Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting 95 countour 4cyl cooling issue-help please

I just got a 1995 contour. It needed and engine, it overheated hard and the head was junk. I got the new engine in, runs great. Temp always ran good, right at a half, sometimes even below, good heat too. Last night was the first time I let it idle though, and as it sat in the driveway the temp went up. It was at about 3/4 when the fan came on. It seamed like high speed, really loud and only stayed on for a couple of seconds. also, when i turn the a/c on, nothing happens with the fan, but after a minute or so the fan pulses on again on high speed for a few seconds then goes off. Tonight i let it get hot again, just to see if the fan would come on, and noithing all the way to 3/4. I shut it off, the ater 2 min started again and the fan came right on, for a few secons again. this time the temp guage did not go all the way back to a half. it was a hair, literaly the width of the needle past a half. all i need to know is this normal. where is th gauge supposed to be at. when sould the fan be comming on. when shoud it come on, and at what speed. PLESAE HELP ME
thanks a million
dimitri

did u get a new, used, or rebuilt engine? u may need a new wiring harness, you may need to get the fan switch TSB done (info on main page?) don't worry about temp unless it goes in red, it's normal for the zetec to get hot. my fan doesn't turn on till right before red. the fan should turn on with a/c though...maybe someone else can help.

Mine turns on when the needle is halfway between cold and hot. It has never gone past halfway. As long as the fan comes on, it should be ok, IMO.
My fan doesnt stay on very long either.

I'm having the same exact problem, and I've had the car to Ford time after time. Ford has done the wiring harness recall, and replaced the fan motor, and temp sensor. It still doesn't work right. I'm convinced the low speed relay is not coming on at all, and only when the temp gets really hot, the high speed relay kicks on for just a few seconds.

If I recall correctly, the Zetec low speed fan should kick in at 100 C, and should run until the temp drops to 93 C. If the low speed fan doesn't do the job, or if the low speed relay never kicks in, the high speed relay should kick in at 103 C, and kick out when the temp drops to 100 C. Don't quote me on these figures, I'm going from memory on this.

From what I can determine, the a/c fan is dependent upon the a/c pressure, and when the pressure reaches a certain value, the fan should kick on and stay on. My contour does that, no problem; however, my mystique does exactly like yours, and stays on for about 3 seconds, and then cuts out for about 12 seconds.

I still don't know what's going on, and my Ford dealer doesn't either. They started out replacing the resistor in the wiring harness, but when the resistor kept overheating, they simply removed the resistor. We're still arguing about that too.

Don't know that this helps, but we're in the same boat.

i think my low speed fan must not work, and only my high speed comes on,,,,oo well.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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i think my low speed fan must not work, and only my high speed comes on,,,,oo well.

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Based on what I've dealt with, and what I've read from other posts, that must be a common occurrence. The next question is why. The Ford service manual CD lists the steps to trace the problem, but I've not ventured that far yet.

I check my out last night, it had been doing the same things, only after Ford did the wire harness replacment.

My fan at times would not run when the air was on, and would not cool inside. I could move the fan plug & it would start running & air would start cooling.

I pulled the fan harness resistor plug off the fan and looked at the connector, it looked as like one of the connections wasn't making a good contact with the blade in the fan connector.

I cleaned off the harness and the fan plugs, and it works a little better now, still at times won't work.

I plan to show the dealer this, as the recall was done a few months ago.

Note, cleaning the plug on the fan is a pain, as it's so hard to reach.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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i think my low speed fan must not work, and only my high speed comes on,,,,oo well.

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If it only works on high speed it's the relay

I took a tiewrap & hooked the plug to the fan shroud as a temp fix.

So far works okay. Will have the dealer do the "real" fix later when time permits.

Originally posted by bk4293:

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Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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i think my low speed fan must not work, and only my high speed comes on,,,,oo well.

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If it only works on high speed it's the relay

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i think low speed works when i turn a/c or something on... but only one fan comes on in normal driving once it gets near hot range (high speed fan), so is it still the relay, how much does one cost, or can i fix mine? i believe some recall work has been done to the switch or whatever by the looks of it.