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96-97 interchange

L

lintlars

New CEG'er
Joined
Jul 18, 2009
Messages
8
(I posted this in the new member area and did not get any hits)Hi everyone Im new to the Contour I have owned a 2000 Ford Focus for a few years now and love the Zetec engine it takes a beating and asks for more! I have a 96 Contour with a blown engine and have a 97 Contour SE parts car with the Zetec, Can I swap over the 97 Zetec to the 96 non zetec? Im not concerned with the zetec working I just want a reliable daily driver, Thanks let me know if Im missing anything and what to look out for on these cars.
The car overheated and the driver did not notice and cooked the engine I know the sohc Focus has a relay issue for the fan does the Contour share this issue?
Thanks
 
lintlars said:
(I posted this in the new member area and did not get any hits)Hi everyone Im new to the Contour I have owned a 2000 Ford Focus for a few years now and love the Zetec engine it takes a beating and asks for more! I have a 96 Contour with a blown engine and have a 97 Contour SE parts car with the Zetec, Can I swap over the 97 Zetec to the 96 non zetec? Im not concerned with the zetec working I just want a reliable daily driver, Thanks let me know if Im missing anything and what to look out for on these cars.
The car overheated and the driver did not notice and cooked the engine I know the sohc Focus has a relay issue for the fan does the Contour share this issue?
Thanks
Click to expand...

So I take it the 96 Has the V6 motor, if that is the case then you have a lot of work involved in making that swap work, you would need to change subframes, wiring harnesses, Engine computers, I suppose if you have a parts car you have everything you need to do the swap.

However, a 97 SE cannot physically have a Zetec, all of the pre98 contours that were "SE's" were Duratecs. Maybe you have an LX or a GL.
 
lintlars said:
...
The car overheated and the driver did not notice and cooked the engine I know the sohc Focus has a relay issue for the fan does the Contour share this issue?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Duratec engine cooked? Probably due to a broken water pump. Radiator fan won't help with broken water pump.
 
AliasJerk said:
So I take it the 96 Has the V6 motor, if that is the case then you have a lot of work involved in making that swap work, you would need to change subframes, wiring harnesses, Engine computers, I suppose if you have a parts car you have everything you need to do the swap.

However, a 97 SE cannot physically have a Zetec, all of the pre98 contours that were "SE's" were Duratecs. Maybe you have an LX or a GL.
Click to expand...
Sorry should have been more clear the 96 had the 2.0 4cyl, The 97 has a zetec maybe its a late 97 model sold as a 98
 
your post isnt make any sense. If both of your cars have 2.0L motors than both of them have Zetec motors, however, if one is a 98 (it has the newer style headlights) than your 98 has a system called "VCT" which stands for variable cam timing, which is on the exhaust cam.

You cannot put the Zetec motor from a 98 into a 96. Further more if your "96" contour only says "16 valve" on the top of it, than its more than likely a 95, as the 96 valve cover literally said "16 V Zetec" Does the front and rear bumpers of your car have a Strip of chrome in them?

IMAG0054.jpg

This is a shot of a 96 zetec motor the 95's only said "DOHC 16 V" the 96's said "16VZetec"

The 98+ zetecs looked like so... They had the updated headlights and VCT, the VCT solenoid was right to the right of the timing belt cover, which you can see in this picture of my old 99. The valve cover on my car was white also, but the paint was peeling so I repainted it
DSC00047.jpg
 
lintlars said:
How can I ID it being a duratec its a 2.0 4cyl with a plain valve cover it says 16v
Click to expand...

It is either a a Zetec or Duratec. Based on your initial post, Zetec or non Zetec, we assumed it was a Duratec.

Now, if it is a 4 cylinder, you would see four sp wires. If it is a 6 cylinder, you should see 6 sp wires.

Post a picture of the engine bay and we will be able to confirm for you.
 
AliasJerk said:
your post isnt make any sense. If both of your cars have 2.0L motors than both of them have Zetec motors, however, if one is a 98 (it has the newer style headlights) than your 98 has a system called "VCT" which stands for variable cam timing, which is on the exhaust cam.

You cannot put the Zetec motor from a 98 into a 96. Further more if your "96" contour only says "16 valve" on the top of it, than its more than likely a 95, as the 96 valve cover literally said "16 V Zetec" Does the front and rear bumpers of your car have a Strip of chrome in them?

IMAG0054.jpg

This is a shot of a 96 zetec motor the 95's only said "DOHC 16 V" the 96's said "16VZetec"

The 98+ zetecs looked like so... They had the updated headlights and VCT, the VCT solenoid was right to the right of the timing belt cover, which you can see in this picture of my old 99. The valve cover on my car was white also, but the paint was peeling so I repainted it
DSC00047.jpg
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info the cars, man. date is 4/96 it has the 2.0 16v engine plain valve cover and it has different headlights than the 98 model the 96 has chrome inserts in both bumpers as well like asked, the zetec I want to swap does have the VCT on the cam cover, now why wont these motors swap over trans bolt pattern, wiring? ECU? I have the complete 98 parts car in running condition but has major damage.
Thanks for the Info Everyone!
 
Tony2005 said:
It is either a a Zetec or Duratec. Based on your initial post, Zetec or non Zetec, we assumed it was a Duratec.

Now, if it is a 4 cylinder, you would see four sp wires. If it is a 6 cylinder, you should see 6 sp wires.

Post a picture of the engine bay and we will be able to confirm for you.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the confusing post I was not aware all the 4cyl were zetec based, I have a 05 Focus with a Duratec so I thought maybe there was a 4 cyl dtec back in 96 yes both are 4 cyl
96 has a 2.0 and a plain valve cover 16v
97 is the man date of the other car but it has to be a 98 since it has the newer style headlights,it has a zetec with the VCT embossed on the cam cover.
 
it wont work at all because your "96" is actually a 95 model year, the chrome strips in the bumpers signify the fact that it is a 95, the 95 is OBD I computer based which means every wiring harness in the engine bay is different than what a 96-97 is, and even more different than a 98-2000 engine harness.

There is a lot of work involved in what you want to do, and it might not even properly integrate into the rest of your car's electrical system due to the wiring harness differences. Nobody has done what you want to do so there is no finite answer to your question.
 
AliasJerk said:
it wont work at all because your "96" is actually a 95 model year, the chrome strips in the bumpers signify the fact that it is a 95, the 95 is OBD I computer based which means every wiring harness in the engine bay is different than what a 96-97 is, and even more different than a 98-2000 engine harness.

There is a lot of work involved in what you want to do, and it might not even properly integrate into the rest of your car's electrical system due to the wiring harness differences. Nobody has done what you want to do so there is no finite answer to your question.
Click to expand...

Thanks for relpying now can I swap over all the stuff from the "95" engine to make the 98 engine work? I already have the 98 car got it for next to nothing anyone need some parts?
 
Woah, woah, woah...wait a minute.

So your original car is a '96 but it has chrome strips. So it's some weird transitional 95 that was sold as a 96.

Your parts car is a 97. Right? It does NOT have the VCT valve sticking out of the valve cover. Just the 4 spark plug wires and the oil cap. Right?

Both cars have the big-a$$ cast iron U shaped motor mount that runs around the passenger side of the engine. Right?

As far as I know, the engine is the same for all pre-98's. Yes, the engine computer and wiring harness are different between 95 and 96-97. But that doesn't matter if you just want to pull the engine. You just need to use the wiring harness out of the '95.

The only thing that I can think of is that the 95 Zetec may not have is the knock sensor or a different cam position sensor. I can snap a few photos to show you what I'm talking about if you haven't abandoned this project yet.

BTW, mod, this thread really belongs in the Zetec forum.

HTH,
BP
 
I should also mention...

Duratec = aluminum block + aluminum head

Zetec = cast iron block + aluminum head


Some CEG'ers assume that Duratec = V6 and Zetec = I4. Not true. Well not since Ford release the 2.0 and 2.3L I4 Duratec engines in 2003.
 
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