Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting HELP !! Blown SVT engine, what to do ?

Your best bet is to send it to Terry. At least he's going to be honest. It sounds like the "head" of the engine and not the whole thing. Same thing happened to a Probe I owned. Found out when I tore down the engine that it probably never had an oil change until I owned it at 38k miles. Sludge had blocked up the oil intake. It ticked when it ran like an old VW Bug. Cams/lifters etc were shot for lack of oil pressure. The "block" was good though.

Thanks for your remarks, Cindy. I might be in a bit better shape if it turns out the entire engine isn't shot. The dealer sounds like they don't want to even bother finding out the exact cause, and just pop in a new engine. Much more profitable for them, of course. ....... - Dave

I feel your pain. Try buying a beater to get to school and park the Contour until your situation gets better. Streaching yourself to thin can really raise the stress level in your life. I fyou park it for awhile it gives you time to regroup. I know a beater is just another basket of problems too but pick one you can work on and it should get you thru school? I got layed off yesterday and my Contour died today so I know sorta know where your at. I had to pull my 66 Convertible Fairlane out of its winter sleep to do the drive to work thing. My wife is now driving my truck till we raise the $$ to fix the Contour. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

wpedtv -- Thanks for your post. Fortunately, I have an 89 Plymouth Horizon I can limp around in until I can pull things together and get my beast fixed.
I sorta have funds to do something, perhaps locally. I think the option of sending it to Terry's is probably pretty good -- just not sure about sending it out-of-state (my practical wife will LOVE that idea!)
Good luck to you, my friend -- I really feel for you in your position. I was laid off from a well-paying tech job a year ago, and have been chasing my tail to make ends meet ever since. Now am going to college classes to get a Computer Sci. degree ... the fun never ends, eh ? ..... - Dave

Hi all, just an update:
I emailed Ford about a week ago, to comment about my Contour SVT, that had just a bit over 40K miles, easy driving, regular maintenance, and now ... a blown engine. Among other things, I mentioned that I was a first-time Ford owner, and with what I have experienced, and am now facing, that I can also be referred to as a last-time Ford owner.
Their auto-reply email "form letter" said they would get back to me in about 3 business days, so I was pretty impressed when I received an email from a real person just 30 minutes or so later.
This message said that they were very concerned regarding my situation, and would be in contact soon, by phone, and would keep me apprised of what was happening in the Ford offices.
A week later, I have had NO phone calls OR emails.
Meanwhile, my Contour SVT is going to wear out its welcome at the dealership's lot ... :rolleyes:

same thing had happend to me, i've blown my engine at 80000 and had to repleace it, spent $2500 for engine(40000 miles) and labor because it is impossible to change this emgine by yourself, i mean you have to strip it down about %50 just to take it out same with putting the new one in. one diffrence is i have a regular duratec 2.5 V6 non SVT.

good luck

Check the classifieds!! There are a couple of engines 4 sale...
Lee

Guys, I've got a complete SVT motor, SVT heads (No cams), and SVT shortblock currently for sale. PM or email me if interested. As a matter of fact, my tranny is going to Terry in a week and I could probably just send the motor too if you wanted to have him do the swap. Let me know.

Thanks,
Rick

Hi all, just another update ...
Ford Customer Service investigated and claims I have no extended warranty. They said one did exist on the car, but under the previous (first) owner's name. Seems the things I had done at the dealership were performed under a "goodwill" coverage as a favor. They had previously implied that work had been done under my 'warranty', which I thought was what I had at the time of purchase (I guess I was so excited about the car at the time that I didn't check details).
Ford C/S told me to go to the dealership I bought my SVT at to get info concerning the previous owner, to see about a transfer of extended warranty. Well, they were no help, as they had gotten the car at an auction. I have several pages of CarFax info, and the dealership told me to take it to DMV and they could track down the original owner. This seems hokey to me, as I don't think DMV is going to give me contact info for someone.
Ford C/S told me that MAYBE something could be worked out even if I could not take over the ext. warranty, if I can produce paperwork showing oil changes etc. that was/were performed. I can only hope that I can produce them, they may have been among my papers ruined in a basement flooding. :rolleyes:
Someone emailed me and suggested going straight to the SVT offices, so I will see how that goes.
If I run out of luck all the way around, I guess I will just pick up a used motor and find someone in the northern VA/Wash DC area that might want to do the swap for me ...
----------------------
"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."
Sure applies to me ..... sigh

i really love my contour after 9 mos of ownership but all these blown engines and lack of service from ford is kinda starting to scare me...

i am however getting good service from the local dealer placing my tranny

only thing is that i had an oil change and tranny flush on 1/10/01 (tranny died this past monday...hmmmmm)

after leaving the ripoff city lube my engine now has a tick sound that wasn't there before so i am sh!ttin that my engine may be next....i check the oil and the level seems fine....

i have like 4000 miles or less left on my warranty so my plan is to get my car back and make sure the transmission works fine and then i'll take it back for my engine to be checked