I have a 2000 Ford Contour SE V6 2.5 that I bought in Feb. of 2010. Shortly after buying the car it started stalling, cutting out and would die & not crank back up until I put more gas in it. This happened when it was around a 1/4 tank of gas, and especially if I made a left turn going uphill. I contacted the people I bought it from & they did acknowledge that it had this problem when it reached a 1/4 tank (didn't mention it BEFORE I bought it). So my brother told me to just keep it on a full tank, yeah right. I'm a poor person who was living from pay check to pay check, now I'm a poor person on disability who lives from monthly check to monthly check (which sometimes I have to go 5 weeks before I get my check). The car didn't even do this all the time. Sometimes it would go all the way to empty with no problem. But in the last month the problem has gotten worse. I was hit in the rear on the interstate & the next morning the car would not crank. I almost ran the battery down trying to crank it. I finally pushed it out of my drive way & got it pointed down hill and it finally cranked. Then after it sat overnight the next day it would crank but would not idle. I would have to keep my foot on the gas for about 10 minutes before it would idle by itself. The check engine light was on when I bought the car. I took it to Autozone & had it but on their machine & they said it was showing the EGR but told me the EGR would not cause it to do what it was doing. They said the most it would do is to cause me not to get as good gas mileage as I should. Last month when it started the not idling after sitting overnight I took it to another auto parts store & had it put on the machine again. They told me it needed a tune up. So I did a tune up on it, didn't help. I took it to another auto parts store & their machine said it was the Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor. I also took it to 2 other places & they said the same thing. I took it to a mechanic & his machine said same thing, but he refused to replace it. Said I would have to order the part from the Dealer & if that didn't fix it I could not return the part, and the part was expensive ($161.00). I bought a used Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor & put it on. It seemed to help a first but then I still had the same problems. I took it to Express Oil & they put it on their machine & told me it was the Mass Air Flow Sensor. I bought a new one ($130.00) with core charge. I put it on and it was WORSE. So I took that back & got my money back. I had it put on another machine in a different town & it showed 4 different things (2 were the parts I had already replaced, just had not cleared the codes) the other 2 were a Throttle Position Sensor & a Idle Air Control Valve. I went back to the junk yard & was gonna try these 2 things. The guy there asked me what was going on with the car & said it sounded like I might have water in my gas. He told me to go get a bottle of clear rubbing alcohol & put it in the tank. He to give it a couple of days & if that didn't work to try replacing the Fuel Filter. He told me to start with the simplest things & work up. The alcohol didn't help & haven't replaced the Fuel Filter yet, I doubt it will help. Then I removed a cover on the front of the motor & found a hose that was completely worn into. Went to AutoZone & they replaced it. I was sure that was gonna be my whole problem because it was a main vacuum hose. It ran worse that it ever has. It took me about 2 hours to get home. It would run a little ways then it would sound like the motor was falling apart & die. I had to wait about 10 to 15 minutes before it would crank back up, then would go a little ways & do the same thing. My gas gauge was between 3/4 & full but I finally pulled into a gas station & filled it back up. Then it ran fine the rest of the way home, except going up the hill that I live on, it's pretty steep. I finally got right before my drive way & it just stopped going. It was still running but would not move. It finally started moving very slowly & I got in my driveway. That was a couple of days ago & now it cranks right up in the mornings & idles just fine. I haven't had a problem since BUT I keep it past full. Yesterday I took it to a mechanic down the street & he put it on his machine & said "GOOD LORD" - because it was showing so many different codes. It was showing the #5 cylinder code which he said could possibly be caused by some of the other codes showing.He told me to bring it in this morning around 7:30 am but I didn't because that is when I read the post from Cassandra O. about finally getting hers fixed by a mechanic who replaced "a sensor or chip on or near the fuel pump". No one, not even the Dealer, seems to know exactly what this part is called. As you can tell this car has put me through hell! But when it runs it runs great. It's so quiet when it is idling you can't even tell it running. If anyone knows what this sensor or chip is called please tell me. I want to suggest that EVERYONE call Ford @ 800-392-ford like I did. They will put all information about your car & problems in their system. If they get enough of them they will surely do a recall on these cars. Thanks for letting me vent, although I'm sure I have forgotten to mention a few things, believe it or not! I do know that if all the codes showing on my car were truly having a problem it would not be running at all. Oh, and the Dealer told me I would have to leave it with them & let them do a diagnostic test (for $89.00, I believe is what the said the charge is). Screw that! They made the car yet can't even tell me what this one part is called. Actually they are saying in so many words that it doesn't exist. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My mother recently gave up the keys to her car, she is 85 yrs,(we are all breathing easier now), anyway, I've had it about two months, it only has 33,000 mi. on it, and last week it started losing power while driving, lugging and making clunking noises, it would regain it's power for a couple seconds then repeat. This started out very slight and subtle, then within a week, became more and more pronounced, and very obvious.

We took it to our local mechanic and he said it needs a computer thing, (he put it on some kind of scanner), and that ford doesn't make this part anymore, so we need an after market piece to the tune of 550.00 bucks, then with labor and all, should be around 800. to fix. Is that right? Really? It hardly has any miles on it.... Anyone else care to comment ?