This problem just started acting up while I was on the highway. After about ten minutes of my driving on the highway the car starts to go bonkers (shaking and bogging). The tach was also going crazy moving anywhere from 2-4 grand while I was maintaining about 60 mph. I have an inkling that it could be the crankshaft postioning sensor, but i'm not sure.
Hard bogging and surging on the highway
- Thread starter QuadCam
- Start date
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
SHOtimer
#2910
I would suspect the CID sensor. If it was the CPS the car would just stall.
Doug
Doug
Rockledge
Pluggin' away
40BelowSummer
SHO Member
When my car did that it was the crank sensor. The tach wnet crazy and it was like the car had a mind of its own, reminded me of an 8 second bull.
92ShoOff
SHO Member
There are a few things to start with that you'll need to check. A lot of times your ignition can cause surging, as that was what caused my harsh surging when I first got my SHO years back.
Take your plug wires off and check to make sure that there is no engine oil in your spark plug wells (those deep wholes in the valve covers that lead down to the spark plugs). If there is any trace of oil you can try to sob it up with a small, thin rag and use the car for a few days temporarily if you're not building up oil too quickly. But you WILL want to change out your plug well seals and valve cover gaskets if you're getting oil down in the wells.
Take your plugs out and make sure that they're not fouling or that there's nothing obviously wrong with the bottoms of the plugs. What spark plugs are you using??? Don't use anything but Motorcraft plugs in your car! Also inspect your plug wires and make sure that the contact point on the boot of the plug wire isn't separated from the wire itself. If you're not getting a good connection at the plug wire(s) then that can cause surging. Also check the connections at your coil packs (the other side of the plug wires).
Check vaccuum lines for cracks/rotting. An air leak can be created by this and can also cause your problems. Based on your symptons, it your problem may very be your Crankshaft Position Sensor, or even your CID. Try your CID first by removing the two nuts on the sensor. You might have an oil leak at the seal on the camshaft where that sensor is and oil will mess up that sensor. Lastly, try your CPS. Both sensors are pretty inexpensive, and if your car hasn't had a 60k, if you don't know if it's had a 60k, or if it's been a good while since the 60k then I'd change them both out if either is bad. Truthfully, whether they're bad or not I'd change them out if you're over 100k miles and you don't know if the sensor was replaced recently. These sensors on our cars are really finicky and I think within the first year of owning my car I must have replaced every posisble sensor except for the CPS. I had SO MANY problems that kept popping up with the car as the months went by after I bought it.... but after eventually getting all of these sensors replaced as they went bad (and thoroughly cleaning my whole intake manifold when I changed my plug well seals) the car has ran like a champ since. I can't recall the last time I've had a problem with my car (knock on wood) after I dumped money left and right into the motor the first year I had it.... so that means I'm going on I believe 2 years of owning the car, and it being problem free for the past year. Now if I can only figure out what's causing my clutch to catch when the pedal is all of the way released I'll be happy!!
Well I hope this detailed post helps, but to recap here's what you should do, and I'd probably do it in this order:
1. Check for oil in the plug wells
2. Inspect your plug wires (fork out $80 for Magnecore wires if you have a set of old wires on there right now, whether they're bad or not... these wires are GREAT, and they keep water from getting in your plug wells when it rains too!)
3. Check your spark plugs. If they're old or if they're not Motorcraft, change them!
4. Check your vaccuum lines
5. Check your CID sensor
6. Check your CPS
If you're getting a check engine light, or even if you're not invest in a code scanner at AutoZone or Advance Auto for $30 and check to see if you have any codes in your PCM telling you where the problem is if you can't find it checking the 6 things I described. Good luck and keep us updated!
Take your plug wires off and check to make sure that there is no engine oil in your spark plug wells (those deep wholes in the valve covers that lead down to the spark plugs). If there is any trace of oil you can try to sob it up with a small, thin rag and use the car for a few days temporarily if you're not building up oil too quickly. But you WILL want to change out your plug well seals and valve cover gaskets if you're getting oil down in the wells.
Take your plugs out and make sure that they're not fouling or that there's nothing obviously wrong with the bottoms of the plugs. What spark plugs are you using??? Don't use anything but Motorcraft plugs in your car! Also inspect your plug wires and make sure that the contact point on the boot of the plug wire isn't separated from the wire itself. If you're not getting a good connection at the plug wire(s) then that can cause surging. Also check the connections at your coil packs (the other side of the plug wires).
Check vaccuum lines for cracks/rotting. An air leak can be created by this and can also cause your problems. Based on your symptons, it your problem may very be your Crankshaft Position Sensor, or even your CID. Try your CID first by removing the two nuts on the sensor. You might have an oil leak at the seal on the camshaft where that sensor is and oil will mess up that sensor. Lastly, try your CPS. Both sensors are pretty inexpensive, and if your car hasn't had a 60k, if you don't know if it's had a 60k, or if it's been a good while since the 60k then I'd change them both out if either is bad. Truthfully, whether they're bad or not I'd change them out if you're over 100k miles and you don't know if the sensor was replaced recently. These sensors on our cars are really finicky and I think within the first year of owning my car I must have replaced every posisble sensor except for the CPS. I had SO MANY problems that kept popping up with the car as the months went by after I bought it.... but after eventually getting all of these sensors replaced as they went bad (and thoroughly cleaning my whole intake manifold when I changed my plug well seals) the car has ran like a champ since. I can't recall the last time I've had a problem with my car (knock on wood) after I dumped money left and right into the motor the first year I had it.... so that means I'm going on I believe 2 years of owning the car, and it being problem free for the past year. Now if I can only figure out what's causing my clutch to catch when the pedal is all of the way released I'll be happy!!
Well I hope this detailed post helps, but to recap here's what you should do, and I'd probably do it in this order:
1. Check for oil in the plug wells
2. Inspect your plug wires (fork out $80 for Magnecore wires if you have a set of old wires on there right now, whether they're bad or not... these wires are GREAT, and they keep water from getting in your plug wells when it rains too!)
3. Check your spark plugs. If they're old or if they're not Motorcraft, change them!
4. Check your vaccuum lines
5. Check your CID sensor
6. Check your CPS
If you're getting a check engine light, or even if you're not invest in a code scanner at AutoZone or Advance Auto for $30 and check to see if you have any codes in your PCM telling you where the problem is if you can't find it checking the 6 things I described. Good luck and keep us updated!
Similar threads
