Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Coolant Leak

K, well this is fun. Recently on a trip in B.C. I had teh fuse for my fan blow, and the car overheated. I went to the local shop, I had thought it was the thermostat, as none of the fuses appeared blown. They agreed with me, and the thermostat was replaced, of course in the process the mechanic broke my temp sensor. He jumpered the fuse after we found it was blown, I asked him to solder it, he refused and sent me off. 16km down the road the car overheated and the head gasket blew.

To make a long story short, I had to pay part of the repair and now a couple weeks later the head gasket is leaking coolant. What I think happened is that they used the same bolts to put the head back on. So I am going in to replace the bolts. Could wrongly tourqued bolts be the reason why the head gasket is leaking. It isn't a huge leak jsut minor when the car is sitting after being run?

Secondly, could someone tell me the easiest and best way to set the timing.... I have never done it in a car like this, and I am sorry but if anyone knows of a good explanation on the wweb or something of that nature. I am good with everything else, I am just cautious and a little scared when it comes to the timing chains. Thanks for all you help.....

Paul
95 Contour
2.5 Duratec

My experience is that once the head gasket leaks, you have to replace it. New bolts alone won't do it. It is also possible that the gasket is o.k. and your heads are warped. I wouldn't take any short cuts on this. Replace the gasket and bolts!

These cars have DIS (Direct Ignition System)and the spark is controlled by the computer. There is no user adjustments that can be made. The only way to alter timimg is to use a performance add-on chip to your PCM. The car has a knock sensor too, so that if the engine starts knocking, the PCM retards the timing.