Yet another overheating problem

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

I did a search and read a lot of the posts about the infamous overheating problems the countours are plagued with. Here's mine:
95 2.0L ATX.
The car overheats unless the heat is on. Here's what I know:
1. A/C pressure switch works, the fan comes on with the A/C
2. Temp guage seems to be accurate
3. No power going to the fan when the temp guage is about 3/4 way up
4. The fan DOES work on low and high speed, I was able to jump the diag port and get it to cycle in both speeds.
5. Circuits are fine or the fan wouldn't work at all
6. The resistor block thing that plugs directly into the fan had the ground terminal overheat at one point.

Here's what I don't know:
1. What's wrong with the $(#&@ thing!!!
2. How many temp sensors are there? 2? One for the guage and one for the computer?

I called the dealership and they said no recalls. is that acutally possible?
I need help on this A.S.A.P. 'cause I'm fixing this for a friend and I'm in the garage now trying to fix this.
Thanks in advance guys.

Bad t/stat.

As I see it, your fans aren't being signalled to come on. There are 2 possiblities here. Your temp gauge or more like the temp gauge sensor is off and you are not really running that hot. The other possibility is that the sensor that sends to the engine computer is out of whack and needs to be replaced. I would try replacing both sensors and see if your engine appears to run any cooler. I know the V6 has 2 sensors and I assume the Zetec does as well, but don't quote me on that. Just look for the sensors around where the thermostat is. Hope this helps.

Originally posted by MarkO:
Bad t/stat.

yup..
not opening to cool the engine.. and its overheating..

the fans come on at the extreme end of the guages, and then cool it down.. only working when the heat is on, is residual.. you are only evacuating the heat from the engine, via the heat, in to the car.

Ray

Well, the T-stat was changed twice in the last month by the owner of the car (my buddy).
I just jumped the wire at the relay to make the fan come on all the time and he's gonna unload it. He's had tons of problems on it (less than 80K on it) so I just did a simple fix to get it sold.
Man, I always wanted an SVT Contour but now I'm glad I never got one. These things are terribly unreliable. I've been reading the archives and am terrified of these cars now. Am I just getting a condensed version of the horror stories or are these cars really that bad?

Any car will have things that go wrong with it, it's just a matter of when. To look at the archives and say "These things are terribly unreliable." doesn't make any sense. You are doing a search on a specific topic and you are going to get many responses but to take that one thing and use it for a base of reliablility is just silly. Go to any car forum and you will finds problems with most cars.

I myself own a cougar, and as of now with 80k on it I have had no major problems, I know other owners that have had tons of work done with as little as 45k, and I'm sure there are others still that have had major work done even before that.

I think you just got a really condensed version, go to say a honda or a toyota forum and see what comes up.

Not bashing you just giving my opinion

Originally posted by HotUnderTheCollar:
Well, the T-stat was changed twice in the last month by the owner of the car (my buddy).

Did he put the t/stat in the right way ?? and not back to front ??

These cars are a lil' finicky but a damn good car. I've had mine ~5yrs and the biggest bill I've had is $338. It has never let me stranded and I beat hard on mine.

Perhaps you could advise re your overheating symptoms; these would normally be temperature gauge in red, coolant boiling in reservoir and exiting pressure cap and rad fan(s) running on hi-speed.

Usual operation of the Zetec I4 would have temp gauge at about the A position. Rad fan starts operating on low speed when coolant temp is above that at which thermostat is fully open(216 F)and shuts off when temp reduces. High speed comes on if coolant temp continues to rise or when a/c selected.

Dealer probably meant no outstanding recalls. Check www.alldata.com for recalls that may have been applicable to your model.

Ahh, you have a Zetec!

Go find a mechanic with a Snap-On Diagnostics scan tool, plug it into the car, look for the ECT Temp, then compare to the Temp Gauge

212°F = Low fan speed on (from what the computer shows me)

our school has the snapon diagnostics scantool, nice pricy item The scantool that told me the engine temp was normal at overheating on the gauge

Note the price...

Seriously tho, Zetec may appear to be overheating, but its normal

Thanks for the input guys. Kev, I hooked it up to my Snap-On scanner and it wouln't read. I think I may have a cable problem though.
I think I will get the problem with my scanner fixed so I can read the actual coolant temp. If the gauge is incorrect, is that usually the sending unit?
I guess I'll do a search of that too.......

NOT TO HIJACK THE THREAD, BUT... You have a Snop-On scanner?

It wouldn't happen to be a MODIS, would it?
I ask because I have a MODIS.. and would like to talk with you about a few things, offline..

Ray

Nope, sorry Ray.

my fans never come on and my level on normal is up to the a-l bordering on red can anyone tell me what the power distribution box diagram for a durtech 2.5 is ? or any other sugestions ??? how come my fans are not comming on

found out y the fans are not comming on, the one on the left of the car is stuck tonight i just sprayed electric cleaner in there then massive amounts of WD40 seems to spin much better I haven't started it yet I figure I will let it soak then in the morning see what happens I hope the motor did burn up when I figured it out I turned it a few times till it losened up then I started it after awhile it stoped with a squeeking noise and then some smoke LOL anyway it spins better now.
But I am wondering what is the other fan for is it the low speed fan or does that one fan spin slow then go fast ??? the fan on the left is nice and spins real good but what's it for?????????????? someone helP

didn't help however the fan does now seem to turn better but I have a blow 60 amp fuse the middle one number 2 I think so I am not sure what i idid and the other fan still seems to never come on I think I am goin to try to hotwire the fans and see if they come on at all and replace that fuse

Originally posted by chris26mky:
found out y the fans are not comming on, the one on the left of the car is stuck tonight i just sprayed electric cleaner in there then massive amounts of WD40 seems to spin much better I haven't started it yet I figure I will let it soak then in the morning see what happens I hope the motor did burn up when I figured it out I turned it a few times till it losened up then I started it after awhile it stoped with a squeeking noise and then some smoke LOL anyway it spins better now.
But I am wondering what is the other fan for is it the low speed fan or does that one fan spin slow then go fast ??? the fan on the left is nice and spins real good but what's it for?????????????? someone helP

You have two fans...a low and high speed fan both run when you call for air conditioning. If your fan was stuck, then it needs to be replaced...they sieze up from salt and crap off the road...bearings are likely gone on it...I had an Intrepid that had the same thing, even the one I went to get at the scrap yard was siezed.

Originally posted by Taasman:

Originally posted by chris26mky:
found out y the fans are not comming on, the one on the left of the car is stuck tonight i just sprayed electric cleaner in there then massive amounts of WD40 seems to spin much better I haven't started it yet I figure I will let it soak then in the morning see what happens I hope the motor did burn up when I figured it out I turned it a few times till it losened up then I started it after awhile it stoped with a squeeking noise and then some smoke LOL anyway it spins better now.
But I am wondering what is the other fan for is it the low speed fan or does that one fan spin slow then go fast ??? the fan on the left is nice and spins real good but what's it for?????????????? someone helP

You have two fans...a low and high speed fan both run when you call for air conditioning. If your fan was stuck, then it needs to be replaced...they sieze up from salt and crap off the road...bearings are likely gone on it...I had an Intrepid that had the same thing, even the one I went to get at the scrap yard was siezed.

Both fans are wired in parallel and are supposed to operate at the same speed at the same time, i.e., both on high or both on low.

Steve

got the fans in... pain in the rear end but I got it out and the one I got at the junk yard went in with no problems. so I am ok with the fans now...on the other hand I am getting a misfire from time to time and it still stays a bit hot right past the m. I also replaced the temp sensor for the gadgues on the dash. fans work fine so I am not goin to replace the ECT sensor. anyway now that those are working,,,,I added stopleak to the readiator cause it said it was good for the heads also but I did that before the fans were replaced. now that being said do you think the readiator has clogged coils from it???? I also did a flush on the engine and radiator by sticking a hose in all the other hoses and letting it run through the block and readiator but it could go through the radiator even haveing clogged coils right????? so what do you think>>>>

my car just started overheating today. i was driving home, a few blocks from my house, when i noticed it was almost to red. by the time i pulled up to my house it was totally in red. it is a very hot day (about 85-90), but this has never happened before. the coolant was boiling over when i popped the hood and it took a few minutes for the temp to come back to normal. i hoped it was a bad mixture and added more antifreeze, then took it for a ride around the block. was back in the red by the time i finished. does this sounds like the thermostat? water pump? which is most likely and how much should these cost me to get replaced at a garage?

Wp, or t-stat.. both should be replaced together.

For the love of your car, don't drive it ANYWHERE else..

If you just want to know which it is, for s's & g's, check your heater... if you have heat coming from the car, with the engine at normal temp, then its your t-stat..

If your heater does NOT blow heat at all, its your WP.

Either way, as stated before, change both, anyway.. both are located on the drivers side, bottom of engine..

There are multiple faq's for this on the site.

Ray