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Electrical Hum From Tranny...

S

swissfrank

New CEG'er
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
Messages
19
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Perhaps you should grab a cup of coffee or something stronger before reading on... at this point, I too am in much need of a case of beer all to myself.:cry:


Up until yesterday my contour had been driving like a fine european luxary car, lol. Replaced all engine and transmission mounts, tranny flush, water pump replacemnt, timing belt replacement, replaced serpentine belt tensioner, and belt, among many many other things. Almost every last peice of my car has been service or replaced within the last month... It also handles like a dream but Spent a small fortune on 225-45/16 and the Koni Suspension Kit. This contour has been maintained right from the begining.


Now yesterday it stalled on me in traffic, and after much hesitation to start I managed to limp it to my friends place (about 10 blocks). Opened up the hood and the Cat was glowing red :shocked:. hooked up my laptop and pulled the 1 - DTC and it stated my ignition coil has failed. Was just going to replace it until i noticed a few other things...

I moved the main wiring harness by fluke and the car started to run perfectly fine again:shrug:. So i opened up the harness to inspect it and it looks like Ford already been in there heat shrinking the **** out of it:confused:.


I should mention it rained pretty hard the night before...


Anyway, I then noticed when I leave the Ignition to the ON position there is a loud electrical hum from the engine area. Unplugged the Ignition Coil as I suspected that to be humming but the hum continued. I then figure my ABS module was humming as I now also had the ABS light on after the rain, so I went into the Power Distribution box underneath the hood and pulled the ABS Relay, still no affect. Inspected the rest of the relays and found one that was hot as hell! Pull the relay out and the hum went away. I cross check what this relay was and it was the R11 location (PCM Module Relay). I though the relay might have been fried so i switched the horn relay and the pcm relay (they are the same) and horn still works fine and the hum was back again when i replaced the new replay in the PCM location. Unplugged the MAF and IAT just in case, still making that noise.


After closer inspection I noticed that it came from the MLPS area, so suspecting that, I unplugged that as well, and it was still humming. Then I pulled the wiring harness off the Tranmission and it FINALLY STOPPED.


I also noticed earlier that day that If I would Redline the Engine the Charge Light would come on, which I never had happen before up until today. The Serpentince Belt is about 400km old and no slippage on it at all (no glaze). The Tensioner was also replaced at the same time, and so was the alternator.


I have no idea what it going on, Shift solenoid shot? Huge Electircal Problem or what? I should also mention that the tranmission has been working seamlessly, great quality shifts all the time, and absolutley no, shakes, rattles, shudders, and no harsh shifts or anything of that sort. The Spark plugs are also new(NGK PLATNIUM) and I tested the resistance of the plug wires (BOSCH) and everything was normal, for 1 year old wires. I also triple checked that they were all seated properly.


As a student this is going to be a Big Blow for me as I already spent a fortune on this car, that I love i may add, and it rewards me with nothing but headaches with the electrical nightmare that I believe this to be... Hopefully someone out there can be of assistance to me, I think im screwed, and I would hate to have to say goodbye to my contour. But I dont have the money to take it to a dealer.



Thanks in Advance,
Frank

1996 Ford Contour
2L K&N Drop in - AutoBox
225-45/16 & 4 Wheel Vent Discs
With Koni Suspension Kit:cool:
Pics on request

 
Welcome :) . You're in luck or out of luck. Depending on how you see it.

In. Diagnosis here. Wiring harness issue.
Out. Ford extended warranty is only for 10 years.
In. You can change it yourself with info here.
Out. A pain to do that.
In. Two CEGers recently did it and can help. One will be doing it soon about the same time as you.

Edit. Read this thread.
http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=2255

Order from Bill Jenkins. Send him a PM, email or call him.
http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=40
 
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Thanks for the Welcome and especially the Help Tony!

I started pulling out that wiring harness and so far it looks pretty rough. I'll starting taking some pics, but some tips and pics would help.

Read through that Under Hood Wire Harness Replacement procudure document 99m03 recall, but i'm not really looking forward to the rest of this, lol. I'll see if i can score some tips and pics from someone and i'll try to post some pics as well.

Thanks Again,
Frank
 
The buzzing noise may be due to a faulty ground cable between the transmission case and the chassis of the car.

Of course, that won't fix the crappy wiring harness....

Steve
 
PCM Wiring harness

PCM Wiring harness

Well Moving on from my last post where I left off a month ago, it doesn't look like I made much headway. And I am taking a little bit of a different approach than the 99m03 recall specified. Weather i'm right or wrong, things have never the less come to my attention, and as I mentioned before the lack of funding is what is pushing me to head in this direction.

The 99m03 recall For 2 Litre Automatic and ABS applications says not to replace that Engine Control Harness (Replacement (12A522)) Which I also call the PCM Harness since this is the harness that runs out of the PCM and into sensors, gadgets and other harness throughout the vehicle. But after helping a a friend with his 2003 Ford Ranger whom too had drivability problems, and again like my Contour had a fault in the Primary and Secondary Ignition Coil. His course of action was to get Ford to fix it, but predictably they were of little help. He decided to replace the ignition coil as we though that a truck with only 15,000km is not likely to had wiring harness problems as of yet. But this did not fix the probelm as the same codes popped up again and the same problem still present. After about 5 minutes of trouble shooting , we found the PCM Harness had kinks in the wires, which led to an internal break not visible from the outside unless you actually feel the wire, two of the 3 ignition coil wires had intermittent breaks in them. We cut the entire length of the 3 wires as far back as we could and resoldered slightly heavier gauge wires in their places. This was the solution to the problem and which pointed me to look at the Contour's Engine Managment Harness.

I Cut the harness open.
engine%20managment%20harness.jpg

engine%20managment%20harness2.jpg



In this Picture you can just see the small break in the insulation. If you go over the kink with your fingers you can feel the break underneath the kinked area. This is one of the Ignition Coil Signal Wires.
ignition%20coil%20signal%20wire.jpg


Here are other various problems found in the harness after a quick inspection.
plug.jpg

wire.jpg


And Here we have Ford Quality Control at its finest. They covered this up with some electrical tape, its not even soldered.
quality%20control.jpg


I'll keep you posted as I continue with my adventures in fixing this harness. I plan on cutting out all wires with a heavier guage wire with thicker insulation then soldering and heat shrinking the conections so hopefully this will NEVER happen again, and in the process save myself some much needed money. :cool: "I Hope" Worst comes to worst, i'll be buying a new Ford harness, but i'm not fond of the workmanship that goes into them. I think Ford needs help in their electrical department. Perhaps i'll work for them on Part time basis soldering connection up for them instead of twisting them with my fingers and covering it up with electrical tape. While this is sufficient, it is certainly not ideal! My two cents.

Hopefully I yeild positive results:cry:

Frank

1996 Ford Contour
2L K&N Drop in - AutoBox
225-45/16 & 4 Wheel Vent Discs
With Koni Suspension Kit and FRD Rims
Contour2.jpg
 
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Sorry you had to go through this. If it is any consolation, what you do and post will help CEGers when issues crop up for them in the future.

Incidentally, I noticed recently that there were electrical tape in certain portions of the harnesses in my Contour that shouldn't be there. And this is a one owner car. The only two times that I remember that the car was sent in for electrical issues were when the alternator went bad under warranty at 35K miles (might explain the tape in the main harness) and the VSS went bad at 60K miles (might explain the splice and tape near the VSS). Of course, there was no mentioned of wiring issues in the invoice.
 
Diagrams

Diagrams

Since I'm on the topic of the PCM Harness, I figured someone might be interested in what some of the wires do from the PCM side of the harness.

I managed to get a hold of the Ford Electrical Shop Manual, tee hee. The Devil I am. lol

DSC00884.JPG

DSC00883.JPG


Frank
 
Woo Hoo

Woo Hoo

The much anticipated wait is over! Finally finished making my own wiring harness! I replaced all the stock 22gauge signal wire (broken and unbroken) with 16 gauge. I replaced the stock 18 gauge in harness ground and power wires with 10guage. There were a bunch of ground wires that were just spliced together so I removed the redundant ones with a much beefier gauge. Heat Shrinked the plug ends for added durability and strength, as I have noticed this is usually the first place for the harness to start to deteriorate. Then took my NEW Home Made Harness and wrapper it tight with electrical tape, covered it with that wiring armour and then hot glued ALL the ends and opening shut and then once again wrapped it with that heat shrinking electrical tape (from napa, and expensive $17 a roll!). Suffice it to say the harness is at least double the size, probably twice and a half original crummy size. Fitment was not much problem despite size difference. But I did this all to ensure that I don’t get anything in the harness again, as when I opened the old one up, there was either coolant, water or oil inside, deteriotaing or corroding the insulation and contanct. And I also found that the wires what were exposed to high heat locations, such as the Ignition coil wires turned rock hard, stiff and brittle. Resistance in these wires was also incredibly HIGH. So I made sure to protect the whole harness from as much of the heat and elements as I could.

It's so nice to have the Contour running again and it is running like new. That Electrical Buzz and hum from the transmission is GONE, GOOD RIDENS (was worried it might of fried a solenoid) and my ignition coil is fine now that I have 14guage wire for power and 16gauage signal wire straight from the ECU.

But if there is a word of advice, I would recommend either removing the power brake booster vacuum line or taking extra care in making sure you try not to move it. As I had broken it most likely when removing the harness, and had no use of power assisted brakes. On my vacuum line there was a little white fitting that connect the main line from the brake booster to a short extension that goes into the intake. (Don't know why they didn't make it one complete line), anyway that white fitting broke in half and upon closer inspection I could see that the plastic broke a while ago and I must of completed the break by moving it to take the harness out. That would probably explain why my brake booster would loose its boost overnight. Small but steady leak I suppose.

I completely forgot to take picture of my finished product or my work in progress, I blame it on the burning desire to finish it and get the car running again. BUT on request I don't mind taking pics of it now (in car) if anyone is interested.

Don’t know if anyone cares, but Meanwhile, whilst the Contour was laying in pieces at my friends house (haha) I stumbled across a car that I’ve been having my eye on for quite a while. A Jaguar XJR (I’ll post pics on request) and it just so happened I found one for a price that I could not refuse, it needed a bit of fixing up, but it was well worth it (370HP &400ft/lbs TQ). Now I’m in love with two cars, oh my, I guess I just replaced my girlfriend with a car, (just don’t tell her Haha), I was thinking how a gf is much like a car, they both cost lots of money, but at least when I spend of lot of time or money on my cars its more rewarding. But that’s what you get for loving not only cars but women, and being a student with no money(student loans), just not looking forward to having to work my sack off to pay for this all, haha.

Story of my life.

Thanks for all your help and support! I’d be happy to answer any questions or provide some pics to try and be of assistance if I can! But this proves that you can build your own wiring harness! And probably a better one at than, it’s too bad FORD never took more care in such a vital part of these great machines.

Franko
 
Since on the topic of my Contour, me and my friend polyurethaned my engine. BAT sells inserts, but a tube of polyurethane is $7. We used the polyurethane used for installing windsheilds. Noticeable improvment, despite already having new mounts all around, in throttle responsiveness, also idles much smoother and shifting is more positive with less flexing. My friend now believes my Contour is bullet proof, I hope he is right. Not wanting to work on cars for a little while again.
 
swissfrank said:
Since on the topic of my Contour, me and my friend polyurethaned my engine. .... inserts, but a tube of polyurethane is $7. We used the polyurethane used for installing windsheilds. Noticeable improvment, despite already having new mounts all around, in throttle responsiveness, also idles much smoother and shifting is more positive with less flexing. ....
Click to expand...
How did you do it? Maybe post a quick how to. I bought front and rear inserts but have not installed them yet (too cold and do not have pneumatic power tools yet) . I also bought spring inserts (the type they use for race car set ups) and was thinking of just pushing it in but it looked to tight to do that. Did you just jack up the engine and tranny or did you remove the roll resistors and squeeze it in, waited for it to dry and reinstall them?
 
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swissfrank said:
... On my vacuum line there was a little white fitting that connect the main line from the brake booster to a short extension that goes into the intake. (Don't know why they didn't make it one complete line), anyway that white fitting broke in half and upon closer inspection I could see that the plastic broke a while ago and I must of completed the break by moving it to take the harness out. That would probably explain why my brake booster would loose its boost overnight. Small but steady leak I suppose. ...
Click to expand...
I wonder if your Contour is an early 1996. What does the door label state as the date of manufacture? Mine (late 1996 V6) does not have the white "sleeve". I have seen 95s with it.
 
Hi Frank

Ive got a 98 UK Mondeo V6 and it has the same terrible wiring - in my case probably worse than yours. The Fuel Injection Harness was totally shot from heat damage and plugs are all brittle. Replaced that with a reasonable 2nd hand one but now I think the TX harness is also bad but unlike you guys our Mondeos are NOT subject to a recall and the harness itself is obsolete. Have been trying to work out a) what the harness looks like,- how easy is it to remove and replace b) whether a US Contour one has the same connections as the UK MOndeo - would they be interchangeable. So far its not worked out so I have been thinking of trying to get an old harness from a 98 Contour and do a physical check. Could probably adapt it is its not too different.

A great car let down by cheap bits IMHO
 
Engine Mounts

Engine Mounts

Tony2005 said:
How did you do it? Maybe post a quick how to. I bought front and rear inserts but have not installed them yet......
Click to expand...

I might work on a quick How-To later on this evening, but to answer your questions. I had previously just repalced all four engine and transmission mounts, this would have been the ideal time to fill them with poly urethane and let them cure then stick them in the car, but I had already installed them and since we were workng under the car figured why not!

Bought the Poly Urethane, Jacked the front of the car up, and also jacked up the transmission and engine ever so slightly to remove the load on the mounts. Silde under the car, Used a caulking gun with a tube of urethane and slowly layered in the voids of the front and rear of the mounts. For the two mounts, just surrounded the mount with urethane! simply as that, let it set for about an hour, ideally longer, but i didn't have time to wait and was off, try to take it easy if you want to drive it (for at least a 24 hour period), as you don't want to squeeze the urethane out of the mount with some lead footed driving.
 
swissfrank said:
....Bought the Poly Urethane, Jacked the front of the car up, and also jacked up the transmission and engine ever so slightly to remove the load on the mounts. Silde under the car, Used a caulking gun with a tube of urethane and slowly layered in the voids of the front and rear of the mounts. For the two mounts, just surrounded the mount with urethane! simply as that, let it set for about an hour, ideally longer, but i didn't have time to wait and was off, try to take it easy if you want to drive it (for at least a 24 hour period), as you don't want to squeeze the urethane out of the mount with some lead footed driving.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I may just do that after the holidays if the weather gets to 50 F and rising. :cool:
 
GerryAttrick said:
... Have been trying to work out a) what the harness looks like,- how easy is it to remove and replace b) whether a US Contour one has the same connections as the UK MOndeo - would they be interchangeable. So far its not worked out so I have been thinking of trying to get an old harness from a 98 Contour and do a physical check. Could probably adapt it is its not too different.

A great car let down by cheap bits IMHO
Click to expand...

I completely agree that cheap bits let this car down. As for taking the harness out, it simply isn't as difficult as you're probably thinking, it's a bit of a PITA but it'll come out never the less. As for a US and UK part being interchangable, I don't know, but I doubt it... Maybe someone else can enlighten you, but speaking from personal expereince, I brought back clear corners from the UK this fall, and wanted to put them on my Contour, they look almost 100% identical, but thanks for Ford completely redesigning the lights that they use and the way they mount:shrug: they turned out to be soveniers:cry:.

Anyway, if you really can't find a replacement harness for it, I hope you're good with a soldering gun, some heat shrink and miles of wire. lol

It really is not that difficult, as long as you are able to make high quality solders, make sure you don't cross any wires and seal up the harness nicely, you should be fine. As for the plugs, you can either cut the wire off from the plug but leave about an inch so you have something to play with when you strip and solder, or you can actaully manage to pull the wires with terminal out of the plug and solder it directly to the little terminal that would be inside, stick it back together and you've done it. Just repeat about 150 times. I used both methods depending on the wires condition. When i redid my harness, it worked out quite well, I only made one plug out of 20 or 21 too short, so I had to solder in an extention. So really what i'm saying you can make anything made to fit if need be it. Just the patients and time is what you'll need to invest.

But if you are not particularily good with soldering, it would be best if you could either find someone, to show you how or help you out. I suppose I could make a how-to with pics for you on how to make good solder conections if you need it.

One more thing you could do, I don't particularily like this idea but, if you are in a bind, or want to do the least amount of NEW wires as possible, I would just leave everything where it is. Then go to the plug location of what is being trouble some, say the ATX plug, cut off the wires from the plug, figure out which wires that run out of the ecu go to this plug, and run new wires in the engine bay leaving the old ones there. If I were in a bind, i'd prolly do this. It may take more brain power, but less work. But if you can, i really recommed trying to take the harness out!

Hopefully that helps...

Frank!
 
Id love to sort this thing properly but in NZ its impossible to buy any electrical wire with colour traces (that I can find anyway) and that means that I'd be stuck with nonstandard wiring and a PITA if anything else went wrong.

I just don't have the time to spend on this car anymore so I'll probably end up selling it and let somebody else have the joy of sorting the mess. Hopefully once I have the MLPS changed out it will be OK. The harness may be OK for the time but, knowing what its really like I'd never feel happy on a trip wondering if this time would be the time I got stranded.

I envy you your patience and ability but I really need the car mobile so I can't afford to spend days (or weeks in my case) chasing down automotive cable, pulling the old harness and rebuilding it.
 
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