Hello, everyone!
I've been lurking the board for about 2 years, and surprise, surprise, decide to register and post only after I've encountered a major problem. This will be long, but bear with me, please.
I own a 97 Zetec auto. Love the car. presently at 90K miles, and no major problems, until now.
In mid February, the blower motor quit working. After verifying with a test light that there was no current to the blower motor, I suspected that the recalled switch was at fault. Pull the HVAC controls, and find a melted plug. Also noticed that the horn and cruise quit working around the same time the blower motor did. Pulled the yellow relay from the fusebox under the driver's dash and found a terminal melted there, as well. Decided to take it to the dealer to have the recall performed, since it would be a free fix. Noticed that the car was sluggish starting, and installed a new battery, since the one in there was the original Motorcraft one....6 years old by now.
Drove the car at least 50 miles in the city over the weekend to clean the crap off the rotors, and braking returned to normal. I then left the car off at the dealer on Wednesday noght for the scheduled recall service. Here's when it gets interesting.
Dealer calls me 7:30 AM and asks if I want them to diagnose hard starting issues. I told him that the car was fine the night before and told him about new battery, recent plugs, and new timing belt/water pump, all installed last fall. Dealer calls at noon and says that they can't get the car running and they'll be performing tests. I informed him that the car sat for 2 1/2 months and the fuel could be stale. He says he'll check it out.
Today, dealer says that the car needs a new engine, due to a lack of compression since the car sat for so long ?!?!?!?
After I got out of work I went down with a friend and we hit the key, and noticed that the car would not turn over. After looking a t it we noticed that the A/c compressor was frozen solid. We got a non A/C belt from the auto parts store and installed it in the dealer's lot. Now the motor cranks over, but there is no spark. Pulled a wire off the coil pack and tried to get it to arc, but still no spark. All connections seem to be tight and we're getting it towed out tomorrow. Any suggestions as to where to look?
By the way, the dealer did perform the blower motor recall and also gave me a $63 bill for diagnostic time. I'm a little pissed, because the car ran fine when I took it there. Granted, the A/C compressor seizing could be a fluke, but what about the lack of spark? Seems like too many coincidences for me.
I haven't talked to the dealer face to face yet, but I want to get all my fact together before stating my case. I don't think that they could have gotten a compression test done with a seized compressor. You could barely see the motor attempt tu turn over before we got the belt off. Now it cranks but does nothing.
Any input on this dillema is most certainly welcome.
Thanks in advance!
John
'97 Contour
'86 Fiero GT
