# 1999 Ford Contour can take two tries to start

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1999-ford-contour-can-take-two-tries-to-start/116246>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** contour, ford\
**Created:** [April 25, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1999-ford-contour-can-take-two-tries-to-start/116246 "2018-04-25T02:13:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![webb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@webb](https://community.cartalk.com/u/webb)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1999-ford-contour-can-take-two-tries-to-start/116246/1 "2018-04-25T02:13:48Z")

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occasionally the car will not start on first try. after @15 minutes it will start. I’ve had it thoroughly checked over by certified AAA mechanics. they can find nothing wrong

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**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 4:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1999-ford-contour-can-take-two-tries-to-start/116246/2 "2018-04-25T04:38:17Z")

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Have you tried ether?

I’m not suggesting that is the solution . . . but if it starts quickly with ether, then you’ve most likely got a fuel problem

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**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1999-ford-contour-can-take-two-tries-to-start/116246/3 "2018-04-27T03:06:50Z")

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It sounds like a fuel problem to me also. On some cars you can sort of prime the fuel system by turning the key from off to on, wait a few seconds, then back to off. Do that a few times. If that seems to help, may be the fuel pump anti-drain back valve is leaking and depressurizing the fuel rail. A fuel pressure hold test would confirm.

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**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1999-ford-contour-can-take-two-tries-to-start/116246/4 "2018-04-27T16:50:22Z")

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If you haven’t changed the fuel filter in the last 30K miles, do it now.  
 ![Filter](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/b/b91837dfe03e5c9ff32a99c3e5440d489f9d346f.png)