Rough idle in drive

TIMETIME98

MEMBER
1998 FORD CONTOUR
2.0L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
90,000 MILES

Timing belt broke changed it out. Checked it twice to make sure my marks were on Q. Car fired right up, idle fine. But when I drove it down the road and come to a stop sign it had a really bad rough idle. I drove for about three miles and on my way back home check engine light kept coming on and off then just stayed on. I reset it. It has not come back on. However, the rough idle is still there and I noticed if you hit the throttle and let off with the rpm's drops and almost wants to stall out then kicks back up. In park or neutral it idles just fine. I even check the motor mounts with a floor jack and it did not Idol any different. Very little movement in the motor. I am totally open for suggestions. Thanks, L.R

10 Replies

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,761 POSTS

Motor mounts will not put the check engine light on. It sounds like you have a misfire now. First thing to do is to go over you work thoroughly and check that all plugs are seated securely and latched.

If you do not find anything there, then you need have the codes read and they should give you a starting point.

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Thursday, April 12th, 2018 AT 9:01 AM

TIMETIME98

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6 POSTS

I started to recheck everything. The timing belt tension-er is off. I had the marks lined up and it was roughly at the four o'clock position with the hex driver. I would say that if I readjusted it to get it back in alignment it is going to be more at like two o'clock position. How should I tackle that? If the tension-er is off alignment will that throw off the timing? And could I adjust it while it is running?

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Thursday, April 12th, 2018 AT 9:53 AM

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,761 POSTS

The tension-er has nothing to do with timing, merely the tension on the belt.
What are you lining up nhere? This engine has no timing marks so how are you timing it?

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Thursday, April 12th, 2018 AT 9:58 AM

TIMETIME98

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6 POSTS

Top dead center flat plate across the cam and the exhaust cam put a bolt in the side of the block to stop the crank from turning past top dead center line everything up rotated it couple of times and then slid the plate back in to the cams to see if the cams were lining up lined up perfect and slip right in there. But I did read that if the tension-er is off it could throw off the timing. I do not know exactly how that works that is why I am asking you. I am an old-school shade tree mechanic. So I was just going to pop the top valve cover off top dead center it check the cams with the plate and see if it is off.

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Thursday, April 12th, 2018 AT 10:08 AM

WRENCHTECH