Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Maintenance Spun bearings

Originally posted by rkneeshaw3.0:

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Originally posted by eepals:

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Originally posted by Alan Coles:

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It is my understanding that none of these vehicles have any sort of Accusump system, but I don't know for sure, perhaps someone else out there could add to this.

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By the looks of a picture I saw, the Bondurant Contours, had a Accusump mounted in the area where the stock cabin air filter is.

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And the plot thickens....
DA-DUM!

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OK, force me to do the work, and find some answers to my own questions.

Just got off the phone with Boundurant's "Shop/Facilities Manager", we've talked on a few occassions over the past number of years on other items. (I was very close to buying one of their XR4Ti cars many years ago and also looked at their Contours last year).
Only one of their first Contours was fitted with the Accusump (#12 I believe). They then went to a larger custom oil pan and additional drain back and then didn't need the Accusump (this is likely where the improved 3.0L heads came from). This was all done by Roush and Boundurant don't know anything more than that it was done. I was able to find out that they did have a problem with spun bearings but not after the above fixes.

So, I'll pass the torch on to anyone who has a contact in Roush's R&D department. They'd be the ones that have the detailed info but I doubt that they would be at liberty nor inclined to divulge it.

The above would tend to indicate in an anecdotal fashion that aleast some of the problems with spun bearings are due to insufficient oil supply in the pan under extreme conditions, as has been stated by many over the years. One could surmise that a street vehicle that is run with a low oil level at some point in it's life could also suffer sufficient bearing damage to fail at that point or, if the damage is somewhat less then that necessary for immediate failure then, you could have an accelerated wear issue that would lead to bearing failure at a later point even if the oil level, driving style, etc., were well within spec at the time of failure.

Unfortunately , I don't think this helps at all in explaining the rash of 3.0L failures (Taurus and Escape), as they have both increased pan capacity and improved oil drain back. So I'm still on the fence regarding putting a 3.0L in when the 2.5L is pulled out this winter.

Regards, Alan