2004 Mercury Sable
My sable runs great in all types of weather except the rain. When it rains the
engine light comes on, the car misfires, and I can’t increase the speed above
45 mph. When it dries out , everything is fine. Where do I start with a
mechanic? Do I need to take it there on a rainy day to diagnose the problem?
The car has 90,000 miles. Thanks
4 Answers
Hornet_2497 answered 5 years ago
The ignition wires or coil-on-plug are getting wet. This car came with two engine options. Open the hood, and if you see a lot of spark plug wires, you have Vulcan engine...change those wires, and do the plugs too if you have time. The other engine is the double overcame Duratec. It has coil-on-plug ignition. Water can mess that up too but not as much as on the Vulcan engine. If they scan for codes, it should show an ignition miss fire. (Auto parts store will do this free.) It's a smart observation that it happens only in the rain...wet wires. Also, if your live where they dump the road salt on heavy, this makes a white coating on the wires that steals your spark when wet. It becomes very electrically conductive. You might be able to get by if you wipe those spark plug wires clean...coil too....on the Vulcan engine.
This is great information. Thanks so much.
Hornet_2497 answered 5 years ago
GuruB7S5S. Thank you for all those points. My Sister has a Vulcan powered Taurus and I have the Duratec Taurus. Her car was a mess with road salt and sputtered in the rain/snow. Just cleaning the wires worked as a quick fix. And I used to take a spray bottle of water and wet down the wires while the engine is running. In the dark I could see sparks flying in every direction on the spark plug wires. Have a great day.
