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Hey , Got a big problem here..Getting expensive..Problem is about 2 month ago the car (2002 mercury sable) starts great with idle at 800 to 900.. runs great and has excellent pickup speed.. After I shut the engine off and try to restart after about 10 minutes its got a bad lope or rough idle. It does this for about 5 minutes and then clears up. It seems to mis a bit but really not noticable.. I have done the following and not sure where to go from here:
light came on and coded 3 an 6.
I changed the coil pack
3 and 6 injectors
spark plugs and wires
fuel filter
Checked for vaccum leaks( none)
pvc valve
air filter
Sill same problem.. Got a sewer-egg smell on occasion from under the hood? I did change gas to shell gas only ( did this start something?)
Someone told me perhaps the fuel pump may be going out but not registering or the maf or intake sensor? Not sure whats on this car..
Could the fuel pump be damaged for someone 3 times trying to get gas out. Got a good handprint but cops too busy to take a report..LOL.
Got a jack-leg mechanic thats pretty good but I dont have the money to keep putting parts on this monster and no dealers here anymore..
Please help? Dottie
How many miles on the car now? How old is the oxygen sensor?
You changed the listed parts and no change? There should be a code you can read, even if the Check Engine light is not on steady.
I don't have enough to go on, but a possibility is the coolant temperature sensor, the one that goes to the ECU, not the dash gauge/light.
Apparently you have to park this thing on the street, that probably has nothing to do with the current problem but I'll just comment that I really hate street parking. Damn hard to keep a car in any kind of shape if you have to park it on the street.
runs great when 1st start and then you notice a slight tremor.. after driving awhile and shutting the car off say 10 minutes and restart it has an extreme rough idle almost to stall but never does.. Not ahrd to start ever..
runs great when 1st start and then you notice a slight tremor.. after driving awhile and shutting the car off say 10 minutes and restart it has an extreme rough idle almost to stall but never does.. Not ahrd to start ever..
This sounds like symptoms of it going richer than it should in this particular condition, or, maybe a head gasket on the way out letting some coolant into one or more cylinders on "hot soak".
thanks! Not sure what that means but will find out. Mechanic did a air leak chek on the cylinders and he said he did not find anything.I forgot to mention that. He said the engine was tight whatever that means. hes stumped too..
This car has hydraulic lifters that self-adjust to zero "lash", by oil pressure. Sometimes as a car ages, the oil passages can get dirty, the clearances between moving parts increase, and the lifters that are under valve spring tension can "bleed down" - ie collapse, allowing that valve to close.
On (warm) restart, the cylinders that have a collapsed lifter would take several seconds for the relatively low oil pressure to pump up the collapsed lifters.
On cold restart, the thicker oil and higher pressure means the lifters will pump up more quickly.
Have seen it happen.
When your mechanic says your engine is "tight", he means the rings and valves are sealing properly.
Hi,Thanks for the info..One more thing ..I checked the engine coolant or radiator just now.. It has a resevoir fill only..It has about a cup at the bottom and is a brownish color. I looked that up and see that the color is common in ford mercurys..The book says t should be yellow 50-50 added..It has not overheatd and the stat always shows in the center of the gauge or lower.. Great heat.. could the low coolant be causing this issue. In any event it gets changed tomorrow. should I put water in the reservour and take it to be change or not fill and and have it flushed..When you mention head gasket or someone did I checked for signs like foam in the radiator or choc thin oil..Nothing like that. Oil was changed last week and ever 3000 miles.. Dottie
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