Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Maintenance Wire harness insulation cracks, Program 99M03

I just replaced the cooling fans on my '95 Contour SE and found that there were a few cracks in the insulation of the fan wiring harness. Also, when I did the UIM/LIM cleanup I found that there were several cracks in the insulation on the wires going to the fuel injectors in the wiring races under the UIM.

I have a letter from Ford about the 99M03 program and I was wondering if ALL the wiring harnesses are replaced under this program if only a couple of them are showing the cracking? I've read the procedure for replacing the power distribution harness, and I'm a little leary of what has to be done to replace that bugger (gotta open up the A/C system and remove the condenser along with ripping half the rest of the engine compartment apart ). I sure don't envy the tech that has to do this re-harnessing!!!

This Contour was purchased new in April '95 and only has ~46K miles on it so it still should be covered under the 10yr/100K mi program extension. Wifey really likes her 'Tour and we plan to keep it for a while yet and it looks like it needs the re-harnessing work, at least on the fan, fuel charge and engine control harnesses.

So, does the work called for by this program require a really knowledgable tech?
Is it worth the risk of having it done, knowing that if a slipshod job is done that the car will probably live at the dealer for the rest of it's life?
It's been a very reliable vehicle up to now. I wish they'd give me the harnesses and let me do the work myself (at least I'd know that it was done correctly). Crap! they can bill Ford for the time they WOULDN'T have spent doing the work, so far as I'm concerned. Just venting my concerns.

Regards - Kurt

Well read this about how some (I know we have some good techs who poke their heads in here from time to time) techs feel about this campaign.

http://tlcc2000.dyndns.org/Automotive/95FordContourWiringFlatRateTechWebForums20020410.html

I don't know just how much you learned from that thread. There was more bickering and personality conflicts than any thing else.

It is true that the program does not pay well. The technician is getting it in the shorts from Ford. I can understand why they don't go out of their way to look for this problem.

Any reasonably competent tech should be able to do the recall. It is not particularly hard, just time consuming.

Big Jim,

Yes the end of it was pretty ugly. My point all along was that it seemed the Tech responding were unwilling to point out the problem to the customer for fear of actually having to do the work. Sort of a "Don't go looking for trouble" point of view. Sadly it is the customer who loses.

Funny, I said all along that in many instances "Flat Rate" sucks for the techs, yet these guys couldn't admit that it also sucks for the customer when their service pro cannot or will not act in a proactive manner.

Not to mention techs that call you an idiot for your choice of vehicle. Like I said, if they thought the Contour was a POS, then they should not let their dealership sell them. (I know, that's not reality, but you understand. If you don't believe in the product, why are you selling or servicing that product. Believe me, there are some products that I have told our sales crew not to sell to customers that they was repeat business from.)

Bottom line, expect some hassle about getting your car repaired under this campaign because the job will take longer than Ford allocates, effectively cutting the pay of the tech working on the car. And if you go to my local Ford store, expect it to take more than one visit to get the job done right.

Sad, but often true.

TB

BFOH & Big Jim:

The points and comments raised in the thread you referred to are exactly the reason for my concerns. And yeah, that thread turned into a nasty pissing contest between a disgruntled Contour owner and a group of tech guys (some of whom I'm familiar with) who I wouldn't think twice about having them do the work (positive comment). The recall allows for <15 minutes for the inspection and <7 hrs to replace all 4 harnesses on a vehicle with an MTX & ABS, SHEER FOLLY!.

Now, if the rules for the program state that you only have to find 1 instance of insulation cracking to make the vehicle eligible for the program (i'm not too clear on this), then 15 minutes should be enough to diagnose the problem. If you have to dig & scratch around and check all the places that are shown in the illustrations, I can see where it could easily take the better part of an hour to do just the visual diagnosis.

The real killer here is the 7 hour limit to do ALL the work prescribed in the procedure. I can certainly see where the techs would be upset about being held to that limit (with the attendant loss of income if they go overtime on it). The unfortunate thing is that while they are angry at at Ford, the customer may pay a price for that anger. If you put a worker in a no win situation, EVERYBODY suffers. Hell, that's the reason I quit my last job after 29 years (new management, I told them where to stick it ).

That's why I was wondering if it's worth the risk to get the work done, considering the scope of the work and the impact on the vehicle if it isn't done correctly. Also, that's why I said I wish they could give me that harnesses and I'd do the work while they bill Ford for the time, wouldn't bother me one bit. However, I can see where that would open up a whole can of worms from a dealer/tech/Ford liability standpoint, if I somehow screwed up and there were serious consequences because of it.

At over a grand for all the harnesses, I sure don't want to put that kind of money out for a design defect that's covered freebie by a customer program. I'm just real nervous about getting screwed if the dealer assigns the wrong (disgruntled) tech to my car.

Kurt