Some of you may remember my thread where I was debating on buying/leasing a car. I ended up buying a 2001 Ford Taurus for around $1500. All of this was in May..since then, there has been problem after problem (I have bad luck with everything it seems).
Immediately after buying it, I put in about $800. Most of it was on body work, fixing any rust spots (which there were few), spraying the bottom, etc. Mechanically it all seemed sound. Well, it seemed that every week since then something has come up. Most of the problems have been small; i'll just leave them out.
IT started on my way home from school a few weeks ago. I was ascending a mountain with my cruise set at 70 m.p.h., but when I approached the top, I realized I was losing power. I hit the gas-nothing. I went down to about 45m.p.h. by the time I got to the top, and when I started to go down the mountain, I could once again accelerate. Later on the journey, I noticed the check engine late flashing. It only flashed till I reached the top of another hill and it went off. Eventually I hit a red light in a town, and I noticed the entire car was rumbling. Like, literally shaking. I continued to drive it as I was about 70 miles from home and after a long week of school just wanted to settle down. I made it about 60 more miles and the check engine light came on, this time for good. It continued to shake (only noticeable when stopped).
I called my mechanic, who told me to drop it off at his garage so he could look at it. He diagnosed it with a clogged up catalytic converter, which seemed to be the case. Additionally, it was found who ever put the spark plugs in left wayyy to large a gap. I don't quite know the numbers, but it was a little less than twice what it should be. After searching around for a good, used catalytic converter, we all had high hopes I could get my car back. This wasn't the case...
After a quick test drive I got a call that there is a third problem, a misfire on cylinder 2. The mechanic has a few ideas as to what's wrong, but I wanted to get your opinions, too. He think there is something wrong with the engine internals (something about a cam), the computer chip thingy (that's the technical term), or fuel injectors. Much to my dismay, he's leaning towards engine.
Again, any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated. If something happens with this car, I don't know what i'll do
Immediately after buying it, I put in about $800. Most of it was on body work, fixing any rust spots (which there were few), spraying the bottom, etc. Mechanically it all seemed sound. Well, it seemed that every week since then something has come up. Most of the problems have been small; i'll just leave them out.
IT started on my way home from school a few weeks ago. I was ascending a mountain with my cruise set at 70 m.p.h., but when I approached the top, I realized I was losing power. I hit the gas-nothing. I went down to about 45m.p.h. by the time I got to the top, and when I started to go down the mountain, I could once again accelerate. Later on the journey, I noticed the check engine late flashing. It only flashed till I reached the top of another hill and it went off. Eventually I hit a red light in a town, and I noticed the entire car was rumbling. Like, literally shaking. I continued to drive it as I was about 70 miles from home and after a long week of school just wanted to settle down. I made it about 60 more miles and the check engine light came on, this time for good. It continued to shake (only noticeable when stopped).
I called my mechanic, who told me to drop it off at his garage so he could look at it. He diagnosed it with a clogged up catalytic converter, which seemed to be the case. Additionally, it was found who ever put the spark plugs in left wayyy to large a gap. I don't quite know the numbers, but it was a little less than twice what it should be. After searching around for a good, used catalytic converter, we all had high hopes I could get my car back. This wasn't the case...
After a quick test drive I got a call that there is a third problem, a misfire on cylinder 2. The mechanic has a few ideas as to what's wrong, but I wanted to get your opinions, too. He think there is something wrong with the engine internals (something about a cam), the computer chip thingy (that's the technical term), or fuel injectors. Much to my dismay, he's leaning towards engine.
Again, any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated. If something happens with this car, I don't know what i'll do
