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My red 1998 Contour LX

Johnvosh

New CEG'er
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Messages
14
Location
Spruce Grove, AB
Thought I should post some pics of my new to me contour. It is a 1998 with about 220,000 KM's on it The back part of the body is rotting out but it still runs and drives. I will need to replace the rear shocks soon though as the back end is a bit bouncy and kind of sinks when I start going. I had to take and pull back the carpet on the passenger side because it was all wet. Put a box fan on it for a full day to dry it. Now I just have to figure out why it is getting wet.

Nice thing is, the coolant was replaced before I got it, so don't have to worry about that. It also has an aftermarket air filter on it. Starts right up every time, but does seem to leak oil which is rather annoying. I sprayed the underneath and the one side of the engine with brake clean and air so I can watch for the oil and it seems to be coming from the upper part of the engine by the one pulley.
 

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Looks pretty clean except for the rot part. Older cars though. Anyways just replying here to point out a possible source for the leaking.

If you take off the windshield grills, there is a strip of foam material that is there from the factory that is supposed to guide the excess water off to the side of the car where it goes into drainage holes. I had this issue on my 95 countour. (I didnt replace the dried out foam pieces after replacing the cabin air filter.)
So to fix it i just got some thick one sided sticky high density foam rubber Weatherstrip-Tape from home depot

Trimmed the foam to about 1/2 thickness with a razor and put it along the inside length of the grill pieces where the original would be. making sure to have no gaps. that stopped my leaking into the passenger side footwell area.

This may or may not be the source of your leaking but something to check out so i figured i'd mention it.

Oil leaking is probably crankshaft or camshaft seal. pretty common issue, at least with the cougars/contours i've dealt with. Good luck though hope you get the body issue sorted out :)
 
Looks pretty clean except for the rot part. Older cars though. Anyways just replying here to point out a possible source for the leaking.

If you take off the windshield grills, there is a strip of foam material that is there from the factory that is supposed to guide the excess water off to the side of the car where it goes into drainage holes. I had this issue on my 95 countour. (I didnt replace the dried out foam pieces after replacing the cabin air filter.)
So to fix it i just got some thick one sided sticky high density foam rubber Weatherstrip-Tape from home depot

Trimmed the foam to about 1/2 thickness with a razor and put it along the inside length of the grill pieces where the original would be. making sure to have no gaps. that stopped my leaking into the passenger side footwell area.

This may or may not be the source of your leaking but something to check out so i figured i'd mention it.

Oil leaking is probably crankshaft or camshaft seal. pretty common issue, at least with the cougars/contours i've dealt with. Good luck though hope you get the body issue sorted out :)
 
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