Why does it not want to accelerate?

Question

He y folks! I know you guys may say that you need to see/feel the car in order to diagnose my problem, but I'm hoping that you can point me in the right direction so I know my local mechanic won't try to B.S. me!
I have a 97 Ford Contour with a 2.0 5 sp. I recently changed the engine out after 201k miles. Well, the engine that I put in has about 68k miles, and for a while ran fine. About a month after it was installed, my rear o2 sensor went, so I had it replaced. Well today while I was driving, I needed to pick up some speed to merge onto the highway, and the check engine light started to flicker, then just stayed on! In addition to that, it seems like every time I push the car past 3500 rpm, the car sputters like it's either misfiring or not getting enough fuel. Once it hits cruising speed, there's like minor hesitations, then eventually it stops. Does anyone know what this could be? Thanks.

automechtech · Accepted Answer

First thing is to check to see if the engine is miss firing. this could make it not have the power to speed up. Start the engine and while stopped put it in drive step  on the brake and slowly accelerate  the engine if it needs a tune up it will start missing. Could be a bad spark plug,or plugs, a wire or wires, a ignition coil, distributor cap, a sensor, or even a fuel  injector, fuel filter clogged, or low fuel pressure. Hard to diagnose the difference between a fuel problem  and an ignition problem with out testing equipment. You may have to do more work and spend more money in replacing parts to try and repair the problem. Usually its ignition problem and if I was to guess I would start with replacing the spark plugs or at least  remove them and see that they are not dirty fouled out. If they look good then go with the spark plug wires replace them. Start with the most inexpensive parts first.Good Luck

Adam S · Answer

The check engine light would come on when a fault is registered with the engine management computer, it sounds like it could be a fuel delivery problem, which could just be as simple as replacing the inline fuel filter on your fuel line.  Did you run the car out of petrol, or get much lower than you normally would.  Impurities in fuels gather in the bottom of your petrol tank and get sucked into the fuel system when you get low on fuel, this can clog filters, injectors or carby jets as well.  Another thing it could be is your fuel pump.  Mainly fuel injected cars will suffer from this problem if your fuel pump is not producing the right pressure ithink most of them run at about 7-15psi much higher than carby fuel pumps.  Or it could just be a faulty sensor.  Ifyou take it to the mechanic they should be able to check the engine management computer for any faults registered and this could tell them exactly what the problem is.

GIMB · Answer

The amount of cylinders your engine has could be a factor. A low grade four cylinder engine has a difficult time reaching high RPMs. You may be overexerting this engine, thus why the engine light comes on.

Anonymous · Answer

Plugged catalytic converter.

anthentherwasi · Answer

get the doggone codes read its free at just about every where that sells car parts

Why does it not want to accelerate?

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