Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting CEL 22 and 24 on 1995 Contour - Diagnosis Help.

Greetings - Hope you are enjoying the Holiday.

I'm trying to get my 1995 Contour back on the road.
Seems a family member was driving it through heavy
rain (Georgia/Alabama getting hammered lately) and
hit a patch of standing water. Ended up in a ditch.

Now I'm getting CEL 22 and 24 constantly. Engine
compartment seems fine via visual inspection. Codes
never appeared before this incident. Read more about
the chain of events below.

So, does anyone have any advice on what to look for
or the likely cause? I don't think the sensors went
bad, but there is probably a loose wire or vacuum
hose detached somewhere. What other tests can I
perform. I have a code scanner. Will resetting codes
help?

Many thanks in advance.
Gary Jablonski -- Atlanta
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Here's more details of the action. Car was on an
interstate going South when the car hit water and
spun, then took a wild ride through the grass
median coming to rest in a deep ditch filled with
rainwater. Both front tires went flat, left front
hit a some sort of drainage pipe. When the action
stopped the car was in a ditch tilted to one side.
Water up to the door handle on the passanger side.
Left front wheel bent back to the caliper.
After being dragged out of the bog I put 2 new
wheels and tires on the front. That's
when I started getting the CEL. I drove it home.
Spindle was bent. Replaced spindle and had alignment.
Only damage yet to be repaired is the annoying
CEL and drying out the interior.

The car drives fine (except for CEL). Engine
performance is no different, fuel mileage after 150
miles is no different. Engine temp is normal.

Any help would be appreciated.

I think you have the numbers wrong, 95, OBD I has three digit codes.

Click here

I double checked the diagnostic connector.
My 1995 Contour uses EEC-IV connector, which
I believe is OBD-I. The OBD-II doesn't fit in
the 1995. It's my understanding that the OBD-II
wasn't introduced until 1996.

SUCCESS - The car is fixed. Thanks to all that sent
suggestions. Heres's what happened.

The problem was not the sensor, it was wiring.
When the car went for its wild ride in the mud it ended
up in a ditch with water outside the passanger door
up to the door handle. Eventually the water found its way
into the passanger compartment, filling the footwell
up th the door armrest. Well!! behind the kick panel under
the dash is a buklhead connector where most of the wiring
comes in under the dash. That was under water. So the
fault codes were becase of a bad connection.

I disconnected 5 multi-pin connectors then used a hair
dryer to dry out the connectors and the bulkhead sockets.
That worked just fine. Put everything back together, then
drain the 2 inches of water out of the floor pan, rip out
the carpet pad and dry out the carpet. Then I had to
remove and disassemble the passanger seat, allowing it
to bake in the sun. Finally I removed all the door panels
and hosed out the mud from the interior of the doors.
Cleaned out the weep holes in the doors.

Well, I hope it will run OK. The only other concern I
have is the CV joints. Being under water I hope the seals
were in good shape. Time will tell.

Thanks again
Gary