To Repair or not to repair...

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

Hey everyone,

My mom had a 1997 Contour SE.

Engine: 2.5L Duratec V6
Transmission: Manual
Mileage: 140K

Its got the original engine and clutch, and its been well maintained.

Starting like a month before the car broke down the engine made a loud ticking noise every now and then. Particularly when starting the engine. It sounded like something clicking against a fan. I was told the the lifters went on the engine.

Think its worth fixing? My friend decent at fixing cars... he thinks it would be hard to do.

How much would the parts cost to do the job?

I figure if it doesn't take ALOT of work and money to fix... I could get myself a decent inexpensive first car.

What is your opinion on it?

-James

Originally posted by JSmyth:
Hey everyone,

My mom had a 1997 Contour SE.

Engine: 2.5L Duratec V6
Transmission: Manual
Mileage: 140K

Its got the original engine and clutch, and its been well maintained.

Starting like a month before the car broke down the engine made a loud ticking noise every now and then. Particularly when starting the engine. It sounded like something clicking against a fan. I was told the the lifters went on the engine.

Think its worth fixing? My friend decent at fixing cars... he thinks it would be hard to do.

How much would the parts cost to do the job?

I figure if it doesn't take ALOT of work and money to fix... I could get myself a decent inexpensive first car.

What is your opinion on it?

-James

To be entirely honest... in all of my time spent on CEG, I have never once heard an incident of the lifters going bad... There are peopel on here with 250K miles and the engines still are going strong... I think what you guys are hearing is the timing chain pretensioners acting up before oil starts reaching them, basically the chain rattles just a tiny bit and knocks against the cover, this is a sign of wear on the timing chain tensioner... it seems that the real problem might lay among the duratecs check valves, which blead out while the engine is off.

I do believe there might have been a TSB (recall)for this kind of issue... whether or not your car qualifies for it is beyond me.

Welcome

. Does the car still start? Is the Check Engine light on? Scan it and post the codes.

Yes, WELCOME! And do as tony said... get the codes scanned and post em. That way we can really help you out. At 140k, if the exterior and interior are in good shape, I would defenitly get if fixed. Gotta be cheaper than a new car!

Jeff

The car doesn't start anymore.

Its currently at my uncle's auto shop just sitting in the back just aging.

My parents decided it wasn't worth fixing I guess... They bought it to drive into the ground... and thats exactly what they did...

I'm not quite sure if the check engine light was on... It needed to go off to pass inspection... The error it was giving out was a bad O2 sensor which had been replaced like 6 times in 2 years... We posted the code on here and we ended up printing up instructions and giving them to the moronic mechanics...

Long story short... The light was off, but it could have gone back on... I'll have to go look at the car...

The car had a nice exterior... there wasn't a speck of rust anywhere. The only problems were a few scratchs on the trunk and a crack on the side view mirror...

The interior of the car is clean. Theres no major stains or blemishs... The car has a leak to passenger side foot space, underneath the glove box, but thats only a problem when you take it to the car wash... The dealership couldn't figure it out. But that really isn't saying all that much.

Originally posted by JSmyth:
The car doesn't start anymore.

Its currently at my uncle's auto shop just sitting in the back just aging.

My parents decided it wasn't worth fixing I guess... They bought it to drive into the ground... and thats exactly what they did...

I'm not quite sure if the check engine light was on... It needed to go off to pass inspection... The error it was giving out was a bad O2 sensor which had been replaced like 6 times in 2 years... We posted the code on here and we ended up printing up instructions and giving them to the moronic mechanics...

Long story short... The light was off, but it could have gone back on... I'll have to go look at the car...

The car had a nice exterior... there wasn't a speck of rust anywhere. The only problems were a few scratchs on the trunk and a crack on the side view mirror...

The interior of the car is clean. Theres no major stains or blemishs... The car has a leak to passenger side foot space, underneath the glove box, but thats only a problem when you take it to the car wash... The dealership couldn't figure it out. But that really isn't saying all that much.

where is the car located?!

Originally posted by JSmyth:
.... They bought it to drive into the ground... and thats exactly what they did......

This doesn't sound good.

Originally posted by Tony2005:

Originally posted by JSmyth:
.... They bought it to drive into the ground... and thats exactly what they did......

This doesn't sound good.

RIP

Originally posted by jtour:

Originally posted by Tony2005:

Originally posted by JSmyth:
.... They bought it to drive into the ground... and thats exactly what they did......

This doesn't sound good.

RIP

Um, 3L ?? Get it back on the road a-la econo 3L FAQ...

I just talked to my mom about the car...

She told me that the car still starts.

It isn't driveable though.

When she had it towed...

the clicking noise became so loud that she thought the engine was going to "blow up" on her...

Originally posted by Tony2005:

Originally posted by JSmyth:
.... They bought it to drive into the ground... and thats exactly what they did......

This doesn't sound good.

So why fix it then? Go buy a Tempo.