Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting coil pack again?

last year my car started missing. replaced the plugs and plug wires, and that fixed it for a while.

then is started missing again. used a known good wire and plug (grounded) and checked for spark. didn't get any spark out of one of the plugs on the coil pack (middle plug closest to the engine). replaced the coild pack, and all was well for a while.

then just recently it started missing again. tested the coil pack again, and it was getting no spark from the same plug. took it to the dealer because i thought something must be really wrong. of course they charged me a hundred dollars and told me what i already knew.

i replaced it myself, and all is well again.

could there be something frying the coil pack? too much/not enough voltage? grounding problem?

i sure have had to do a lot of work on a car that was suppose to make it to 100,000 miles before it's first tune up.

(water pump, rotors, cats, fuel filler neck, fuel pump o-ring, coil pack (twice), plug wires, plugs, moosing (did mod), fuel filler door sticking (did mod), o2 sensors, blah blah blah)

what an exciting car. i'm only at 70,000, and can't wait to see what is in store for the future.

...so i can drive more, so i can work longer, to make more money, so i can buy more parts, so i can drive more, so i can work longer...

coil pack eh....sounds like my problem too.

Your fix-it list sounds about like mine, except for the coil pack business... A short circuit of some type on that particular plug/wire may be causing premature failure of that coil segment. Other than that, maybe just a lousy coinsidence.

You have a '95. It is entirely possible that the wiring insulation on your engine harness is deteriorating--it's a known problem with ALL 95-97 models.

Ford has an extended warranty on the harnesses until 100,000 miles, it's the 99M03 recall.

Brian

Have you checked the Fuel Charge wiring harness??

Check here.

and here.........

It sounds like you have the same problems that I used to have. Take a peek at the wires on the left middle side of your Upper Intake Manifold. You need to look down through at where the fuel rail is. If you see bare wires....you have your prime suspect!!!

wow....the wiring harnesses in our cars are defective. that is absolutely terrific news......terrific.

why just this afternoon i was thinking to myself: ?self? i said. ?i sure do miss taking the bus and having the wife drop me off at work, and i just don?t know what i?m going to do with my next pay check.?

my children think i?m a mechanic. ?my daddy works on cars.? they say pride in there voices. imagine how hard it would have been for me to tell them: ?i?m not actually a mechanic. i just had a momentary lapse in sanity and bought a ford instead of a japanese car like mommy?s car.?

speaking of mommy?s car: i wonder why i end up driving mommy?s car more than mommy? i wonder if why gas doesn?t start poring out of the tank when it?s parked at an angle, or why the check engine light doesn?t come on when i?m driving it up hills? maybe the bulb is burned out. i wonder why the water pump has never grenaded miles from home, letting me push it back home in the middle of the night? i wonder why it never occasionally just starts dropping a cylinder, or why it never sound like an f***ing moose when i shut it off? i wonder why interior pieces don?t just start breaking? i wonder why it never just starts revving like a g**d*mn banshee while i?m sitting at a stop light making everyone around me think i?m trying to race them? i wonder why it?s dealer doesn?t charge me hundreds of dollars every time i take the car in, or try to buy a part?

her car has three times the amount of miles on it as mine did at its age. anybody know why?......anybody?

Oh well, the contour?s good looks an prospective performance are much more important than actually driving it. right?

wow, i'm starting to sound like one of those people aren't i? i need a beer.

You are cracking me up!

warmonger

Maybe these pics will make you feel better:
My new coil pack
My engine bay while installing the new wiring harnesses and coil pack
This is where my car sat for nearly two weeks because I started messing with the darn wires.