Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Wire Harness Recall & ABS/TC light

I just experienced my ABS and TC light coming on after 15-20 minutes of x-way driving with heater/panel set @ medium high fan speed. I went through this problem all last winter until the weather broke. I checked for ABS codes(none) and checked sensor connections/grounds. I did that last year too, and just lived with the ABS being inoperative during my longer x-way driving.

So after doing a search, I found others having very similar problems. The majority pointed to the famous OWNER NOTIFICATION PROGRAM #99M03-Underhood Wiring Harness-Additional Coverage . After reading every post I could find on the subject, and what I diagnosed myself, I am confident this problem would be solved by this "owner notification" recall( of course no one gets notified). I have read some owners having no problem with Ford to cover the recall (techs pull from a hat to see who gets to work on it) and others having a visual inspection & electronic inspection (what's that all about?) being told its not necessary-come see us when you crack 100,001 miles. I did a visual check on the common connections and saw cracked wire on the TPS. I did not dig into the fuel harness, power distribution harness, fan control harness, etc to see their conditon.

So my questions go out to previous 95-97 'stique owners who had this ABS headache during wet/cold conditions and/or had the harness recall work done. How did you present your case to the service manager? Should I inform them to the ABS problem or do you think that will send them barking up another tree. I do not want them to try and sell me an ABS HCU or anything else and then have to come back the following week to have them blame it on the wiring harness or something else. I would rather have the free recall done and see if that eliminates the problem. Do you think bringing in a copy of the recall letter is good idea? That way they will know I have done my homework and will not be easily "fluffed off". Hope to hear educated feedback from all my fellow CEG'ers.

First thing first, march to the dealer, give them your VIN, as that recall only protains to some of the cars, (not all, mine wasn't of course). So I was [censored], but maybe you can have better luck.

Agreed, take it to the dealer to have them inspect it. That's free at least & you'll know from there.
In my case, they had the car for about a month tying to get it right. It's not realy a clean swap, they have to splice into wiring at the junction box I believe. But if you have cracked wiring around the maf, or the radiator wiring, you'll want to get that replaced.

good luck!

I do know that the wiring harness recal is limited to 100k miles, it might also be a ten year or specific date thing. I know i thought about it as my car reached 100k but there hasn't been any real issues. yes I have getten both lights to trip when hitting a certain speed, but I beleive it has to do with water since it only seems to happen in the colder months when I have resently washed the car or there is alot of water on the road from snow melting

Nate,
When you had the wiring harness recall, what made you have them perform the service? Did you have any particular drivability problems, CES, ABS light on? When you say they had your car for a month, did they not get it correct the first time. Did they open Pandora's Box when they changed out the harness and caused other problems. That is my main concern if they start splicing wiring.
BTW, I have not had the ABS/TC light on the past few times while driving on the x-way. I am just waiting to see the lights when it gets colder/wetter.

Anybody else out there that had the recall performed with the ABS/TC light coming on in the winter/wet/cold months? If so, how did you fare with procedure? Did they get it right the first time or did you contantly have to bring it back for related problems?

I had no problems at all, but I had noticed for awhile the cracked wiring. CEG gave me the info and I met the under 10 year, 100K mileage limit. So I took it to Ford and the shop manager came out. He looked at it and I brought it back a day later and left it with them. Got a loaner fully loaded Taurus too (I miss that car).

They had it so long because
1: The harness is special order
2: Time intensive job
3: With my loaner I told them to "take their time"
4: I think in the install they had a bad connection somewhere and when they were done the car ran like crap. Changed TPS & engine PCU (Is that what it's called) and that seemed to do it.

I got it back and it ran fine for a week, but unknown to anyone a tech had left a battery wire rubbing against the EGR tube and it got hot, melted the plastic coating and arc welded its way through one of the little tubes on the EGR tube and killed my DPFE. So I had Ford replace that and I bought a new DPFE and cleaned the TB.

Since then I've replaced the coil & spark plugs (not sure if the harness recall killed them or age) and I've had no problems since.

Nate,
Thanks for the quick reply. I know Ford only pays approx.8-10 hrs for the job. Yes, I figured all the harnesses are special order. But, I figured they would of scheduled the car in once the parts arrived. I did not figure they would want to loan you a car for any more that they would have to. So they told you they had a "botched" connection when they were done and they could not find out why? So they put in a new TPS and CPU at no cost to you? How about when a vacuum hose got melted and took out your DPFE? Did they own up to that and no-charge you? If you had to do all over again, would you have had it done? I have two years left on the recall. I know I will be nowwhere near the 100 K mark. When did you get this work done and what mileage did you have? Do you have a 95, too? Sorry for all the questions, but we CEG'ers have to stick together.

Yes I'd do it again. If two wires touch that aren't "related" the whole computer could fry. It's always good to have proper wiring. And mine was in bad shape.

I didn't pay Ford for anything, but I did pay.

I found out the metal tube on the EGR tube was bad while attempting to replace the DPFE (which I paid for)** see side story at the bottom**. One rubber hose that connects to it came off the DPFE, while attempting to put it back on, the other end came off the EGR tube, with its metal connector attached! Needless to say I was screwed since replacing the EGR tube is impossible with my tools & driveway When I took it to Meineke (I bought a new EGR tube from Ford, Meineke was much cheaper to install) they then noticed that the positive battery cable had fried the EGR tube. They couldn't fix it, so I took it back to Ford and had them do it. There was no charge for Ford to fix their mistake, although they were reluctant to admit they had f_cked up. Now during this process I had been keeping tabs on my expenses and was preparing to have Ford pay for the DPFE & EGR tube & it's installation, but I let it go since I didn't want to deal with arguing with the dealer. They had provided me a loaner and were actually very nice. I considered getting a new EGR valve, tube & positive battery cable piece a pretty good bargin for the $150 or so I'd spent on the parts & labor.

I make it sound like the ordeal was treacherous and not worth it. It wasn't that bad mainly since I had a loaner and my car has been paid off for quite some time.

I would have the recall done if:
1: you get a loaner
2: you're patient
3: you get a loaner

Yes I have a 95 SE with the 5 speed. I plan on keeping the car even after I buy something else so the recall was good for me.


**side story**

A week or so after I got the car back I was driving down the road and the radio sound cut out. I looked at the faceplate and noticed the power to it was off as well. It corrected itself after a second. Then two seconds later it did it again, looking at the speedometer I noticed the guages all going to zero, as if thier power had been shut off. That lasted another two seconds and then eveything was fine. But seconds later the CEL went on and off. So, back to Ford I went and they called a day later telling me I had a bad DPFE & I needed a throttle body cleaning. I chose not to pay Ford for the service (they wanted like $400 for the job!) and chose to do the job myself. It's not that hard if you don't have broken EGR tubes! Upon changing the DPFE I found out the tube had broken, and then took it to Meineke to have them do it. There they discovered the battery cable problem and then I took it to Ford for a new cable.

Weeks later I had noticed the car stuttering upon acceleration. Eventually it was lurching at highway speeds. Back to Meineke (again) and they diagnosed a possible bad coil. So back to Ford (they are right next to each other and I live 1 mile from both) and they said the same thing. So back to Meineke for a coil, wires & sparkplugs.

Car is fine since then...

I DO make it sound rough don't I? I guess it was the fact that I live so close and I had a loaner for the longer periods that make it bearable......

Nate,
Thanks again for you detailed story. I am going to monitor my ABS Light and seriously consider having the harness recall done. I am still a little weary about opening all other possible electrical nightmares caused by a tech trying to beat flat rate. If I have it done, I will go through the potential "disturbed" trouble spots. My car is paid for & has < 40K miles, so I plan on keeping it for awhile. I will keep you posted!