I have changed the trans fluid with amsoil synthetic about 20k or so miles ago. I now have 102k on the car. What it does and was doing is occasional "drop" from 2nd to 1st gear at a stop or very near stop. It does seem to shift a bit odd from 1st to 2nd when floored but that may be the belt. I have removed the air intake silencer & replaced the pcv valve. However I have noticed that city mpg is 11-12 with plugs and wires (motorcraft) replaced along with the tranny fluid. Mpg initally was 14-17 after the plugs and wires but dropped within a few months. It does have a "roaming idle" sometimes its about 1000k in or out of gear. At other times its more like 600 with a bit of difference from in to out of gear as I would expect. The idle I have noticed could be smoother and has been. I just ordered a new iac which I hope will help. But should mpg be this bad even with a bad iac? There are also no engine codes going off and I have used seafoam in the intake and gas tank recently. Would having ford/lincoln update the computer help any or for that matter a custom tune?
Having a couple of problems with 97 continental
- Thread starter purelux
- Start date
MichiganTeddyBear
Dedicated LVC Member
you may have codes, even without a check engine light. get em pulled to make sure.
100k on original O2 sensors.. that could be the problem there. they may be feeding false info (but within the limits that cause a failure code in computer) to the computer, causing it to run richer than it needs.
100k on original O2 sensors.. that could be the problem there. they may be feeding false info (but within the limits that cause a failure code in computer) to the computer, causing it to run richer than it needs.
Am i better off going to a dealer or to a speed shop. There is a local garage that is a matco i think the name is suspension dealer and does sct custom tunes and has a dyno as well. I know a dealer would be nuts to have the 02's replaced at but as far as diagnostics? How much about and which of the o2's need replaced just the fronts if there are 2 fronts or all o2's? Also any recommendations on which brand to go with? Sorry for the questions but i'm getting my dads 97 conti and selling the 98 thats in my signature, so I want to make sure its in good shape.
MichiganTeddyBear
Dedicated LVC Member
a lot of the chain parts stores (autozone, advance auto, to name 2) will pull obd-II codes for ya (usually for free, or a low fee). Check with them first, I think I heard someplace that they are not allowed to do it in california, but I could be wrong.
ground_zero298
Dedicated LVC Member
mine does the second to first thing also, and when the trans is cold it takes alittle longer (higher rpm than normal) to shift to second. And yes the belt tend to squeal at the first to second shift at WOT. And if your going for a custom tune make sure you add everything you want before you take it their. Also i seen another post around hear somewears about o2 sensors throwing you mpg reading off. Did you check at the gas pump to see if all the numbers matched? and are you runnin 93 octane?
I pull a little over 27 mpg on the highway usually around 80 mph on a consistent basis. It was usually only 25 untill meijers changed from 91 to 93 octane. I don't clock my city driving but I'm usually averaging 23.5 if I let the mpg reader go untill I fill up. And I pull out the calculator every now and again to make sure that little guy in my gas tank is doing his job right.
I pull a little over 27 mpg on the highway usually around 80 mph on a consistent basis. It was usually only 25 untill meijers changed from 91 to 93 octane. I don't clock my city driving but I'm usually averaging 23.5 if I let the mpg reader go untill I fill up. And I pull out the calculator every now and again to make sure that little guy in my gas tank is doing his job right.
Welll I got the 2 upstream(front) o2's replaced with bosch ones. So far it seems to be getting better milage but I haven't driven very far yet. So I'll see by the end of the tank how it goes. Also for anyone who has replaced o2's is there anything I need to do or should do? I.e. pop the negatve cable for a bit to reset the computer or does it just read new settings constantly.