1998 Ford Contour My Car Stalls!

FANTASTICSAM811

MEMBER
1998 FORD CONTOUR
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
290,000 MILES

My car stalls often, I know that the timing is not off; I had that fixed a year ago. The car used to rev up on its own then stall, now it just stalls. Usually it only stalls when I sit at a light for a more than a minute or two or if I went below 10 mph. Today though I drove it only around a town to a few stores and it stalled a lot without reving up first. The car always just starts back up and runs fine. This is the only problem I have with it. Can you help!

Monday, October 6th, 2008 AT 10:29 PM

1 Reply

KERENSELF

MEMBER
54 POSTS

Hi there!

First, I would ask if your check engine light is on. - If so, having the troublecodes read would give you a good starting point for diagnosis. (And usually your local parts store will read them for you for FREE)
If the light has not been on, I would be suspect of a fuel supply problem. The engine will stall if it loses either spark or fuel, but usually the components supplying your spark will need a little cooling off time before it will let you restart the engine. Both of these require a special tool to diagnose - either an ignition spark tester that goes into the end of a spark plug wire and clamps to a ground to check for spark - and a fuel pressure tester which fits onto the fuel relief valve. - Both of these are relatively inexpensive.
If you have troublecodes, let us know what they are and we can help you further.
If you decide to diagnose and repair yourself, I would STRONGLY suggest buying a service manual, like a Haynes or Chiltons.

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Thursday, October 16th, 2008 AT 11:15 PM