As soon as I exited the freeway (almost a full circle exit), my car started choking and finally stopped. No fuel seemed to be reaching the engine. I had aaa tow it home since I was close to home. The engine cranked but wouldn't start. This choking happened once before when I entered the freeway on a similar full-circle ramp, and then stepped on the gas to pickup speed. It coughed a bit but then ran fine. Seems like the spin causes something to choke. Other Contour owners have experienced this before. It supposedly happens when the fuel is less than a quarter of the tank. Ford had recalled the Ford Focus for fuel delivery system problems and my car exhibits the exact same symptoms. When I talked to Ford customer service, they asked me to take it to a dealer, have it fixed at my expense and then they would consider re-imbursing the expenses, but they also said that I shouldn't count on a reimbursement. I explained to them that this could be very dangerous since it can happen while entering a freeway. I've seen a few more complaints like this on this site (www.NHTSA.org) but no solutions. Some say that the dealer cannot figure out the cause. The solution should be the same as the Ford Focus recall solution and should be fixed at Ford's expense.

- San Jose, CA, USA