First I noticed a crack on a wire going to the IMRC box (your '95 doesn't have one, it's different than the '96 models). A couple of months went by and I checked again, and I noticed MORE CRACKS on that wire.
I went to Battlefield Ford (motto: Where Getting Warranty Work Done is a Battle) and they patched up the wire with some heatshrink tubing. I asked why they did that instead of replacing the harness under 99M03, and they said it wasn't covered, which I knew was BS. Their reasoning was that it wasn't cracking in an area that the 99M03 documentation directs them to inspect. I called 800-392-FORD, I taked to Battlefield Ford's customer service manager, they made it clear that they wouldn't do it.
A couple of days later I decided to do my OWN inspection, and:
I noticed one VERY TINY CRACK on wire on the engine cooling fan harness. The insulation on that wire (AND SEVERAL OTHERS NEXT TO IT) broke and fell off when I moved the wires around to get a better look. It appeared that with enough movement, I could easily have several inches of BARE WIRES on my cooling fan harness!! What happens if they touch? I didn't want to think about it!
Then there's the very-likely damaged wire under the intake manifold. (I had a '95 Contour, at 125,000 miles I did the intake manifold gasket replacement and almost every wire under the intake manifold had brittle, cracking insulation. I shelled out $600 for the harness kit and replaced that harness, the other 3 have yet to be replaced--it's now my brother's car and I think he's got plans to drop a 3-liter into it, at which time the other 3 harnesses can be more easily replaced).
That's when I decided to search for a better Ford dealer (I have had issues with Battlefield Ford in the past) and came up with Sheehy Ford, who agreed to perform the 99M03 service.
If you don't get this service done and your wires are cracking (chances are very high that you do have some deteriorated wiring in your '95, especially if you sit in ANY stop and go traffic in the summer--and that's the only kind of traffic we have here, right?), at the very least, you can expect corrosion of the wires and all sorts of electrical problems if any winter road salt water gets in them through the damaged insulation. At worst, you could have a fire.
If you check the wires on your own: Affected wires will look fine until you move them, then you'll see cracks appear and possibly the insulation will start falling off.
The most likely place to find this damage is under the intake manifold, but the cooling fan harness, where it's mounted to the fan shroud, seems like another likely place.
Last edited by brianl703; 01/15/04 05:49 PM.
