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Heating problems

morpho18

CEG'er
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
32
Location
Des Moines, Iowa
I have a 98 Contour with I4 zetec, auto transmission, just rolled over 70,000 miles.

I got the car two summers ago and am quickly approaching winter number two with the vehicle's heater not working correctly.

The engine never really seems to reach operating temp. No matter what time of year it is, the water temp gauge never goes above the small mark just to the right of the "C".

My commute to work is ~20-30 minutes in the winter and it usually takes the full commute until I get any semblance of heat coming out of the vents.

With my limited mechanical experience/knowledge, I've deduced that I either have a problem with my heater core, or a thermostat that is stuck open.

Could a stuck thermostat be the cause of this? Because it also might explain the terrible gas mileage I've been getting.

hrm...I think I just answered my own question. I'll leave it open to your input to see if something else might be the culprit.

Thanks in advance,
Adam
 
I have a 98 Contour with I4 zetec, auto transmission, just rolled over 70,000 miles.

I got the car two summers ago and am quickly approaching winter number two with the vehicle's heater not working correctly.

The engine never really seems to reach operating temp. No matter what time of year it is, the water temp gauge never goes above the small mark just to the right of the "C".

My commute to work is ~20-30 minutes in the winter and it usually takes the full commute until I get any semblance of heat coming out of the vents.

With my limited mechanical experience/knowledge, I've deduced that I either have a problem with my heater core, or a thermostat that is stuck open.

Could a stuck thermostat be the cause of this? Because it also might explain the terrible gas mileage I've been getting.

hrm...I think I just answered my own question. I'll leave it open to your input to see if something else might be the culprit.

Thanks in advance,
Adam

A stuck T-stat will keep warm air from blowing through your vents and tank your gas mileage (rich running condition). For $12 bucks, you can find out if that's the culprit. I bet it is. :cool:
 
my father-in-law works at a NAPA store...he finds me "extra" parts all the time. I'll have to give him a call and see if there are any "extra" t-stats laying around...
 
replaced the thermostat yesterday. went for a drive and flipped on the heat and it blew blast furnace hot. hooray!

Until this morning...45 degrees, a bit chilly, turned on the heat and it never blew more than luke warm for the entire 20 minute commute.

I've also noticed that my cooling fans are on a lot. Even when the temp gauge is just above C. Maybe a bad ECT?
 
replaced the thermostat yesterday. went for a drive and flipped on the heat and it blew blast furnace hot. hooray!

Until this morning...45 degrees, a bit chilly, turned on the heat and it never blew more than luke warm for the entire 20 minute commute.

I've also noticed that my cooling fans are on a lot. Even when the temp gauge is just above C. Maybe a bad ECT?

Could indeed be. www.rockauto.com has an Airtex unit (solid quality) for $13.54 -- part number 5S1513.

5S1513.jpg
 
that looks almost identical to an extra ECT i have laying around for my now dead SHO. possibly the same part?

It probably will fit, but it's not the right part. I've worked with both cars, and recall the parts to be identical in apperance. However, since the ECT determines when to kick on the fans by interpreting heat as resistance, the wiring inside the unit would have to be the same. The Gen I and II SHO's kick the second fan at 195. Any variance in the ECT, and you're playing with the fans -- not necessarily a great idea.

The part number for the Airtex SHO ECT is 5S1140, so I'm not inclined to recommend trying it.
 
yeah - just did some searching and kept finding distinct part number differences between the two...so i'll err on the safe side and go buy the correct part!
 
it just occured to me that i've never really looked over the 2.0 zetec enough to know the location of the ECT. near the cooling hose as it enters the block?
 
it just occured to me that i've never really looked over the 2.0 zetec enough to know the location of the ECT. near the cooling hose as it enters the block?

I've got an SVT, so take this with a grain of salt. The housings for the Coolant Temp Sensor and Coolant Temp Sender look the same. The sensor is further around the back, whereas the sender is visible underneath the throttle body. Wherever your locations are, just be mindful that you don't get the wrong one. The sender controls the gauge, and rarely fails in these cars (though they failed often enough in the SHOs). If you do pull the wrong one, you'll immediately know it, as the sender looks like this:

1T1123.jpg
 
sweet. thanks for the great info laura!

I have my best friend coming over tomorrow with a voltage and a code reader to see what the deal is. He's a certified master mechanic specializing in Volvo/Ford/Landrover, I just don't like bothering him with car problems in his time off since he does it all day long :)
 
grrr....so my friend has been swamped and unable to help me diagnose my continued problems.

a week and a half ago, my brother had to have emergency surgery. while rushing to the hospital (read: driving like a madman), the CEL came on. It has stayed on since then. I've noted no mechanical issues, so I'm assuming that my spirited driving burned out an O2 sensor.

is there a way to flash the codes like you can do on an SHO? all you had to do was jump two pins together and put the computer into diagnostic mode.

otherwise I'll need to get my hands on a scanner.

about the heat issue:

yesterday after a couple of high rpm onramp blasts, i was able to get ample heat out of the vents. nice hot heat. not that luke warm stuff. however, the water temp gauge never moves. I'm starting to think that after replacing the t-stat, and the car developes heat eventually, that the sending unit for the temp gauge is bad.

however, since the car doesn't develop good heat consistently, there's still something alluding me. bad heater core? i hope not. :(
 
Autozone or AdvanceAuto will read the codes (free service). Post the exact codes here.

You can do the paperclip method to retrieve codes for 1995 models only.
 
grrr....so my friend has been swamped and unable to help me diagnose my continued problems.

a week and a half ago, my brother had to have emergency surgery. while rushing to the hospital (read: driving like a madman), the CEL came on. It has stayed on since then. I've noted no mechanical issues, so I'm assuming that my spirited driving burned out an O2 sensor.

is there a way to flash the codes like you can do on an SHO? all you had to do was jump two pins together and put the computer into diagnostic mode.

otherwise I'll need to get my hands on a scanner.

about the heat issue:

yesterday after a couple of high rpm onramp blasts, i was able to get ample heat out of the vents. nice hot heat. not that luke warm stuff. however, the water temp gauge never moves. I'm starting to think that after replacing the t-stat, and the car developes heat eventually, that the sending unit for the temp gauge is bad.

however, since the car doesn't develop good heat consistently, there's still something alluding me. bad heater core? i hope not. :(

If it were your heater core, you'd likely have all manner of malfeasance. I had to drive the SHO with windows down, and at stoplights, my head out of the window because of the toxic coolant steam pouring into the cabin from under the passenger's dash.

So I doubt it's that.

The sender going bad and causing an incorrect reading on the gauge won't affect the heater, either. The gauge has an exclusive relationship with the sender -- no other components draw data from the sender, and the gauge itself is an end user of that data -- there are no tertiary components that depend on the gauge.

So you've replaced the T-stat -- good. Do run the codes. You will need an OBD-II code reader -- you are correct.
 
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ok, so i finally got around to fixing this problem. went to Autozone, scanner said the check engine code was ECT. I replaced the ECT, check engine light turned off.

Hooray!


But not quite. My CEL is off, but I think I still have a problem. The cooling fan is still running when I start my car, and continues running as I drive. Why would my cooling fan be running when it is 20 degrees outside and the engine has just been started? Something is still telling the computer that the temp is too high.
 
Do you have the heater set to Defrost? Try turning the heater to anything other than DEF or DEF/FLR and see if it makes a difference.
 
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