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

    You can register to join the community.

So my car left me stranded

M

millito16

New CEG'er
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
9
Location
Naples, Fl
So I'm driving today in Naples, Fl with my cousins all happy, and then the car turned off. Pulled over tried to start it, nothing, my mom came tried jump starting it, nothing. So finally after two hours or so, had to call a tow truck and its in my neighbor's driveway now. :mad::blackeye::help:

BTW its a 2000 contour zetec ATX
 
Mine just broke down last week as well. Basically I was driving and then all of the sudden the motor just wouldnt go anymore. I eventually just coasted until I came to a stop and then it died.

Will the car still crank or is the battery completely dead?

Mine ended up being the fuel pump. You have a 2000 which is a returnless style fuel pump and those are notorious for going bad. Turn the car to the accessory position and push in the schrader valve on the fuel rail. You should have some fuel pressure as soon as you push it, but after about 10 seconds, there should hardly nothing coming out if the fuel pump is bad. If that is the case, first check your fuel pump fuse in the power distribution box under the hood. There's a possibility it could be blown (mine was).

Keep us posted. If it is the fuel pump, there are a couple how-to's on this website to replace it. It's not hard.
 
How many miles does it have? Has the timing belt ever been replaced? Maybe you should take the cover off and check it since it is easy too, just two 8mm bolts...

It probably is not the belt though because you did not mention any loud noises, which I assume the belt breaking would make...
 
it has 74,000 miles, and there wasnt any loud noises just turned off and i coasted it to a stop, just wouldnt go anymore.
 
Belt can either break outright or simply shear off teeth for several inches and not make a sound other than engine dies. Bad belt giveaway is that suddenly the engine spins different when starting, many drivers can tell the difference in the sound, motor spins faster because much of it not turning.
 
Get in car, be real quiet and turn on key to where all indicator lights come on but DON'T go to the start position. When key cycles on you can usually hear pump do its' spin up and stop as it establishes pressure. It will whine for up to 1/2 second and stop. Sound will be under back seat.
 
amc49 said:
Get in car, be real quiet and turn on key to where all indicator lights come on but DON'T go to the start position. When key cycles on you can usually hear pump do its' spin up and stop as it establishes pressure. It will whine for up to 1/2 second and stop. Sound will be under back seat.
Click to expand...


ohhh thats what I'm always hearing lol.

Btw when my belt broke I didn't hear anything. Just the engine shut off. Couldn't really tell the difference when I started it, as I had just bought the car maybe a few months before.
 
BoSoxBruin said:
How many miles does it have? Has the timing belt ever been replaced? Maybe you should take the cover off and check it since it is easy too, just two 8mm bolts...

It probably is not the belt though because you did not mention any loud noises, which I assume the belt breaking would make...
Click to expand...

Correct. Two 8mm bolts hold in the timing cover. Take those out and pull the cover off to check the timing belt. I'd wager mucho dinero that your timing belt snapped.
 
On VCT cars pulling the cover is more difficult

On VCT cars pulling the cover is more difficult

On VCT cars (98 and newer) you can check the cam belt by removing the 2 8mm hex bolts so that you can move the cover enought to see the belt, or lack of one, but you cannot remove the cover. To fully remove the cover requires removing the two studs that hold the engine mount to the car. If you try to remove the cover without removing the studs or engine mount you will likely break the cover.

Oh yeah, cam belt breakage is silent. At least at 80 mph.

Remember if it is the cam belt the contour engine is non interference (in most cases) so you can just install a new one, with idlers and tensior and be good to go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top