ghost in the car

[L.Mark]

Got home tonight and shut the car off. The dinger was going off and the window switches were lit up. Then the fuel pump starts to prime itself over and over. Then the radio comes on. All with no key in the ignition. I unhook the battery to possibly reset everything and as soon as I hook it back up it all starts over. THe only thing that was done to it was a MAF sensor was replace. What in the world is going on????:bigcry:

[Blk04MM]

Casper loves DTRs ....


Seriously I dunno. Hope u get it fixed that sounds weird

[L.Mark]

I've checked under the seats for the undead but no luck...

[Bruce Wayne]

Battery on its way out?

[L.Mark]

Looks like a brand new battery. THinking it could be the ignition maybe??? Just gonna drop at my machanic I think. I'll have him check the bettery and alt.

[DOOM]

Mike is screwing with you! :lol:

[fastblackmerc]

Check the harness that runs behind the drivers side can cover. It may be rubbing on a screw from the cowl cover.

[L.Mark]

Anyone heard of the fuel pump relay causing this. My mechanic replace this and so far he hasn't seen any of the symptoms.


Check the harness that runs behind the drivers side can cover. It may be rubbing on a screw from the cowl cover.


If they come back I'll tell him about the harness. Thanks


Mike is screwing with you!

Thought I smelled something funny around the car. He's trying to take out the competition:P

[L.Mark]

OK, went from ghost in the car to just plain running bad. Had the fuel pump relay replace and it, so far, has fixed the ghost problem. But now, came to a red light and the battery light came on and it almost died. I got to work and was about to set the clock when the car started loping. So I replaced the MAF sensor with the IAT sensor incorporated and now the car lopes worse. Goes up to about 1100 RPM and down to normal at first. It's gradually loping downward on the RPMS to where if I didn't hold the petal down a tad it would have died. Any ideas???

[RF Overlord]

Does the car run OK other than the wonky idle? If so, I'd suspect the IAC valve.

[L.Mark]

The car is running fine, as of right now. Only did that bad loping one time. Had the codes zeroed out but it still shows an IAT sensor. It was recommended that I that I get an OEM one from Ford. I was told this(which incorporated into the MAF, right) will be $168 from the Ford's here. Sound high ???

[fastblackmerc]

The car is running fine, as of right now. Only did that bad loping one time. Had the codes zeroed out but it still shows an IAT sensor. It was recommended that I that I get an OEM one from Ford. I was told this(which incorporated into the MAF, right) will be $168 from the Ford's here. Sound high ???

IAT is NOT incorporated in the MAF. It's on the left side of the throttle body.

Yes get one from a Ford dealer.

First I'd try cleaning the one on there.

Remove it, taking care not to destroy the thin paper gasket, clean with carb cleaner, dry and reinstall.

[CBT]

The car is running fine, as of right now. Only did that bad loping one time. Had the codes zeroed out but it still shows an IAT sensor. It was recommended that I that I get an OEM one from Ford. I was told this(which incorporated into the MAF, right) will be $168 from the Ford's here. Sound high ???

Holy crap, did you forget your last thread about this topic? We posted pics and everything!!

[L.Mark]

No didn't forget, but Ford couldn't give me a price or a part number for the IAT. And when I took it to my mechanic for the ghost problems he said it was tied into the MAF. I was getting two different stories and was cuaght in the middle. He said the thing that was pointed out to me in teh post was the IAC not the IAT sensor. And doing a search on this site I found a thread that said the IAT was in the MAF, so that was and eash fix even I could do. Got a MAF sensor replace it and the fuel pump relay and so far the light is out and she runs fine. So am I making sense cause I'm still alittle confused...:shake:

[fastblackmerc]

No didn't forget, but Ford couldn't give me a price or a part number for the IAT. And when I took it to my mechanic for the ghost problems he said it was tied into the MAF. I was getting two different stories and was cuaght in the middle. He said the thing that was pointed out to me in teh post was the IAC not the IAT sensor. And doing a search on this site I found a thread that said the IAT was in the MAF, so that was and eash fix even I could do. Got a MAF sensor replace it and the fuel pump relay and so far the light is out and she runs fine. So am I making sense cause I'm still alittle confused...:shake:

The Idle Air Control is attached to the left side of the throttle body if you are looking into the throttle body. It's a silver cylinder with a two wire electrical connection.

[L.Mark]

Cool, thank you. In my original post I had said the code P0113 was thrown out. Either I said it wrong or just got confused. All I know as of right now the IAC is fine, no code, and the car is running normal. Thanks to everyone for the help. Hopefully nothing else will happen, but it is a Mercury.:D And if it's anything like my Dad's '68, there are many more "ghosts" left in the car.

[fastblackmerc]

Cool, thank you. In my original post I had said the code P0113 was thrown out. Either I said it wrong or just got confused. All I know as of right now the IAC is fine, no code, and the car is running normal. Thanks to everyone for the help. Hopefully nothing else will happen, but it is a Mercury.:D And if it's anything like my Dad's '68, there are many more "ghosts" left in the car.

Personally I'd clean the IAC anyway. The car is 8 years old and it's probably never been done. 15 minutes a couple of tools and a can of carb cleaner will ensure it doesn't happen again.

[L.Mark]

Always afraid I'll mess something up. But next warm day I'll get some cleanet...try to do preventative maint whenever possible. Just take the bolts off and soak it with cleaner?

[Richy04]

Check the harness that runs behind the drivers side can cover. It may be rubbing on a screw from the cowl cover.


+1 on that, also check the ground strap behind the motor, mine was doing the same thing.. Ran like crap, crazy lights and gauges, slow cranking. I replaced the battery cables and the ground strap and all is ok now.

As mentioned above by fastblackmerc, this is another problem area where the harness hits the corner of the head and it cuts thru the insulation causing the same issues you mentioned.. Check both and get back to us..

[L.Mark]

When it stops raining I'll check it out considering she's not running today. After replacing some things and an oil change Saturday and plug and wire change out for the LSC. She cranked and ran for a second or two and then nothing but cranking and alittle sputter but no running. Just like my Fleetwood, whenever my LSC was running it wasn't and vise versa.