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My 3L build.

well smacked a curb last week and it threw off my alignment , obviously, and felt the need to replace the drivers side stuff that may have been affected. Got a new strut mount, 4bolt control arm, and inner and outer tierods. got away with pulling the control arm without really touching the subframe. i tried to start loosing the drivers side and the rear bolt just spun in the mount, so i stopped there knowing id have to cut the floor up to go any farther with that bolt. so i unbolted the front and rear roll restrictors, pull the whole drivers side tranny mount, and made it work. between jacking up the motor and trans, and using some tools to lift and push the trans around to get the bolts out, got the job done without having to cut the bolts, or run them in upside down.

here are a few pics.

top hat looks a little off ya think?
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front bolt out, rear bolt coming out.
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Sucess!
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new one back in
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Just something I got to work in the JY when you go to remove the subframe anytime soon and need to get that bolt out put a lot of pressure on it. I did it in the JY with a cougar took the other three subframe bolts out and let the engine trans hang from that bolt then I was able to loosen it bc of all the pressure on it.
 
yea thats a usual tactic i would use in most cases, as it usually works. but i had no intentions in really even wanting to lower the subframe, so i was determined to find another way lol.
 
Cut the bolt heads with a sawzall and put new ones in upside down so you never ever have to deal with getting those damn bolts out. Get nylon nuts and put locktite on them if you are worried about them loosening. :)
 
I was near that step with the inside bolt on the front part of the arm, but i figured i only had one left, might as well do it the right way. besides, most people on here frown upon cutting them so i just went ahead and roughed it out and got it done.

Just got back from getting an alignment, and they mentioned that the driver side strut may be bent as there is a ton of camber on that side, that they cant get out. which might be possible because replacing the upper strut mount, which by the way was a huge pain in the ass, the lower tab where the pinch bolt goes through looked to be separated from the strut body, but not sure if it should be like that or not.
 
Well on top of what I just replaced over the weekend, just ordered a new drivers side front strut, passenger side lower control arm, tie rods, all four strut mounts, and the set of h&rs from Sam. Next week I'll order the massive rear arms as well.
 
Massive also make adjustable sway bar links for the front that are extremely nice, they list them for the Focus but they work great, rod ends with boots on them for ~$90 for a set.
 
Definitely on my list of things to replace. I think I'm going to pick up a set of bradness arms instead of the massives though, can't pass on the price.
 
I'm sure they're all great choices, I personally have the Massive Toe arms, Massive front links, and striker 2 rear links. What I like about the Massives is the Aurora rod ends they use, definitely the smoothest, nicest rod ends I've ever seen.
 
Well, spent the afternoon / evening installing my second pile of parts yesterday. Installed new drivers side strut to replace the bent stock one. Passenger side control arm, all four upper strut mounts, threw in the set of h&rs I got from Sam, along with the stangkiller rear toe arms. Passenger side inner and outer tie rods are frozen together so gong to have to get a tool to get them out so I can replace those with the parts I already have. When doing the rear suspension, had the swaybar endlink bushings fall apart on me so for now I left it unbolted until I get new ones front and rear. The car feels so much better right now. No banging around or popping, glad I went with new strut mounts all around. Now to get used to a lowered car again, because before to long, a set of ksports will make their way onto the car: )
 
replaced the fitting on the upper power steering line at the pump today. cut off the old and slid the line right into the new one. leak fixed!

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also got the dreading blinking battery light a couple days ago, so now looks like ill finally have to replace the alternator here soon. FML!!!!
 
Run the battery sense wire to the main power line. I've never had to replace an alternator after I've done that. There is a how to on the Cougar forum in the electrical section. The voltage sense wiring has too much resistance in it throughout the harness up to the fuse box so the voltage sense reading is wrong and it overdrives the alternator killing it sooner than it should. You can run the voltage sense wire right to the power terminal on the alternator with a small jumper.
 
From that post I gather that you can do it one of two ways. Pull the plug off the regulator and cut the voltage sensing wire and either attach a short piece of wire with a ring terminal on it and attach it to the main cable on the back of the alternator, or run a new wire from the fuse box to the plug end of the regulator plug and hook it back up to the regulator as it was before. The second option seems a bit more beneficial as it replaces the whole length of wire that could be faulty, instead of just a band-aid jumper. Would that be the better of the two routes?
 
I've run the jumper for years as have others without any issues. It's easy and it works. My lights no longer pulsate when the revs drop and the alt has been running strong for years.
 
well the alternator finally did poop on me. 183xxx miles on what seems to be the original alternator doesnt seem to bad. While sitting at a gas station figuring out what i wanted to do to get it home, this guy pulls up, of all times to do so.

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Picked up a factory motorcraft reman with a motorcraft regulator from Advanced for $155 new. Threw it in today, took a little more than an hour, and while I was at it I did the jumper wire mod. Car feels great now, so much smoother on accel, and more power as well.

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also replaced a tire being as the old one had a belt separate on me. gladly i caught it before it let loose.

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The guy had a national gaurd license plate, but Looks like he also has a local job. He hopped out and didn't even give any interest in talking about csvts.
 
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