Hard to start my 95 continental

Hello, Can anyone point me in the right direction ? About 70% of the time my 95 continental is very hard to start. It acts like it wants to fire up but will not run and does not give me a check engine light either. If I turn the key off and turn it back on and lightly press on the gas it fires up but will not run. Sometimes it also acts as if it were flooded.When it does start up it runs and drives perfect. I just replaced the fuel pump and filter this weekend so I am guessing it must be a sensor of some kind up front . Any help would be great. I am in the bodyshop business and not a mechanic.

It sounds like it might be a bad Idle Air Control Valve (IACV) to me. I'm not sure, as I don't have a Contenental.

I'll move this post to the Continental section for you. Those guys will know more about your car than I do.

Thanks

Proper contact to the Crankshaft Position Sensor (look behind the harmonic balancer) is extremely critical. It doesn't take much corrosion to cause an intermittant no-start. There used to be a TSB way back when to replace the pins in the connector with gold plated ones. That's now standard on newer Fords, and the TSB repair pins are no longer available seperately.

Unplug the 2-wire connector, spray it and the CKP sensor plug with a good quality contact cleaner, apply a little silicone di-electric paste, and you should be OK.

Today I changed out my fuel pressure regulator and it seemed to fix my problem. I will be able to tell after a few days . Thanks for all the great help everyone offers.

Still acts the same after putting in the fuel pressure regulator. I changed the IACV, cleaned the throttle body, and cleaned the injectors ad still the same result. Today I put in a new crank sensor so we will see what happens. What to you guys think I should try next if this fails to fix it?

What's the history on the spark plugs and wires?

Have you tried cycling the ignition key on for 3 seconds, off, then repeat a couple more times before attempting to crank the engine? This will 'prime' a weak fuel system.

I have tried the turning the key to the on position 4 or 5 times but still got the same result. Thats when I changed the fuel pump and filter. Plugs and wires are about 2 years old. Maybe the crank sensor will get it started in the morning.

Well the cranks sensor didn't fix my problem so what do you guys suggest ? I work for a Ford dealer and they are stumped also . I have a air intake temp sensor that I could try but the guys at work say the old one looks to be in good shape.

I would change the spark plugs. Should be AWSF-32C's.

Hey Driller,
Did a little experiment over night with the car. Took one of those small electric shop air blowers that has a heating element on it and directed the warm air to the area of the throttle body .I left it on all night and got in it this morning and it started right up just like normal. Does that give you guys any ideas?

Jamesbondo said:

Does that give you guys any ideas?

Click to expand...

We may be chasing a ghost, but the IAT sensor and/or ECT sensor could possibly be sending a wrong signal below a certain temperature threshold for a cold start. ECT and IAT both determine the amount of fuel; the colder it is the more fuel it dumps in.

It could be one or both are causing too much or too little fuel for a cold start. That also coincides with your description of the engine acting as if it is flooded at times. If it is a flooded condition, a quick check would be to hold the accelerator to the floor after a failed start attempt. This signals the PCM to cutoff fuel flow at the injectors to clear the condition.

Either way, both sensors are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace. But a word of caution - always suspect a bad harness connection on older sensors. A little bit of corrosion on a resistance type sensor can wreak havoc on the output signal.

Good luck!