Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Coolant Loss & Fixes to common problems

Hi Everyone,
I use this site quite alot and would like to return the favour. 96 contour 2.0l w/ 175K. Here are a list of some fixes to common problems that I've had.

1) Rolling idle- turned out to be the EGR solenoid stuck open

2)Codes P1134 and PO133 - check engine was turning on/off every few days turned out to be upstream oxygen sensor

3)PCV - Require some patience but you can reach it with your hands from underneath the car. Requires a long flat screw drive and bending the rigid PCV pipe out of the way. May not be the best solution but at least you can stick your hand in there.

4) For those with a leaking A/C system, have the valve on the low pressure side checked. Use a liitle H20 and see if any air bubbles form.


Now the present issue at hand. Had the waterpump changed at ford last year 120K. Everythings going great until last week. Rushing to work so I'm revving it to 5k. All of a sudden I get a cloud of white smoke!!! Stop to check what happened, I see smoke coming from underneath the car near the a/c compressor. Smoke goes away and never came back. Now I'm loosing coolant. It's so hard to see the pump and the lower radiator hose. Seeing that the engine wasn't fully warmed up at the time, could it be that the pressure caused the hose to slightly shift off the water pump causing a slow leak. When the pump went last year it was dripping near the driveshaft pulley, so I figutre the pump is still good. Any suggestions on a quick way to verify pump without taking half the car apart.

Welcome to CEG I replaced my low side valve after finding it bubbled and I lost R134. It is still leaking, it went out again after 1 month. Did you just replace your valve? If so, do you have the part number. I can't help much with the waterpump, you might have popped a hose.

I just had the valve changed, I don't know what the part number was.

Oh well, I hope yours holds its charge. I will fix mine again in April

Cool, it is always good to see posts that actually offer help.

Went to the dealer tonight for the coolant leak. Says its the head gasket is gone. I'm pretty good wit doing repair but how can a head gasket have an external leak? If I do a compression test what should I look for? Can the gasket have an external leak and not internal? Any sugesstion would be great. It seems the coolant is coming out of the side of the engine near the water pump hose and drip onto the a/c compress and falling on the floor. Would raly appreciate any input he dealer want $1600 for the repair

Laziale