Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches California Service - Dealership

Well.. it was bound to happen. Must bring the SVT into the shop.

Have a clunking noise from the left rear of the car. I think I snapped a sway bar mount. Can hear the clunk around corners and when I pull into the driveway here at work. Sometimes as well over small bumps.

Anyways.. on to my question. Who has delt with service places here in Sacramento? I am up the street from Harrold Ford when I am working. Other option is Folsom Lake Ford. Has anyone delt with either of these two? Is there a better place to take it? Any info is appreciated.

Thanks NorCal.

hmm - you may just want to take it to Pep Boys or a smaller shop, they can do a quick "visual" inspection on the car for ~$30 - then you can start spending "real" money...

Folsom Lake Ford charged me $63 to clear the airbag codes on my ECU, the didn't even fix the damn thing!

Flummox,

You have an aftermarket bar on your car. Chris put on the SCA 21mm bar, not sure if he swapped it out for the stocker, but easy to tell.

Stocker is black, SCA is raw aluminum color.

Dealership should refuse your warranty claim, provided it is still under warranty.

I would order a set of 21mm Type A brakcet/bushings from ProThane and drop use the factory bolt to hold it up and then use a 1/4 thick 1" long bolt with plenty of large washers up top and on bottom and drop that down the stock hole that the brakcet lip fits in.

You can buy another factory bracket but it will only last a few weeks/months before the clunk is back!!! Factory brakcet is about $8 and takes about 5 minutes to install once you have rear end off the ground.

Figures.

Forget the ESP now (warranty up in October) since it seems I am going to pay for any problem I will have with the car in the future.

Does ProThane have a website?

Anyone have pictures of the sway bar area that I can take a look at? Basically so I can see what I am getting myself into.

Any other tips are greatly appreciated!

I would buy a extended warranty!

Much cheaper than if your trans/engine goes. Its a must have if you plan on keeping car after Oct. I am in the same boat and need to buy by Dec.

I have pics of my old stocker brackets/bushings on the car. I will attempt to shoot a few of the new setup as well and post them for you.

Yes Prothane has a website, you can also search the web for a store that stocks there parts. Prothane is $9.95 for the set of two brackets/bushings + $10 to ship. Find a store and they will be closer to $15.

Easy easy job. Josh and I uninstalled his Aussie bar and reinstalled the stocker in under an hr, changing brackets to prothane will take about an hr including jacking up the car and removing the tires.

No sense in paying someone to do it!

Look for the pics late tonight. I had to work 15hrs yesterday, so I hope to call it an early day.

Good point about the ESP!

No rush on the pictures and if it is a pain to get a snapshot of the new setup dont even bother. I do appreciate the offer!

Just a good description and maybe someone who has done it before that is willing to let me call them if I get stuck on what to do would be a great help!

My computer is down at home so I wont be able to check this until tomorrow here at work. XP is the best thing yet from Microsoft my butt! Ok while I am ranting about this I know some of you know computers. The install goes ok through the preparation stage, but when it reboots to actually install I get an error. The error happens after it boots to the setup screen, when it gets there the error pops up. It states something along the lines of Manifest error in top level of document. Windows XP cannot install a needed file. I have tried the full install as well (vs the upgrade option) and still get the same error. Any ideas on this? Yes.. I kicked the computer.. didnt do anything. :rolleyes:

Thanks!

Harrold Ford is great, they pamper my SVT. See ART (serivce manager)

But would Art fix my car under warranty with a different sway bar? I think not.

However I will keep him in mind for any other warranty work that may arise.

Hey Fmr do you have the part number? I looked on the web and no Contour was listed.

You want a stock bracket or aftermarket ny prothane?

Stock, any dealer can order for you. Look at www.fordpartsonline.com for number.

For the SCA 21mm bar, it is a universal application. Looking for 21mm Type A bracket w/ polyUrethane bushing