Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General ready to buy, what are the trouble spots?

Hello everyone... after about 2 hours of searching (with minimal results) I will post my question:

I am buying an CSVT in the next 30 days. Haven't chosen one yet. But have found many to choose from. What are the weak points, trouble spots, areas of concern I should be watching for &/or asking about if they have been addressed?

I am finding most of the cars in the 50-100K miles range.

I am an enthusiast, so I am already aware of the oil pan issue as an example that will directly apply to my style of driving.. LOL

Any input or links to posts would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

Rob W.

i dunno buh i doo no you wil prolly wanna change yo name wunce you git wun.

i know that the V6 tours (svt's included) had plastic impellers on the water pump these have been known to brake off. so see if the car has heat if it does then u are fine there.

another thing to look out for is when you open the drivers or passengers side handles(when locked) do the lights come on inside. ( this is needed if you want an alarm to work in your car).

In the 1999 & newer you should look for dash warp. It comonly occurs near the windshield &/or around the defrost insert. I would also try to give the car a "good drive" to see if you notice a lack of power up past 4000 rpm. I have heard of many having trouble with a gas tank filter, & I personally had trouble with the IMRC failing during "spirited" driving. They are great cars & if you shop smart you can probably get one for a great price. Good luck

Isn't there a problem with certain years and syncros? I know when i got mine I asked the guy selling and he said that he had the transmission replaced under warranty for that issue.

Same topic

- Weak fuel pumps. Its common for them to die if you run them below 1/4 tank too much, or if your luck is just bad.

- Dash warp, it should be fixed under recall, otherwise your sol

- Water pump goes easily for pre 99's.

- Driving it hard (like it was meant to) can result in oil starvation and bye-bye engine.

- Every nearly imaginable throttle problem under the sun. The biggie is throttle hang (where RPM's drop very, very slowly or it just sticks, or even rises when clutched in) although its remedied with the TH fix - YMMV on how well it removes th for your svt. Right now my SVT shakes and hesitates in 3rd gear with light throttle. Dealership tore it apart replacing the DPFE, MAF, cleaned the TB, and while mostly gone, its still there and they've given up (as have I). Can't be the IAC cause RPM's fall like a brick.)

Which leads to:

- Needing to keep the induction system really clean or else little problems like this will come up.

- Cold starting problems

- Weird electrical problems, I just changed my battery too and had the starter system checked out, and I'm sure my alt is fine.

- 3rd gear synchro's go pretty easily as well.

- Fuel Mileage completely blows. It's not even close to the EPA estimates.

Lots of posters are gonna slam this post saying I don't know what I'm saying or whatever, but its your prerogative and I'd check the Troubleshooting section with those issues and find out for yourself.

It is a fun car to drive and unique as hell, but all the stupid little niggling problems make me just want to sell it and buy an accord and live with the boredom. Most people who've owned one have pretty much moved on to different cars, or are running 3L swaps cause the engine decided to take a [censored] for good.

If I was given the chance to re-do it with what I know now, I'd seriously think about something else as I don't have a lot of time to deal with fixing the stupid problems every month and not having a running car. If your time is worthless and you don't mind having it sit in your garage while you figure out what's up with it, then you should be fine.

Hope that helps.

Regarding oil starvation:

You'll find this elsewhere on the forum, but here's a reminder of the simple solution (i.e., no oilpan drop): Always keep your oil level on the top "full" mark of the dipstick. Some posters even recommend a slight overfill (perhaps half a quart), claming the oil level is still well under the crank, so no risk of foaming (Disclaimer: I don't have personal experience on that aspect of this topic).

Oh, engine, transmission, interior, the usual.

If I were lucky enough to find a new-in-box Contour SVT, I think the first thing I'd do is drive it to a shop that would put in an Accusump, updated oil pan, and maybe an extra oil cooler, then freakin' spraypaint the oil volume requirement on the underside of the hood. It seems to me that just about every catastrophic failure of an SVT that I've heard about one way or another came back to oiling issues.