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2000 Contour SE Zetec Timing Belt Replacement

S

shotwell

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Apr 8, 2002
Messages
754
Location
Vancouver, WA
Smack dab in the middle of a timing belt replacement on a Zetec. Aussie Ford has been helping out...he borrowed the cam tool and locking pin from someone.

Thanks Aussie! Now you can post some of those pictures you've been taking!

Car has 217,xxx on the clock. Hoping it runs well afterward :wave:
 
OK Shotwell,
Here is the real story you can all see it in the first pic. This is not a job to do by ones self.....

02-15-11_2222..jpg
The team....... now do you all understand!!!! Is there really anything more I need to say? You now know exactly what I'm up against right!

02-15-11_2214..jpg
Anyway dispite the cold and rain we got the car in the garage, jacked it up, and got started.

02-15-11_2215..jpg
As you can see it is the VCT Zetec, and the belt was broken.

02-15-11_2216..jpg
We got the top part of the cover off someone had already pulled the bolts and pried it out to look in it.

02-16-11_2120..jpg
When we got the middle section of the TB cover I thought I spotted something...... Can you see it?

AF
 
02-16-11_2122..jpg
We used a strap wrench on the gears to adjust the cam shafts.

02-16-11_2203..jpg
and inserted the Ford cam locking tool.

02-16-11_2121..jpg
You can see the bottom of the tentsioner and the idler pulley and do you see what else I spotted?

02-16-11_2204..jpg
How about now???? ok so it looks to me there is a roller missing. It goes in the boss to the right and just above the crank gear. Whoever put this together with that missing was the cause of the failure. The fella that Mike got this from said it was last changed at a stealership. I further suspect the pulleys and tentsioner were not changed out as they have plenty of play in them. Even more than the ones I took off of my 95. Which by the way brings the question why would Shotwell want my help when I can't even get my own Zetec to run right....... guess he is just a glutten for punishment....... LOL

AF
 
Aussie Ford said:
OK Shotwell,
Here is the real story you can all see it in the first pic. This is not a job to do by ones self.....

View attachment 9960
The team....... now do you all understand!!!! Is there really anything more I need to say? You now know exactly what I'm up against right!
Click to expand...

Boy, that's like a major handicap. Two strikes down and the job is just beginning!
 
ROFL!

You guys are killing me

Thankfully I purchased the hardware kit, so going back together it will have new pullies and tensioner. Hope to have it running tonight!
 
I found my daughter's VCT SE Zetec was pretty easy and had no issues. It fired right up first-time/every-time when I was done. I didn't use the crank pin to measure crankshaft position, but used the screwdriver-method to determine TDC on #1 cylinder. But I did mine all by myself, so it was easy to slap myself in the head when I reinstalled a piece that had to be removed to reinstall another piece first.
 
I agree with that it was much easier than my 95.
02-17-11_1950..jpg
We cleaned it up, installed the idler pulley and tentsioner, and put on the belt.

02-17-11_1951..jpg
Look at this..... from 6/99 on, these engines don't have that lower idler pulley..... that doesn't make sense to me but what the heck do I know anyway! Still it just seems wrong.

02-17-11_2117..jpg
Next we put on the TB covers, and for that top section it was really a surprise to find the bolts for it still laying on the cowl. They were removed by someone else a very long time ago.

02-17-11_2226..jpg
We turned the key and while it turned over it didn't fire at first... then it sputtered, then it sorta fired. Finally I just wouldn't let it not work, gave it a bit of gas and kept it cranking until it finally came to life. It ran rough for a few minutes but finaly smoothed out. None of this was my fault.

02-17-11_2228..jpg
Shotwell put on the splash shield and tire and I got the heck outta there in case it blew up or something.

That's about it another Tour back on the road despite my best efforts. :shrug:


:laugh:

AF
 
One last thing,

As we were putting on the surpentine belt I was thinking we had made it through this job without the customary blood sacrifice........ That's when Shotwell hit me with a contour!
02-18-11_0830..jpg

I know he's going to deny it but he was the only other person around and there I was up under the fender with a couple of wrenches pushing on the tentsioner when all of a sudden I was hit by the strut.....

Go figure..:blackeye:

I tell ya, ya gotta keep an eye on him all the time! Hey is there an Attorney in the house?

BTW a big THANK YOU goes out to striker2 for loaning me his P2130038..JPG
Which made this job a snap.

AF
 
RobFresh2SVTs said:
Nice Work Fellas
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Unfortunately the engine runs like complete crap. I have it down to cylinder 3, no spark. Tonight I bought new plugs and wires...haven't had a chance to install them yet.

Will report back later tonight! Hopefully it's not the coil, but even if it is that's not a big deal.
 
Well, just got back from a drive. :nonono:

It's still not right.

New plugs and wires had it running a lot better. It was still a little shaky, but with 217k I figured I'd take what I can get. I took it for a drive and started getting an intermittent flashing check engine light :shocked:

Can you believe I don't own a code reader?

More troubleshooting tomorrow.
 
Heading out to pick up a coil pack shortly. Will be reporting back soon!

I have to get fixed this weekend. I already filled in my three day pass (I have no plates). I have to get it through emissions today or risk driving it illegally Tuesday.
 
Scorpion8 said:
Did you snug up the VCT solenoid when you put it back together?
Click to expand...

Yes, definitely.

The coil pack fixed it! It runs very VERY well now. I even got my emissions test done...passed.

10 miles later a CEL came on. Gotta love this thing! Auto Zone told me it's a Cam Position Sensor code but they wouldn't clear it. Aussie Ford to the rescue! Heading out to see him right now.
 
There is more to the story. I checked the codes and found two, one for the cam sensor and another saying the VCT was overretatded. After I cleared the cel I ran another KOER scan and there was a pending code. The one for the VCT was about to return. Then there was a racket in the engine and you could feel the belt slapping against the top cover. At that point we headed back to Shotwell's place and I followed him (in my 95 btw) in case there was trouble on the way. We got to his place and decided to tear it down another day since it was late and we both had other things to do. Shotwell read something about resetting the VCT when the belt breaks but I recall the the VCT had tentsion on it, and seemed to move ok when we put it back together. So while there is someting going on we don't at this time know what that is, but hey if my 95 can run good again this thing can too!

And in case you are wondering what happened to the 95... I did a posting in the Zetec maintenance about that replacement of timing belt. The short story is that after changing the TB it would idle good and run crappy. Then there were codes that came up, so I redid the timing several times thinking I had been off somehow. Finally I just started to eliminate the codes and finally last firday I had only the p0172 for the oxygen sensor..... however that code doesn't usually have anything to do with the ox snesor. I had installed an ox sensor from the JY a couple of years ago so jsut to eliminate that I did install a new one. Then I changed the fuel filter since I had not changed it for many years, and finally I fixed it by cleaning the MAF sensor. Several years ago I had a problem and change it out with one from the JY which resolved the problem at that time. The original one I cleaned and set on a shelf and now I have reinstalled it. The car runs great again now.
02-20-11_1418..jpg

AF
 
I suppose the moral of this thread is that if you get bored with your Duratec, a Zetec can provide hours of, er, entertainment.

:)
 
Lance Kinley said:
I suppose the moral of this thread is that if you get bored with your Duratec, a Zetec can provide hours of, er, entertainment.

:)
Click to expand...

LOL, the joy of entertainment!

For the record, I'll work on a Zetec EVERY DAY rather than EVER work on a Duratec again. This thing is really easy! Pretty peppy too, even with the VCT screwed up. Can't wait to get it set straight!
 
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