1996 Contour GL 2.0 Questions

Hello everyone, I recently Purchased a 1996 contour GL, 2.0. I got a good deal on it because the timing belt was broken and the guy didn't want to fix it. I noticed a couple of things about it when I was putting the timing belt on that I thought maybe someone on here could provide some insight on.

The first thing is, when I took the valve cover off the Cams seemed to be built up with alot of "gunk". Is there a way to clean them without taking them out?

The second thing is, there was alot of oil around the spark plugs when I took them out. I am assuming that this is do to the valve cover gasket which seemed like it was to big for the valve cover when I took it off. It didn't take and work what so ever to get the valve cover off so I am assuming that it was probably leaking.

Any insight you guys can provide on these issues would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

You all have been great and I appreciate the help, I have a few more questions as I get into this car more.

1. In the relay fuse box under the hood there are three fuses that seem like they are connected together. is there any way to change them. The black one in my car is missing the plastic on top.

2. For some reason the steering wheel cover that is in front of the airbag is loose, you can move it but it doesn't come off, is it held on by screws in the back of the steering wheel?

Thanks for the help!!

it is the valve cover gasket causing oil leaking into the spark plugs, its difficult to seat the new valve cover gasket because it hasn't shrunken to fit in place yet, your best bet is to keep trying to seat it properly, make sure to use a little bit of oil on the new gasket so it creates a good seal.

The gunk on the cams is from the previous owner not doing regularly scheduled oil changes on time, this is called engine sludge. A lot of people have said you should wipe it all down to clean it off, I suggest against it because if you leave a chunk in the motor it could clog an important oil passage, leave it where it is and do a couple of short oil changes with a type of oil that is designed to clean the motor, you also can get a can of seafoam and add some to the crankcase prior to changing the oil and run the motor at idle for a couple of minutes before you change the oil (DO NOT! drive the car with seafoam in the crankcase).

Thanks so much for your help.

On the valve cover gasket, mine appears to not fit eactly right, seems to big should it appear this way or do I have a bad one and should I replace it?

and if oil got into the spark plug holes will this cause me a problem? I'm not sure if any did but there was alot around the plugs when I took them out.

Thanks for the input!

How big is too big? When I changed the valve cover gasket on my Zetec (two times), they were always tight enough that they held on when I placed it in the groves of the valve cover... This allowed me to put it on with ease... Both times I have used a Felpro gasket... Also, you do not have to put oil on the gasket, and I would not reccomend doing so as the gaskets (at least the Felpro ones) are dry fit...

Any oil that got into the cylinders will just end up burning off...

Lord Stanley said:

How big is too big? When I changed the valve cover gasket on my Zetec (two times), they were always tight enough that they held on when I placed it in the groves of the valve cover... This allowed me to put it on with ease... Both times I have used a Felpro gasket... Also, you do not have to put oil on the gasket, and I would not reccomend doing so as the gaskets (at least the Felpro ones) are dry fit...

Any oil that got into the cylinders will just end up burning off...

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Agreed! Put on the valve cover gasket DRY! Do not apply oil. I have had my valve cover off at least half a dozen times, and each time the existing gasket has come off inside the cover, and I carefully dry off both surfaces. I haven't had a leak at ALL. Just make sure not to overtorque the valve cover bolts. (edited by Tony2005).

zorrex said:

Agreed! Put on the valve cover gasket DRY! Do not apply oil. I have had my valve cover off at least half a dozen times, and each time the existing gasket has come off inside the cover, and I carefully dry off both surfaces. I haven't had a leak at ALL. Just make sure not to overtorque the valve cover bolts. 12ftlbs is the recommended, IIRC.

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12ftlbs is way to much. the spec is 53-71 INlbs

Thanks for the help guys, the gasket that was on there was actually "sagging" and hanging off in different spots so I think I'll go with the new one. Thanks again

cotcu said:

Thanks for the help guys, the gasket that was on there was actually "sagging" and hanging off in different spots so I think I'll go with the new one. Thanks again

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ah, I thought you had a replacement that was doing that. Go the autozone and get the Fel-pro gasket, I used that one on my 99 SE, was super easy to put on and I never had an issue after that.

striker2 said:

12ftlbs is way to much. the spec is 53-71 INlbs

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Really? I read like 140 or something inlbs somewhere. Regardless, I've been using a 15ftlb drill every time I've tightened the bolts. No issues.

All right, not sure how different the Focus Zetec is in terms of torque spec, but that calls for 7.8 Nm, which is 5.75 ftlbs...Damn. I'll check a Haynes on Saturday and post CORRECT info instead of spewing BS :laugh:

zorrex said:

All right, not sure how different the Focus Zetec is in terms of torque spec, but that calls for 7.8 Nm, which is 5.75 ftlbs...Damn. I'll check a Haynes on Saturday and post CORRECT info instead of spewing BS :laugh:

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the numbers i posted came from the 97 Ford CD:laugh:

FYI, if the shank of bolt is 6mm.-1.0 thread, 8 ft.lb. is a bunch and 10 is starting to pull threads from aluminum. After working on enough motorcycle engines you figure that out or are surrounded by scrapped parts and pissed off owners.