Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting New owner with a few questions

Hello everyone. Im new to the SVT Contour family as I picked up a 98 black 'tour today for my new DD. Ive been a SVT fan forever though, and ive had my 95 Cobra for 5 years now. Anyways, i love the SVTC, she looks and drives great for 100K miles, and it seems the previous owner(s) took good care of her. I have a few little issues with it though.

1. The hanging throttle (which is covered in the FAQ)
2. The E-brake light stays on
- This wasnt on till i got her home, cleaned her up and now its constantly on. I think it might be a loose wire or connection or something. Anyone have the same issue or had it in the past?

3. By far the most worrysome/agrivating. When i hold the clutch in for too long (maybe 5-10 seconds) without engaging a gear, the pedal gets real light and takes a few seconds to get back off the floor and get its feeling back. Its kinda hard to explain. When its in this limpy state, i cant get the tranny to go in any gear, and if it is in gear while holding it in, i cant get it back out of that gear. I basically just hold the brake and the car eventually stalls itself out. It happened in reverse and it scared me because the car just wanted to take off (since it was already in gear) and i held the brake till it stalled. IS there something that is wrong with the hydraulic clutch pedal or the tranny/clutch itself? Is there some sort of adjustment that i can do to the pedal? If i can fix this problem, the car would be 100%. Any help or advice would be much appriciated!

PS> car is #2444 of 6535 born on July 15, 1997
(previous owner had this written on a paper in the owners guide)

Welcome . Check the brake fluid level for the brake light issue.

Bleed the clutch for the clutch issue.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tranny&Number=1253030&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1

Hey, Thanks for the information, i will definately check that stuff out tonight. Ill post up if i get it fixed or not.

Well, i checked it out, the brake master cylinder was low on fluid. So i filled it up and had my dad pump the clutch, seemed good. Then i assumed i had fixed the problem. I did a little walk-around of the car and about 5-10 minutes later i noticed a puddle under the engine, i assumed it was air-conditioning sweat, but after i put my fingers in it i found out that it was brake fluid. So upon closer inspection, it seems either the clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder are leaking. Its coming from a shaft with a whitish grommet on the end going into the dash. Should i take it to a tranny shop or is this something i can probably fix myself? (Ive changed the clutch and tranny in a couple cars before, but they were RWD). Anyone have a ballpark on how much this will cost? Im pretty upset that the dealership didnt offer a warranty, and they claimed the car was "perfect" when i signed off on it. Oh well, any help will be greatly appriciated, i really want to drive this thing!!!

If you've done a few heavy jobs on other cars, doing the clutch master on your car shouldn't be beyond your capabilites. It's just nuts and bolts (oh, and fliud). It's under the dash. The clutch slave is a different matter. You must remove the trans to get to it.

Cool, thanks... ill have to check it out tomorrow morning since i dont have to work till three. I am going to *assume* that its the master since i can see it leaking near the firewall. Thanks for the help, ill keep everyone posted on my progress. Keep up the great work on this site!

UPDATE:

Ok, so i took out the clutch master cylinder and replaced it with a new one. Note to anyone that has to do this in the future, call and get prices before you attempt yourself... its not terribly hard but some things I would suggest doing if i had to do it again, would be to remove your driver's seat so you have room to work under the dash. Well anyways, i check the new part and notice its still leaking! So i figured, it has to be the line from the clutch master to the tranny. So i yanked it out, and ran a little air through it, sure enough it was leaking right where the line connects to the clutch master. Its so tiny a crack its hardly visible to the naked eye, but it sure does leak! So tomorrow i will be ordering the line and (crossing fingers) it will be completed by the weekend and all put back together and out in the driveway instead of on jackstands! Ill update everyone as soon as shes back on 4 wheels.

PS. I also found out upon closer examination taht the car must have been in a small front end impact because there are stickers that tell me the front bumper/headlights are new. Also, the dealership claimed they changed the oil.. after jacking her up i saw the oldest cruddiest oil filter ive ever seen. I guess this all just taught me that dealerships, unless youve had long term dealings with, are just as shady and cheap as a scam artist. Know your dealership, or watch the mechanic go over the cars' systems before purchasing! I sort of impulsed bought this car because ive been looking for like 10 months now for one. I blame only myself for not checking the car over better.

Final Update:

The car is on the ground and running again! Put in the new line and clutch master, filled the resovoir with fluid, bled the system and everything checked out ok. Funny thing is, as soon as i took her around the block, came home, pulled in the drive, and noticed that the left rear tire on my Cobra was flat... WTF.. if its not one thing its another. Oh well, at least I have something to drive, and what a nice ride she is! Ill post up some pics as soon as it stops raining here in NE Ohio.