The new ECT sensor is defective or you have a wiring problem. Check for broken, kinked, exposed wiring in the ECT sensor circuit from the sensor to the PCM.
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Heating problems
- Thread starter morpho18
- Start date
morpho18
CEG'er
thanks a lot. this problem is really starting to get on my nerves. driving my car in the freezing cold is not very fun.
does anybody else have problems with frost forming on all glass surface on the interior of their Contour's? its really annoying to have to scrape frost on the inside of my car.
does anybody else have problems with frost forming on all glass surface on the interior of their Contour's? its really annoying to have to scrape frost on the inside of my car.
morpho18
CEG'er
i traced the wiring as far back as i could, and only found a couple small defects near where it connects to the sensor. roughly 3-4mm from the connector, the wire appears to be cracked, but no metal wires are exposed, and the only thing showing is white insulation under the rubber coating. i don't know if this is enough of a defect to cause a problem.
otherwise, i'll replace the ECT with a new one and see if that fixes my problem.
:shivers:
otherwise, i'll replace the ECT with a new one and see if that fixes my problem.
:shivers:
This may be the cause of your issues. I suggest you fix this first. Try using "Liquid Tape" (or Liquid Rubber) sold at Home Depot or Lowes, to cover the exposed part and see if it improves.
morpho18
CEG'er
well it appears that my ECT was only a piece of my problem.
I'm guessing my waterpump failed because yesterday, 50 miles from home, my headgasket let go on me, spewing oil and coolant all over the entire engine bay.
i'm so frustrated with this car right now. i don't even have the patience to fix it. i'm probably going to haul it to a used car lot and take what they'll give me for a trade on a busted up contour, which wont be much.
thanks for the help in this thread.
-soon to be ex-contour owner.
I'm guessing my waterpump failed because yesterday, 50 miles from home, my headgasket let go on me, spewing oil and coolant all over the entire engine bay.
i'm so frustrated with this car right now. i don't even have the patience to fix it. i'm probably going to haul it to a used car lot and take what they'll give me for a trade on a busted up contour, which wont be much.
thanks for the help in this thread.
-soon to be ex-contour owner.
98SVTC
Hard-core CEG'er
The big tragedy here, and a lesson for everyone else, is that this post has been going on for nearly a month. In my old fashioned way of thinking, this is too big a problem to let go that long. Don't be too hard on the car. I know you only had the CEL codes to go by and they weren't much help, but engines with dissimilar metal composed heads and blocks do not like to be overheated because they expand and contract differently and the head gasket is the weakest link. The car should have been benched until the problem was found. The fan being on all the time was just trying to keep the non-circulating coolant cool. I think if you'd checked the temperature of both radiator hoses you would have gotten an idea that there was no coolant flow. That and the no or low heat coming from the heater.
Karl
Karl
This is unfortunate. Also, you seem like a good cat, Morpho -- feel free to swing by the forums, Contour or not. One thing I hope that you did not take away from your car's problems is a distaste for Ford. I very much hope that you'll buy another one (I've got a buddy selling a kickass 1991 SHO), and write this off as an isolated incident created by less than optimal circumstances.
All the best --
All the best --
todras
Pretty fly for a white guy *cowbell*
morpho18
CEG'er
So it turns out that the problem may not be a head gasket, or at least, signs aren't pointing towards a head gasket failure.
All other head gasket failures I have seen result in large amounts of coolant in the oil pan, or all over the ground under the car.
Mine has neither. The oil is 100% free of coolant.
However, that doesn't change the fact that when I was driving, I heard a loud release of pressure and saw a large cloud of white smoke behind my car. When I opened the hood I saw brown/green fluid all over the underside of the hood and driver's side of the engine bay. I assumed that the brown fluid was oil.
Fast forward to yesterday:
My father in law comes over and we check out the car. Try to turn it over and amazingly it fires right up. We let it idle for a good 5 minutes and it was fine, no problems whatsoever. No coolant leaking, coolant level in the resevoir remaining stable, everything looked good.
FIL put the car in drive, held his foot on the brake, and then applied some throttle to put a load on the motor. It seemed to be working fine, until I noticed that it was starting to knock. He let his foot off the throttle and engine died.
It took about 5 minutes of sitting before the engine would fire again, and after it started, it idled just fine.
To say the least, we are really puzzled. There is definitely a problem, but I don't think it's a head gasket.
Father in law thinks that maybe the coolant system got superheated and blew steam out of a loose hose somewhere, and when that happened, it basically steamed oily residue off of the engine compartment, and that was the brown liquid that I saw dripping everywhere.
It sounds like a good idea to me, but I really don't want to get my hopes up. I thought I'd update this thread and see if anybody knew what might be going on, but otherwise, I plan on taking it to a local Ford dealership to see if they can service it.
All other head gasket failures I have seen result in large amounts of coolant in the oil pan, or all over the ground under the car.
Mine has neither. The oil is 100% free of coolant.
However, that doesn't change the fact that when I was driving, I heard a loud release of pressure and saw a large cloud of white smoke behind my car. When I opened the hood I saw brown/green fluid all over the underside of the hood and driver's side of the engine bay. I assumed that the brown fluid was oil.
Fast forward to yesterday:
My father in law comes over and we check out the car. Try to turn it over and amazingly it fires right up. We let it idle for a good 5 minutes and it was fine, no problems whatsoever. No coolant leaking, coolant level in the resevoir remaining stable, everything looked good.
FIL put the car in drive, held his foot on the brake, and then applied some throttle to put a load on the motor. It seemed to be working fine, until I noticed that it was starting to knock. He let his foot off the throttle and engine died.
It took about 5 minutes of sitting before the engine would fire again, and after it started, it idled just fine.
To say the least, we are really puzzled. There is definitely a problem, but I don't think it's a head gasket.
Father in law thinks that maybe the coolant system got superheated and blew steam out of a loose hose somewhere, and when that happened, it basically steamed oily residue off of the engine compartment, and that was the brown liquid that I saw dripping everywhere.
It sounds like a good idea to me, but I really don't want to get my hopes up. I thought I'd update this thread and see if anybody knew what might be going on, but otherwise, I plan on taking it to a local Ford dealership to see if they can service it.