Hi all,
I've had my 98.5 Ford Contour SE (2.5L Duratec) for a little over a year now and so far it's been a sweet little car--I love it. About three weeks ago, though, the engine started running rough and I noticed a little knock--both started happening out of the blue. The CEL flashed on a few separate occassions, but always went out after a few seconds.
Got it into the dealership today for what I thought was a "proactive" step.... They charged $100 for diagnostics, gave no codes and told me that there was a knock in the bottom and top, and recommended REPLACING the engine. The technician said it sounded as though one of the pistons had "gone through." I'll admit that I'm a novice when it comes to auto mechanics, but I get the feeling the dealership's trying to pull a fast one. The car just hit 25,000 miles--I got it with 12,000. Doesn't seem like it should need a new engine yet, and from what I understand, I'd have much worse symptoms if a piston was shot (no obvious power loss--just sounds rough). I asked for the diagnostics results when I picked it up, but they kind of gave me the run around about it. Engine light is on full time now, to boot.
I've been combing through the forums trying to find another incidence of something similar and realize I need to get the codes, whether I have to pry them out of Ford or take it to Autozone, but I'm really curious if anyone else out there has had to replace this engine with such low mileage. Any thoughts?
As an aside, just want to give kudos for the site.... I've checked it out several times since I got my SE and it's good to know I'm not the only one who's wild about the contour. Thanks!
