Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Howler Monkey and Catalytic Converter

Ok...I LOVE my Contour...

She's a 97 Contour SE with all the options. I still have the original window sticker, whereas she sold for $21745.

Here's the thing...I took her to a shop a few months ago because my CHECK ENGINE light was on. When I picked her up, they said that they didnt really know why the light was on, but suspected the catalytic converter. Then, they proceeded to tell me that my car has some kind of fandangled CC that will cost upwards of $1800 to fix!!! WHA? I've never heard of a catalytic converter costing that much. The mechanic said something about it being a two part issue. Now, when I look online, I see CC's ranging from as little as $150 to $450...not including the labor.

The question is, has anyone ever heard of this weird CC issue with their Contour? Or was this guy pulling my leg?

Aside from that, ever since I picked it up, I have discovered that there is a Howler Monkey living somewhere under the hood. It screams like a banshee every day...but its NOT a belt. I know what a belt sounds like...this sounds more like an air problem...possibly the air cleaner, but the thing is brand new! And then, if it screams, and you slow down, it dies...right in the middle of the road. Its like the Howler Monkey is disconnecting something...it tends to only happen when the car is cold.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated~

sounds like you are refereing to the moose, search for moose and th fix and you will get your answeres for that, you might also need to replace the iac


also on the cats, the pre-cats are built into the exhaust manifolds and they are expensive to replace, there is also a main cat that would most likely be similar to the ones you have been looking at and pricing out.


don't do anything until you tell us the CEL code and search here to determine the fix

Welcome to the site. BTW, I love the "Howler Monkey" reference. Even better than the moose.

THere is a How-to on the boards on how to gut the cats (cost little money) and just buy some MIL eliminators (PM stazi for more details on that) Gutted cats

As for the monkey, it is called the moose here. Here is a fix for it Moose fix
ALso if you do not want to attempt the cat gutting yourself, PM stazi for a pair of gutted ones already
HTH

I have the Ford plastic resevoir and rubber tubing for the moose fix. PM if you'd likey.

Welcome . As posted previously, scan for CEL codes, then post.

Yes, the precats are expensive. IIRC, Bank 1 is about $750 and Bank 2 is about $650. Throw in labor and you are looking at $1800. Sometimes they also put in the main cat (another $300 plus labor). You could be looking at $2500 for all three catalytic converters.

Mileiminators and gutting the precats are fine, if you don't have to deal with smog inspections. Just make sure you are aware of what your county requires in terms of smog inspections.

Moose thread.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=v6maint&Number=1148660&fpart=1&PHPSESSID=

There is no need to gut the precats if they're dead, only if they're, clogged. Big difference in symptoms.

No emissions test, don't worry about those cat efficiency codes..

Steve

LMAO at "Howler Monkey" reference