Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Just got a 95 mystique and its got issues....

Ok just got a mystique for like nothin cause its got some issues.When i first looked at the car it was running but just didn't sound good.

I noticed a bunch of wires under the hood are like cracking and the coating falling off making the wires exposed.

The check engine light is on, and the temp gauge just stays maxed out at all times but the car does not even get hot.

It runs like [censored], its like spittin and sputterin or missin when driving down the road and while idleing.I allready had the injectors checked out at a shop and there fine.

Check engine light is on also.Im gonna go thru all the wiring that i can see and black tape it up,or use that spray stuff.

Anyways, anyone know why its runnin like crap and check engine light would be on.

I been searchin for a bit,i was also gonna find out what codes its throwin but i dont know what to use exactly.Only thing i seen was this So i guess i can use a regular test light? But where,i dont understand what all i have to connect it to.

Yea its long but this pretty much covers the problems it has and what i need help with.

http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=24
This is about the wiring problem. I think you are out of luck on the car being over 10 years now.

Yea i seen that while seaching,and yea im out of luck on that.But i'll just go thru and tape or spray any eposing wires that i can notice.

The car won't even start right now.

See if you can get a used harness (major job). Someone here removed theirs and fixed the problems and put it back in. Look under the fuse box next to the battery, that's a trouble spot. Maybe if you are lucky you can find the wire faults. The temperature gauge will peg immediately if the sensor is shorted, or the wire shorts to ground. Caution: watch for overheating (temperature above M on the scale) if you have a Duratec V6 the waterpumps often fail, not too hard or costly to fix though. Good luck with fixing it up!

Welcome .

as alluded to and stated:

your wiring harness is likely shot, but you are out of luck.. replacement in its entireity is costly and labor intensive on your own, as well.

the overheating needle but "won't get hot" (I assume no hot air from vents is what you mean) is ENTIRELY indicative of a failed waterpump.

replace the pump impellar housing, piece together the (what you will find to be) shattered black impellar. make sure you aren't missing any pieces from those you find in the housing, etc.

If you find them all, toss the new impellar (white plastic!! its the cheapest and proven to not fail in this manner as these do..) in the car, and perform a compression test to see if the overheating has warped the soft aluminum heads, etc.

If you can't piece the entire impellar together, perform a cooling system flush with the housing still off, etc. then replace and do the compression test.

If you have a V6, also keep your engine oil to 6.0-6.5 (I recommend 6.5) qts, instead of 5.8 as the manual states. period. don't worry about overfilling.. don't worry about if this is "safe".. just do this.

The heater gets warm just fine, what i meant was the car isn't overheating at all, just the temp gauge pegs out.

I think im just gonna tell the guy who i got this car from to come back and pick it up if i can;t figure it out.I havn't paid anything on it yet cause i didnt know if I would get it running right.

The dude i got the car from doesnt even want to mess with it anymore ..he says if i give it back hes just gonna let it sit, so if I can get it running i'll be able to get for around $400 or less

The car is in super nice condition,thats why i got it from him,i thought I could get it running.

I'll try and fix what wires im able to get to and maybe that will will be it, but more than likely theres wires bare where I can't even see.

Well thanks for the help and the welcomes.Keep em' comin

EDIT: Oh and where is the temp sensor at?

shortly after i got my 95 mystique, i had to replace the coil, plug wires and plugs due to them being fried from the poor condition of the plug wires.
it was sputtering and failing to start near empty. kinda sounds like your issues, though my wire harness was ok.