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#1105620 11/14/04 05:50 PM
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Someone in NJ has a 95 LX for sale, only 59k miles, auto V6, Trac Control. The car does have the expected wear/tear on the body, the interior was very good. However, the car seemed a little sluggish and when I turned off the engine, under the hood the egine made a slight hissing sound.
This owner hasn't had the chronic "engine light" problem.

Any common problems I should now about?

Thanx,

Gossameer

P.S. I currently own a 95 SE with 135k miles.

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1: 95's suffer from faulty engine harness wiring. Check it thoroughly, is it cracked an peeling anywhere? If it's not been replaced I'd think about something else.

2: 95's suffer from defective waterpump impellers. Is his original

3: 95's use a vacuum actuated IMRC. The linkage for the IRMC is held in place with black plastic clips. I'd bet those are either broken or gone

4: The front sway bar links can go bad and cause a clunking sounding front end. Listen for that (easy fix).

anyone else?


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Originally posted by Nate'sTour:
1: 95's suffer from faulty engine harness wiring. Check it thoroughly, is it cracked an peeling anywhere? If it's not been replaced I'd think about something else.

2: 95's suffer from defective waterpump impellers. Is his original

3: 95's use a vacuum actuated IMRC. The linkage for the IRMC is held in place with black plastic clips. I'd bet those are either broken or gone

4: The front sway bar links can go bad and cause a clunking sounding front end. Listen for that (easy fix).

anyone else?




4: may be an easy fix, but its friggan insane how expensive the link is, and how hard it is to get the part. 36$ for a new link is just recockulious


98 Corolla LE 1.8L DOHC 1ZZFE TEIN H.Tech Springs Tokico HP series Struts Short ram air intake Tsudo Axel Back Exhaust ... if a jelly fish stung me.. would you pee on the wound?
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$36 isn't horrible. It's an easy fix and probably should have been a Ford TSB issue, doubt a recall but they seem to go bad on all the Tour's prematurely


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Just walk away and dont even think of buying.Get something better.What you will be doing everyday that you own that is being here looking for answer for everything that breaks.one problem after another.

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Originally posted by 96contourZetec:
Just walk away and dont even think of buying.Get something better.What you will be doing everyday that you own that is being here looking for answer for everything that breaks.one problem after another.



Second post in a row I see of you bashing the Contour. Really now, the majority of people on this site have not had continual problems with their Contour. I had problems with my Probe, doesn't mean I jump onto probetalk.com bashing the cars all the time, because I know I just got a bad apple.

Gossameer, you already have a 95; you know what to look for. Is this an upgrade from your current 95, or a second car? If an upgrade it's a difficult question - you have to weigh the problems you've had with your car with the mileage you've got and see if it's worth making the jump to a car that has half the miles but an unknown history. Otherwise it sounds like a catch if you can get it for cheap.

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gossameer -

Another '95 Contour experience...

I've been very pleased with my '95 GL Duratec. Traction control is cool; zipping out of stop lights in the rain is a piece of cake. Between traction control and ABS, the car always feels stable and in control.

I've had few maintenance problems (note that I only have about 65K miles on the car; I drive my Mustang GT whenever the weather is good - it has 207K miles). I replaced the water pump myself at about 55K miles, purely as a preventive measure, based on this board's recommendations (if you're curious, this is what the original pump looks like, as removed; it was still in fine shape: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/philiplindberg/contour_water_pump.jpg ). Not a tough DIY job.

My IMRC solenoid failed (as noted earlier, '95 has vacuum controlled IMRC). This problem showed up as a lack of power in higher RPMs. Changed the solenoid myself (Ford-only part; $35 IIRC).

One advantage the '95 has: Since it's a pre-OBDII EEC-IV engine control system, you can dump codes without a scanner. This was how I diagnosed the IMRC problem.

I've always maintained the car carefully (Mobil 1 and Motorcraft filter since new, changed every 5K miles or a little less), but I'm not anal about it either (still have the original plugs and wires; no problems). I've only done regular maintenance (fluids, filters, brake pads) and the items noted above.

Oops - wait: I did have a problem with the front sway control bar, but it was just the positioning fitting (which started sliding). My quick fix was a hose clamp - which is still there, and still works fine.

My Contour theoretically has the failure-prone wiring harness - but I've never noticed any problems. I've checked a few of the problem areas and see no cracking, etc. This may be a result of how I use the car (as I noted above): It hasn't had very many hot summertime miles that may contribute to harness degradation.

Given my Contour experience, buying another one wouldn't worry me. I'd be more concerned about the maintenance history of the car and any evidence that its been driven abusively (which should be your concerns of any used car). I'd check on the water pump, but it's not that big a deal to replace. However, if there was evidence that the wiring harness was failing, I'd probably walk away. It'd be hard to justify putting that much effort into the car, even if it was really cheap.





1995 Contour GL V6 ATX T/C 1986 Mustang GT 5.0 2000 Windstar LX

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