• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Blower install on high mileage car

A

Avenger

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Messages
91
Location
Quebec
Alright guys, here's my situation.

I bought a 98 Contour SVT a few months ago and I'm thinking about making an offer on a brand new Vortech kit that has been sitting in a box for the last two years.

With that said, keep in mind that my car has 100k miles on the clock and that my transmission is hard to get into gears when it's cold outside. Right now, the car doesn't pull as hard as it should. In fact, it feels like a dog... Peak HP is supposted to be at 6600RPM but it's falling on its face above 6000RPM. From the reading I've done here, I know I have to clean the Upper / Lower intake manifold to get it back in shape. Considering cleaning the intake would bring the car back to life, here are a few questions for you guys:

1) What kind of options do I have as far as transmission goes ? Rebuild ? Would a 3.0L transmission bolt to the 2.5L block ?

2) Has Vortech's revised design been proven reliable ?

3) Since the kit I'm looking at is for the returnless fuel system (99-00 Contours), will getting my hands on the appropriate FMU and fuel pump be difficult?

4) I already have a price in mind but would like to know at what price would such a kit be too interesting for you to pass ?

BTW, don't tell me to drop a 3.0L in there, my main car is a 2003 Cobra and I'm already spending way too much money on the Stang to spend 5k+ on the Contour :lol:

Thanks for your input, appreciated !
wink.gif
 
Avenger said:
Alright guys, here's my situation.

I bought a 98 Contour SVT a few months ago and I'm thinking about making an offer on a brand new Vortech kit that has been sitting in a box for the last two years.

With that said, keep in mind that my car has 100k miles on the clock and that my transmission is hard to get into gears when it's cold outside. Right now, the car doesn't pull as hard as it should. In fact, it feels like a dog... Peak HP is supposted to be at 6600RPM but it's falling on its face above 6000RPM. From the reading I've done here, I know I have to clean the Upper / Lower intake manifold to get it back in shape. Considering cleaning the intake would bring the car back to life, here are a few questions for you guys:

1) What kind of options do I have as far as transmission goes ? Rebuild ? Would a 3.0L transmission bolt to the 2.5L block ?
$500 from a bone yard for another one. Put in a Torsen while you have it apart. The labor is expensive.

2) Has Vortech's revised design been proven reliable ?
Not that I know of.

3) Since the kit I'm looking at is for the returnless fuel system (99-00 Contours), will getting my hands on the appropriate FMU and fuel pump be difficult?
Don't bother with a FMU, a good tune should be fine. Don't use the booster pump. Walbro GSS-342
4) I already have a price in mind but would like to know at what price would such a kit be too interesting for you to pass ?
$750. You can get an intercooler from Buckshot for it. When all said and done, you could have gone turbo. For even less you could put a modified 3L in and still run 13's.

BTW, don't tell me to drop a 3.0L in there, my main car is a 2003 Cobra and I'm already spending way too much money on the Stang to spend 5k+ on the Contour :lol:

Thanks for your input, appreciated !
wink.gif
Click to expand...

See above
 
Thanks for the feeback guys, I truely appreciate it.

Keyser, how can a tune work around the fact that I need to inject more fuel in the engine ? You can't make the stock injectors flow more if you don't increase rail pressure and I can't see a new fuel pump doing that. I guess you're telling me to change to 24lb/hr injectors and adjust the tune for it, right ? :shrug:
 
Keyser covered it. If you can get a NIB kit for half the price of the turbo kit I would not hesitate! Take your time installing the blower and shaft to make sure everything lines up well. When your shaft finally fails down the road you can get a machine shop to fix it for you pretty cheap.

use just the blower and mounting plates, take care of injectors, tuning, fuel pump, and possibly intercooler on your own. There are much better solutions available now, as opposed to when that kit was released.
 
sounds like what you need to do is do some cleaning, I would do a UIM/LIM cleaning, that would restore your lost ponies, as for your blower option I really would go with the nautilus kit, I know of plenty of high mileage CSVTs running turbos. Rawburt's SVT is in the 140K mileage range, and he has been running a turbo for close to 10K miles and his motor still runs like a top, plus with the right turbo setup, you can get boost above 4 grand, so for daily driving keep it below 4 grand and you dont develop boost, no extra wear and tear on the motor, then when you want to have fun, give it the goose and BOOST!

Seriously, the motor will last if you are smart about it and maintain it, get a good tune also.

as for your trans shifting hard, I bet if you just did a trannie drain and fill with the Ford Trans fluid, that trans will :censored::censored::censored::censored: a LOT better. Mine is doing that right now too, and I havent changed the fluid in about 15K miles. so its about time.
 
Alright, I'll do a compression / leakdown test first and will possibly make an offer to the guy in the coming days depending on everyone's input.

Alias, thanks for your input. I will try changing transmission fluid before taking it apart. I don't think, however, that the Vortech kit would make boost below 4k RPM so I'm not too sure about the wear and tear argument. I understand the turbo will create less drag on the engine than a supercharger under normal driving but I don't think it's bad for the engine (only losing HP to drive the compressor).

I know Vortech make great kits for Mustangs, why some of you guys think their kit is worthless ? It must have something to do with the reputation of the first kit they put on the market... :shrug:

Keep 'em coming !
 
Last edited:
your going to pay half of what a turbo costs. lets call it 1500 then. your going to need injectors and a tune. call that 500 (good luck lol) so we're at 2000 and you still have a 2.5L with a stock tranny that shifts hard?

you could get a 3L for 400 with 30k or less miles. after gaskets, and some mods (headers for sure) you can have 200-220 WHP for about 800$ put the other 1200 into a LSD, slick shifts, and new synchros. now, you've got a good strong motor, with good power, will arguably handle better than or as good as your cobra. you already have a "fast" car. you don't need to boost the SVT.

if you put on the blower to the 2.5L, you'll probably gain 75 HP with 70-8 psi (experienced vortech guys can chime in here). your car probably makes 165-175 WHP now, and less torque. that puts you at 240HP. if your lucky. plus you have a restrictive exhaust, a ticking time bomb for an engine, and a trans that really can't handle that much power. (the diff anyways)

think about it. 3L swaps are easy, fun, and a huge improvement on the value of the car.
 
Injectors would be included for that price and I would buy another Xcal2 to tune the car myself with the Pro Racer Package I already have. $500 is still a good estimate however.

I'd be highly interested in knowing where the hell you can get a 30k miles 3.0L, new heads / intake / oil pan gaskets along with headers for $800. If that is even remotely possible, I will drop in a 3.0L into the car this spring.

I would also think dropping a 3.0L would require a new tune but I might be wrong.

I could have some fun with my "ticking time bomb" until it blows and then drop a 3.0L into the car and transfer the Vortech on the new engine...
 
Avenger said:
I know Vortech make great kits for Mustangs, why some of you guys think their kit is worthless ? It must have something to do with the reputation of the first kit they put on the market... :shrug:
Click to expand...

The early Vortech kits carry a 100% failure rate. Vortech eventually got fed up with the kit and eventually dropped it. Plus, your going to need injectors, intercooler, a tune, and depending on the kit, an upgraded jack shaft. That already puts you way over the price of a nautilus kit.
 
Injectors are included, intercooler would be nice but is not really required to run 8psi, def need a tune and the kit includes an upgraded shaft that reduces impeller vibration (what the guy told me).

Since most of you are telling me to go 3.0L, I'm also looking into it. What about the argument that a 3.0L with new gaskets and MSDS headers could be dropped in my car for $800 (doing the work myself), I'm still curious about this.

How much would i end up spending to swap a basic 3.0L in my car ? I will definitely be doing some reading on this topic but would like a ballpark figure to avoid losing my time if it ends up being too expensive.

Thanks guys !
 
Last edited:
Avenger said:
How much would i end up spending to swap a basic 3.0L in my car ? I will definitely be doing some reading on this topic but would like a ballpark figure to avoid losing my time if it ends up being too expensive.
Click to expand...

The cheaper installs are a little over $1k I believe. At least thats on the cheaper end anyways. It all depends, the things you SHOULD do will jack that price up anyways (New Clutch, LSD, headers)

On a side note, someone mentioned a walbro pump but I think the FSVT pump would be the correct upgrade for the returnless cars...
 
Thanks for your input, I have a 98 so it is a return style fuel system, the Walbro must be right...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top