Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Forced Induction Sorry guys But.......

Those cars are fun! When I worked as a mechanic I worked at the Chevy dealer in Tucson back in '92, I worked on a few of those and I used to enjoy taking the new ones out for a spin. Does it have the digital instrument cluster? If so you may as well be prepared because the digital cluster is run directly from the ecm. The problem with GM ecm's of that era was the solder joints on the board would crack making intermittent or temperature related electrical conditions appear. It caused the display to go out or do screwy things. Not too bad because they were only $120 for a rebuilt ecm w/swap at that time.
There were only 4 or so conditions that I saw on those cars when I worked there:
1. ecm trouble like I described...I replaced them about 1 every 3-4 weeks.
2. ignition coil module...not as common, but expensive. ~$180 as of 1995.
3. Head gaskets. There was a recall on early model quad 4 engines about the head gaskets. Follow the torque specs exactly when you put your new one on!
4. Fuel injectors would go bad on the earlier Berettas, not sure about the 92's.

One thing you might not know about the early quad for intake manifolds is that they had a volumetric efficiency something like 120% somewhere between 3-4K rpm. When you look at it you will understand...it is essentially a tuned intake header. Now if you optimize your turbo kit around the same rpm??? (evil thoughts!!)

warmonger