Vehicle: 2000 Lincoln Towncar Problem: When driving my car on the freeway the temperature gauge needle drops to C and I suddenly lose acceleration. I press down on the gas pedal and gain speed but this happens very slowly. Then, my engine shakes lightly and suddenly turns off. After steering my car to the emergency lane, I crank up the car again and it turns on without a hitch. The past few days I've resorted to driving at or under 50 MPH to ensure that my engine isn't overworked and leaves me scrambling to get to the emergency lane. Admittedly, this has ticked off every single driver behind me. I hate to be THAT guy, you know, but so far my engine hasn't stopped by utilizing this slow driving strategy. Anyway, I noticed a few weeks before my engine stopped that sometimes when I would hit the gas pedal it would kind of hesitate to react but after two or three seconds I would feel a "WOOSH" sound from my engine and it would accelerate like normal. I've bought a bottle of Fuel System Cleaner that I hope would take care of this but I wanted to know if any of your guys would happen to know what could be causing this? I have sufficient coolant in my car and I have recently had an oil change. I have not been driving with an empty gas tank obviously, so please be gentle, I suck at detecting car problems. I appreciate any response, smart-a$$ or otherwise.
There's a plethora of things that it could be. For starters, do you routinely maintain your car? In other words, change the spark plugs at the recommended time, inspect the spark plug wires, etc. The best case scenario is that maybe your plugs are firing as well as they should be because they need changing. The worst case scenario could either be an alternator/starter problem. This is the part that could be of major concern: If you're at a stoplight, and you press down on the gas pedal and it stalls for a couple of seconds and THEN accelerates (almost like a jerking motion), your transmission could be shot.
Well, no, as soon as I hit the gas pedal, the car does move, it does not hesitate to move forward. What I mean is that my car does not accelerate as fast as before. It's not a jerking motion really, it just doesn't seem to blast off as easily as before. I bought the car about 7 months ago and really don't know the history of its maintenance. I may just give it a tune up to hopefully alleviate this problem. Thanks.
Astute observation, I guess I am senior citizen at heart, love the plush confines of the Lincoln interior.
I had a Ford Taurus before with these exact symptoms and I ended up having to replace my fuel filter. I vividly remember not being able to accelerate past 50 mph going over the Ship Channel bridge. Fun times.
Fuel filter or spark plugs is the place I would look first. Also may not be getting an adequate amount of air, but that doesn't sound like the issue.
My dad did the labor. The pump itself was close to $100, but that was for a 1993 Ford Taurus. I'm sure yours will be a little more expensive. I had a fuel pump replaced on my current vehicle (1999 Ford Ranger) and with parts/labor it approached $400. I was out of town and had no choice but to get ass-raped by a local mechanic.
I'd guess its the MAF (Mass Air Flow Sensor) but I'd run it by someone who can run a diagnosic check on it before I'd start replacing parts. Even though your check engine light is not on, the computer many times records events that will point to the problem part. Not sure if Autozone or AdvanceAuto can help you with their cheap diagnostics reader, but it would be worth a try. If it is that part, they are much cheaper to purchase on ebay than Autozone type places but then you have to wait for shipping. Also if it is that part, be sure and check your airfilter to make sure it is good condition with no tears and has a good seal. Otherwise, you'll be doing this over again.
Any codes? I really don't think it would be your strater or alternator, If it was your car would not start right back up. And don't worry it's not a transmission problem either. From what you're saying it sound like a ignition problem or a bad "COP"(Coil on plug) You could also have a cracked intake manifold (4.6's without the Aluminium crossover are prone to do that) That would explain the temperature swing. Check to see of you're losing coolant anywhere in the engine compartment. If no leaks go ahead and do a tune up on the car first. Plugs,fuel filter,air filter. Let me know how the car reacts and we can go from there.
What happened after you put in the fuel injection cleaner did that help any.Maybe you got some bad gas.
