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update, new/used engine harness installed. did not fix the battery light, its still on. the battery is still getting 12.5 volts at idle. totally stumped now, all indication point towards a bad alternator/regulator but this thing is brand new 0 miles on it. autozone/kragen checked it an it puts out 14.6 volts.
 
here is another update, reman motorcraft from ford, installed. still nothing. car runs with 12v at idle and starts multiple times. I'm about to give up on this car and get rid of it now. which really sucks cause its got a 36,000 mile 3L, new clutch and new ALT. never seen the road since the swap cause of the Battery light stays on.
I might be saying so long SVT D-tour and hello Toyota or go back to SVT2GT
 
here is another update, reman motorcraft from ford, installed. still nothing. car runs with 12v at idle and starts multiple times. I'm about to give up on this car and get rid of it now. which really sucks cause its got a 36,000 mile 3L, new clutch and new ALT. never seen the road since the swap cause of the Battery light stays on.
I might be say so long SVT D-tour and hello Toyota or go back to SVT2GT


did you reconnect the ground strap which goes from the engine mount to the firewall on the passenger side of the motor? it attaches to the same spot that the power steering bracket bolts into right on the engine mount bracket.

its something stupid dude, I promise, its always a ground.
 
yes its connected. I would say mega fuse but it wouldn't make any sense the car starts and runs. oh and the fuse 5 is good, the factory fog lights work and I visually checked the fuse. I did notice a small ground wire that was behind the coil pack that wasn't connected. (I'm not talking about the ground strap from the block to the coil) I have no idea were this little ground strap goes. I suppose to the engine but can it really make a difference? besides it looks too short to ground to the block.
 
Does the batt light always stay on?? right now my car shows 14.2v at idle but as soon as i hit the gas it spikes to 17v,bat light goes on (faulty voltage regulator), havent had an alt tested in years mabye they dont spin it fast enough :shrug:
 
Does the batt light always stay on?? right now my car shows 14.2v at idle but as soon as i hit the gas it spikes to 17v,bat light goes on (faulty voltage regulator), havent had an alt tested in years mabye they dont spin it fast enough :shrug:

yea the battery light is always on never turns off or flickers or dims, the only way to turn it off is to turn off the car. I get 12V at idle and at random revs. and I've put in a brand new Autolite alt then returned it and got a Motorcraft ALT.
 
I've got another question, If the Mega fuse is still bad would it still work? my understanding is its a slow burn fuse and would restrict current if blown, is this correct? could this be why i'm restricted to 12v and not getting the 14v that I need?
 
yes its connected. I would say mega fuse but it wouldn't make any sense the car starts and runs. oh and the fuse 5 is good, the factory fog lights work and I visually checked the fuse. I did notice a small ground wire that was behind the coil pack that wasn't connected. (I'm not talking about the ground strap from the block to the coil) I have no idea were this little ground strap goes. I suppose to the engine but can it really make a difference? besides it looks too short to ground to the block.

the little strap behind the coil pack bolts to the coil pack on any of those 4 bolts holding the coil pack down, re attach that.

Remove and check your megafuse.
 
the little strap behind the coil pack bolts to the coil pack on any of those 4 bolts holding the coil pack down, re attach that.

Remove and check your megafuse.

no thats one is connected, I'm talking about a small ground strap thats close to it.
and whats the deal with this Mega fuse? My alternator seems to keep my battery charged but nothing more than 12V. I've been reading quite a bit on this MEGA fuse but I'm a bit confused with it still. I'm getting 12V on the Alt. side of it. is this correct?
 
i have a similar problem, although i havent done any testing just yet. with the AC on i only get 12.2-12.7 volts and without the AC on it will hit about 13.6 volts. its a brand new alternator from autozone, i know i know but i managed to convince the guy to give me the brand new one not a reman under the warranty of my old reman. the old alt did the same thing which is why i replaced it.
 
i have a similar problem, although i havent done any testing just yet. with the AC on i only get 12.2-12.7 volts and without the AC on it will hit about 13.6 volts. its a brand new alternator from autozone, i know i know but i managed to convince the guy to give me the brand new one not a reman under the warranty of my old reman. the old alt did the same thing which is why i replaced it.

did you do the Alt wiring fix? it fixed my problem. I don't understand these cars sometimes. all I did was swap the engine didn't touch any wiring other than to take it off. put it all together and then the battery light stays on. this was with a new alternator too. did the wiring fix thinking i'll just do it anyway. and the battery light was gone, double checked the voltage with my voltmeter and it was good to go. case closed.
 
did you do the Alt wiring fix?

What is that? let us know what that means please!
i believe he is referring to where you cut the red wire coming from the 3 wire plug and connect the plug end to the large red (battery) wire on the back of the alt. in which case, yes i have done that. didnt change anything from the old alt to this new one. im going to try replacing the voltage regulator with a known good one from my old zetec alternator and see if that makes any difference. also thinking that i slightly burned up megafuse could cause to much resistance so im going to check it as well.
 
I'll try that thanks. the only thing I've modified when I did the 3L swap, was splice in the knock sensor. I used bullit type plugs so I can switch the polarity. can this be a possible cause?


knock sensor has nothing to do with the alternator.
 
knock sensor has nothing to do with the alternator.

yea I realized that, just wonder if i may have grounded it some how. and was keeping the battery from getting its full charge.
my car is all fixed now save for the stalling, but thats in another thread.
 
ok, checked the megafuse and replaced the voltage regulator today, megafuse is good. i initially thought it was fixed as when i first started the car it was charging at 14.2 volts and if i turned the AC on it would only drop to 13.8/9. then after driving for about 15 minutes, i notice that its down to about 13.2 volts.:mad:
 
ok, the past couple days it has been charging between 13.8V and 14.2V with the AC off. it hasnt been hot enough to turn the AC on recently so im not sure if its still low. if it is, would it be possible to run an overdrive pulley on the alternator? i was thinking along the lines of using the stock Zetec pulley which is smaller. according to the ford CD the ratio difference would mean an extra 112 RPMs at idle and 1120 at 7000RPMs. would the difference even be worth it?
 
ok, checked the megafuse and replaced the voltage regulator today, megafuse is good. i initially thought it was fixed as when i first started the car it was charging at 14.2 volts and if i turned the AC on it would only drop to 13.8/9. then after driving for about 15 minutes, i notice that its down to about 13.2 volts.:mad:

sounds just like me car. use to never do that way back when i first put a volt guage in the car. it ws steady all the time at 14.7 volts.
 
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