Hi folks. While traveling in my ''96 Mercury Grand Marquis (124K miles) with cruise control engaged my car suddenly lost accelleration. Speed decreaed rapidly, no gas getting to engine. Pulled over to side, car STILL running but no ability to accellerate. Shut car off, restarted car, drove off. Happened again on Mass Pike while on one of the rather steep inclines (againwith cruise control engaged) going approx.70mph. Pulled over, restarted engine (engine never dies, mind you), continued on my way. CEL has been on for awhile but each time Goodyear cannot spot the issue. Haven''t had a tune-up in a while. I''m not a gear head, so any suggestions in layman''s terms?

any time you have an issue with lost acceleration but the engine doesn''t have any issues, suspect the transmission. check the fluid level. check the color/smell. if it''s not a nice ruby red, suspect it. if it smells burnt, suspect it. if it''s low, put more fluid in. Transmission fluid should be checked with the car running. Cycle through the gears and then check the level. If you can report the actual code that the engine computer is throwing (and why the CEL is on) we may be able to offer more specific advice.

my girlfriends car did this. would never die just lose power on hills. she has a 1989 Crown Vic, and it ended up being fuel filter issue. i changed the fuel filter and it took care of problem for lil bit. ended up being the strainer attached to the fuel pump also clogged up. since changing that stuff, the car has been fine but have needed to install another fuel filter since she puts 1200-1500 miles a week on her car on the highway. so trust me that i keep her car running right. i have used it on a trip to Pennsylvania from Nebraska where i live and this car gets driven ALOT.

Still running but can''t accelerate. Now does that mean if it was in park, the engine would not rev? Does this only happen with the cruise on?

1991 Grand Marquis, same problem with cruise control bumping out when needing power like hills. This mostly happens in OD gear not regular D.
Cruise control shuts off and I have to catch it and step on gas so I don''''t become a victim. [img]smileys/smiley17.gif[/img]
Overall OD has low power and with new AC compressor it sinks even lower. The regular D gives me enough to run the AC and be able to drive.
Strange, replaced the pump and filter a while back.

Edited by: Cyberats

But even so, the engine should still kick down to a lower gear.

Slymer, how did you upload a picture that big ? :)

In OD it slows uphill to a point gas has no effect, speed varies with hill incline, but if I shift it to D it picks up and accelerates. Most times kicks out of Cruise control on uphills and where more power is needed (OD).
Original engine had only 150HP ? Serious problem at this weight. [img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]

Tune up revealed 1 oily plug, possibly wrecked cyl. and two others slightly slimy. I crossed 150K without an engine rebuilt.
I''m thinking transplanting a 3.0L Mercedes Diesel in the future years, any suggestions ?


Edited by: Cyberats