Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Buurrrrrrrr! It's nippy in my contour!!!

Hey,

My car's heater works very poorly (unlike all fords I have been in) I let it warm up a good 10-15 minutes I know I don't expect a fireplace, but something that is like +5 degrees outside. I had my heater blower resistor fixed...TWICE! Apparently the technician that did it rushed it and didn't do it right (the result was supposed to be all 4/4 AC speeds working) but I was naive, and didn't know. So I came home looking at the guy's work, he left my carpet (passenger side) all open up there and it was just a mess. I went back and said how the person did not fix my problem, that I stated along with NHTSA and CEG (not official...yet...) information on the recall, because I know how ford/chevy loves to [censored] around with customers to save a dollar (not about the physical engineering of the vehicles, but the customer service aspect). SO anyways, they do it again, finally fixing it, I got all AC fan speeds, I am happy, but it's 110' F outside. So I just do a quick inspection because I had somewhere to be, I see my floor not put back, and a black box dangling from the side (don't know name of the area... rear-ish of the radio but down more) so I yell out my window as my customer service rep was walking by "YOU F-N CHEAP ASSES!" and burning out (nearly) on their slick concrete! I was enraged, but drove carefully. I got home and I put it back together myself and correctly. I didn't modify in any way just tucked it gently into an opening. Now my heater sucks. Is it my car, or does every '97 lack a good heater?

Other than that it behaves just fine...

I was reading another post a month or so back, and it was about power sliding. I didn't do it on asphalt because I read about the damage it can do, so i was assuming it was implied that you have strong friction in the rears it can cause damage. Here in AZ, there is a few good dirt dry roads where the city is too dumb to pave it. It is used pretty good so it is not like a wash, but not hardened completly like a highly used dirt road. Know what I mean? So I was doing a good 55 on it (short strech, about .25 - .5 Mi long with a "L" shape like thing in it) and I tried powersliding for my first, It was awesome. I can see the love for it on the streets but I won't do it. It is also great at making large amounts of dust in the event you need to 'lose' someone... like a 73 chevy p/u (don't ask why...) I looked underneath my car, no bottom-outs and just a little dirty, nothing a hose can't take care of. I was just commenting that it is cool to do, but not on streets.

K, reply quickly plz .
Joe

I don't think yelling at the service rep will get you anywhere, but sounds like they didn't care a whole lot. After I had my brake recall fix they left a bundle of wiring hanging down on the floor, so I asked them to clean it up and they did. I think sometimes they just forget, but I digress. If you problem is not very warm air, you have 2 possiblities. One is that if your thermostat is not closing your engine may not be warming up to the proper temp which should be visible on your temp gauge. The other possibility is that your heater valve isn't opening all the way. I know on my contour its electric. Turn the key to the "on" position, but don't start the car. Then turn it from cold all the way to hot (with the fan on lowest speed so you can listen). When you do this you should hear a little motor opening the heater core valve. If not, then this has failed. Or it could only be opening partially. But if you know for sure that your engine is warmed up to normal temperature, then it is most likely something wrong with this valve. Good luck.

How's your engine temps? A bad water pump (not that they ever fail on Contours ) will give you no heat at the heater even though your motor will be very hot. Other than that, a bad thermostat (stuck open) will cause it to take a lot longer to get warmed up, but it will eventually.

Next time I'd complain politely to the service manager at the dealership about shoddy service rather than burnout and swear at service advisors (who don't give a damn) and ask for compensation in the form of an oil change or something like that. It's the tech taking shortcuts on repairs because he gets paid by the job, and the more jobs he does the more he makes. OTOH, if he takes longer than the "book" time to do a repair, he's losing money every minute it takes longer. Shitty system if the times allowed are unreasonably short, and leads to customer satisfaction issues like you described.

Scott

Nippy?? Heater?? Arizona??

You're gettin' a little soft if you ask me. (-17 celcius a couple of nights ago in Calgary).

A plug or restriction in the heater core or associated hoses, perhaps?

If your dashboard temp. gauge is anywhere near the "normal" range, you should have no problem geting heat in the cabin as long as coolant is flowing through, and air is passing over, the heater core.

No, good point though. It sticks at that thick square for like 5 minutes then it begins to move up (as I am heavy in the foot the engine gets warm...)

Thanks for all your replies.

About that person that mentioned getting like a free oil change for what they did. I would NEVER trust them to even check the correct amount. BOYCOTT FORD SERVICE CENTERS!



To the person that noted that -17 is cold...
It is just getting colder for us because I am so used to 105's (where the black dot on the emoticon = my sunburn)

Cool. Keep chatting up on Contours.
Just one question what car should I get a focus or a acura integra?