96 contour LIGHTS FLICKER PLS HELP!?

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

I have a 96 Contour GL 16v 2.0 Zetec I4 Automatic with a problem. See I get in the car and start it up it never use to turn about 4 cranks to start and when it starts the lights in and out of the car start to flicker(dim and brighten).

Things that I replaced:
IAC(Idle air control valve)
Alternater
Alternader plugs(wiring to alternater)
Battery
Belts
Tensioner
Idler pulley
Crankshaft pulley

A slight flicker to the interior lights seems to be normal when the door is open (my Dad's new Toyota does it worse than my Mystique). Check battery voltage while car is running, you could have a problem with connections, corrosion, if the voltage is wildly fluctuating. The voltage should be 13.8-14.8, if much higher the alternator is 0vercharging, if around 12.8 or less, it's not charging.

do they flicker, or "dim and brighten" as the idle surges up/down 50-100 rpms? if it's the latter, then it isn't a problem, and man, you wasted a bunch of money

Originally posted by platinum_drew:
do they flicker, or "dim and brighten" as the idle surges up/down 50-100 rpms? if it's the latter, then it isn't a problem, and man, you wasted a bunch of money

entirely agree, there is nothing wrong. Every car is going to do that, when the RPM's go up on the engine the alternator's RPM's go up with it, in term when the alternator spins faster more power is generated. Which would cause the lights to get brighter.

So you did waste quite a bit of money. Welcome to CEG, and in the future, if you have a problem. Before you dump a lot of cash into it, give us a shout, we can save you a hell of a lot of money. Not to sound rude or anything.

Originally posted by AliasJerk:

Originally posted by platinum_drew:
do they flicker, or "dim and brighten" as the idle surges up/down 50-100 rpms? if it's the latter, then it isn't a problem, and man, you wasted a bunch of money

entirely agree, there is nothing wrong. Every car is going to do that, when the RPM's go up on the engine the alternator's RPM's go up with it, in term when the alternator spins faster more power is generated. Which would cause the lights to get brighter.

So you did waste quite a bit of money. Welcome to CEG, and in the future, if you have a problem. Before you dump a lot of cash into it, give us a shout, we can save you a hell of a lot of money. Not to sound rude or anything.

quite honestly, I never thought I'd see you post on CEG again

Quite honestly, I didn't think that would be any of your business.

this post can stay on topic, now.

Originally posted by bscontour:
I have a 96 Contour GL 16v 2.0 Zetec I4 Automatic with a problem. See I get in the car and start it up it never use to turn about 4 cranks to start and when it starts the lights in and out of the car start to flicker(dim and brighten).

I'm in the middle of doing a clutch on mine.

The main battery to chassis ground is under the battery.

There're also grounds at each headlight bucket. The main computer ground, the harness behind the power steering reservoir, is on that right hand side behind the reservoir.

I think the threads of the bolts provide the actual grounding.

I checked the volts on batt when car is running the batt is 14.5 not going up or down when car off its 12.5 and battery cables are clean.

They flicker as in dim and brighten fast but the motor is going 770-840 rpm

Sorry man this car never did this, dont get me wrong, yes every car will do that but my lights are like a strobe lights the higher the rpms the faster they flash the lower they still flash but hey I dont think i wasted my money because the car has 152k on so those parts woud have gone sooner or later lol.

Check your grounds like Rager was saying...

A ground issue will cause SO many headaches!

Have gone and done that already thank you though

I dunno dude... unless the Alternator you put in has a bad voltage regulator.

What brand (i.e. where'd ya get it)?

I had 6 remans go bad from O'Reilly's, one after another in a timespan of 3-4 months. By the time I got to #7 (the good one) I could R&R it in less than 10mins.

i dont know the alternater is not going up and down it stays at 14.5 running and off its 12.5

and the alternater is a autolight from checkers

Ok... I'm remembering something now on my old 96...

When it would first start, it would run rough and the lights would flicker and such until I hit the gas, which caused it to run smoother.

Is your car running rough?

Does the flicker stop if you rev the engine?

You never answered how the flicker was... Is is the lights going bright/dim/bright/etc like if you were playing with a dimmer switch, or is it harsh?

Did this just start after you installed the new Alternator?

Does your alternator have a lifetime warranty?

Aaaaa this started about 2 years ago when the battery and alternater went at the same time. I put a new batery and alternater on it. The battery came from ford and the alternater from Checkers.

The lights flicker as if they were like strobe lights at a party.

and yes it has a lifetime warenty I have replaced it about 3 time since because of this problem and bought a other battery

and no the flicker gets worse when at a higher rev but let off and it starts to clam but won't.

Originally posted by bscontour:
Have gone and done that already thank you though

Cough cough. You've pulled the two grounds on the headlights, cleaned the paint off, greased the area and bolted the grounds back down? And pulled the battery and cleaned that chassis ground as well? And the ground underneath the power steering reservoir?

Ford's idea of a ground to chassis, is bolting a tinned cable end, to paint , with a dry bolt. Baaad Gimshee.

My point: checking with the voltmeter was a start. If there's 30 wires in a cable, and they're all corroded except for one, the voltmeter will give you a fair reading.

Same for any cable, if all the wires are broken except for one, the volts will read, but it won't carry a -load-.

Well, I just found out if I mess with the alternater wires the flickering will stop but if I shut off the car and start it up it will start flickering again. Could it be a bad alternater or what.

I've had it tested by checkers and Autozone and every other place I could think of and they say every thing is fine as far as the alternater charging and battary but they don't know why it flickers a bad as it does. I am gong to spend a lot of money and take it to the Ford dealer ship to have this problem sovled at once.

This car is worth fighting for!!!

and yes I even tested it my self as in starting it with the a volt meter and it is ok the battary is 12.5, then crank it it stays there, next its starts then charges at 14.5

Umm... sounds like either the connections at the alternator are corroded or they are loose inside, so they aren't making a good connection.

I have replaced them and grease them to with electral grease.

Good luck where ever you take it.

Hopefully a dealer will have the experience to look at all the typical trouble spots.

thumbs up

did u search for "flicker", "dimming",

this has been covered many times.

Look Half way down the thread. let me know if you have any questions

http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=trouble&Number=1043318&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

Before I bug Rob at Visteon, anyone have the TSB number?

I'm got to get up to speed on this one, I guess this has to do with undersizing wire gauge for the B+ circuit? Got to spin-up the CD manual is this circuit the color on both ends?

TNX
Paul

well the original link no longer works, so no dice on the TSB, either way it was for the cougars, but the connector has 3 wires coming out of it, so just follow the red one. I hope your schematics are better than mine.

Ok this is what I see on the Ford electrical diagram, fuse F-5 (15 amp) in the BJB on the bottom side front of the BJB is a connector is OG wire. (orange is assume) Now Look at the connector with bolt in the center laying horizontal between the factory air box and the strut tower it changes from orange to red in this connector known to Ford as C3001. The next stop is the alternator connector it providing reference voltage to the regulator. So there is the fuse connector, the connector under the BJB and the C3001 connector that need to be exercised if you don't want to do the mod.
I'm going to do a test when it warms up to set up a test with SPDP to see if that really helps?
IF I was doing the mod I wouldn't be a bad idea to fuse bypass mod lead. Prevent a hot melt down.
I'm guessing that's the only reason the wire so long is the location of the fuse box and the alternator.
This is the wiring up to 03/98 build date, after that there's a wire from the stator over to the regulator with a short G/Y lead outside on the connector. This connection on the regulator is not used on the before 03/98's.

so much for the un-informative diagrams.
Paul

Say " horsedug" you still out there in retirement land?

thanks for all your guys help do to your guys information i have seem to have fixed the problem

The problem was a wire i had forgotten to fix durning the rewiring it was also a recall on the 96-97 Contours back in 98 but i had over 100K and they said i couldn't because of mileage

THANKS TO ALL,
Jonathan Smith: bscontour: Zetec Racer (car's nick name)

Which wire was that?