Grand Marquis issue / / Never heard this one before

[fordman]

Alright guys,


My mothers 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis is:

Chugging
ABS Light on and off on its own
Traction Control Light on and off on its own
Mostly at start up with the lights, chugging like a misfire consistantly.

Changed plugs, no help.
No check engine light so Im thinking a faulty sensor for the abs or traction control which the computer is responding to by screwing up the idle.

What do you guys think.................

[ckadiddle]

Well, if it was a Marauder, I'd say someone put the tires on the wrong end. Any tires changed or new recently?

At nearly ten years old, it's also a tiny possibility that the computer has gone bad?

Keep in mind I am not very mechanically minded.

[RF Overlord]

Im thinking a faulty sensor for the abs or traction control which the computer is responding to by screwing up the idle.That's sounds highly unlikely. ABS and TC have nothing to do with the engine's ability to idle. More likely it's an electrical/wiring/grounding issue.

Multi-symptom issues like this are very hard to diagnose by remote control. :(

[fordman]

Just a little update:

After posting I took it for another ride and figured out some things.

1) Rotten egg smell coming into car.
2) If I start the car with my foot on the brake pedal, no abs and traction control lights. I then took it for a ride and if I turned into allies or any road that the car was "angled on" such as turning into a driveway for example, I can hear the abs working for no reason.

Cat Converter? Along with something wrong with the abs?

Here's the kicker I forgot to mention: Remote Start put on a few weeks ago!!!
No new tires though.

[Aren Jay]

.............................. .......

[larryo340]

Just a little update:

After posting I took it for another ride and figured out some things.

1) Rotten egg smell coming into car.
2) If I start the car with my foot on the brake pedal, no abs and traction control lights. I then took it for a ride and if I turned into allies or any road that the car was "angled on" such as turning into a driveway for example, I can hear the abs working for no reason.

Cat Converter? Along with something wrong with the abs?

Here's the kicker I forgot to mention: Remote Start put on a few weeks ago!!!
No new tires though.

Does it happen if you start the car with the key and not the remote start?

[stangracr]

good question. I think I saw something like this with a remote start. Something with the cluster not seeing the key cycle. I cant remember the exact deal right now. I would look into the new remote start install first.


ed

[fordman]

It does it either way. Remote start or key.

[a_d_a_m]

Alright guys,

My mothers 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis is:

Chugging
ABS Light on and off on its own
Traction Control Light on and off on its own
Mostly at start up with the lights, chugging like a misfire consistantly.

Changed plugs, no help.

as stupid as it sounds:

BATTERY.

mine was doing the same things, for the MOST part. battery fixed it...

[fordman]

Adam I would also think the same thing because of the egg smell and all to.I replaced the battery just after getting the remote start a few weeks ago. It was due. It had the original battery in it.

Nothing sounds stupid to me guys. The more advise the better. Thanks again to everyone for checking my question out.

[BlownMerc]

Rotten egg and chugging sound like rich. ABS problem sounds like a tone ring bent/cracked/missing a tooth. If it has stamped steel tone ring inside the front hub bearing then look for a slightly bent section, had this happen on a customer's car. I would definitely look into what the remote start installer may have done. Have seen lots of problems with these being installed incorrectly. If a ground was left loose or another circuit tapped into and the remote start module sending trace voltage on said circuit, the PCM can do some odd things when it has these kinds of things mess with grounds.

[Aren Jay]

.............................. .......

[whd507]

remote start is the prime culprit. second is bad ground

[fordman]

Outcome:

Brought car in to trusted mechanic. Ended up one of the rear abs sensors went bad. The chugging was not solved and he couldn't pinpoint it without the Check Engine Light on.Then the mechanic was pulling the car out of the garage after fixing the sensor and the Check Engine FINALLY came on. Cylinder 8 misfire. Coil was bad. Replaced and running perfect.(knock on wood)

Thanks again everyone for the input. Just thought I would give everyone the results for future reference.