 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

It uses an average, probably less when cold and more when hot. The MAF feeds important data for the computer. If it ran well without it, they wouldn't put it in there. They just programmed a "limp in" mode so you won't be stuck in case of a failure.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



dood
User

Nov 21, 2012, 1:09 AM

Post #24 of 27 (10227 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

Update*** Ok was really getting tired of meesing with car so i rechecked all of the sensors that have anything to do with fuel or air control and i think the new maf sensor i purchased is defective.. the + signal out to ecu is reading 0.04 volts and its suppose to have a baseline of 0.7-1.0 so im going to return the maf for a new one and ill post results.


dood
User

Nov 30, 2012, 5:50 PM

Post #25 of 27 (10171 views)
  post locked   Re: 1995 Ford Contour Maf....  

Okay, so i finally found the root of the problem, and to all the ppl that tried to help but never suggestion this must be backyard mechanics. my IAC valve or idle air control was stuck open and needed replaced, bought a new one and she runs like a charm now.






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