Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Electrical Problems/Post Retardation

To be honest, I love my Contour, but damn does it piss me off sometimes .. The question is, what would cause a 2000 V6 with a new alternator, new charging and ground wires, new battery with clean terminals, new master fuse, and a problem with the heater blower switch to have a strange dimming effect on all interior lights. It looks like someone is dimming the interior lights with the switch on the dash......then stops... It is the worst whenever the highspeed fan is on and I am at a stop.
By the way whenever I do decide to use the blower switch and the headlights are on, the interior and head lights dim ,as well as the blower slows down, until the RPM's reach over 800RPM (ie; I take off)....then the blower reaches the normal high speed and the headlights brighten back up. WTF! Plainly obvious that it is electrical, but where? How can I properly check? Where do I need to check?
None of this started until the blower switch lost all settings but HIGH! I need to know if I should spend $4,000,000 on a new wiring harness (that I could probobly crap out with more quality than OEM)...This is MAX annoying!!

Thanks,

Stepmar2

i just replaced my wiring harness, it was only like $10, but you have a 2000, so it should still be covered under the recall, check the FAQ common problems.

Nope only 1995-97 under recall for wiring harness, Ford fixed it for 98s.

My first check would be for the grounding wires & their locations. Especially that little one at the corner of the coil pack.

Laugh if you want to guys, but I rebuilt the tranny on my RX-7 & forgot about that one tiny little ground wire. What a nightmare it was till I found that little wire hanging between the fire wall & the tranny bell housing. I plugged it into the connector on the fire wall & all was well.

Once the above is confirmed, the next suspect would be the "new" alternator or battery. Does the battery light go on when you run the rpms above 5.5k or so?

Have the battery & charging system tested for free at your local full service auto parts store.

Daniel, where did you get a harness for $10? I would really like to find one.. The alternator is one month old and I had it checked when i bought it. All bolts are torqued to spec and all charging wires are 2 weeks old.. 4 AWG.
I don't think that my tour has a ground wire from the ignition module.. None of this really started until the blower switch went out.. It's as though there is a huge drain in the system.. The battery is 3 months old and is a Die Hard International from NTB. I have even cleaned all the grounds with electronics cleaner (automotive) and sanded the connections to the engine bay as well as used corrsion inhibitor on everything including the terminals. That still didn't change anything at all. I was basically just wondering if anyone else has been experiencing this same scenario with their tours.. I just can't figure it out!!
Just to add to the confusion, my tour is ATX (CD4E of course) and when I manually switch gears, sometimes the RPM's drop below 400 RPM and the engine acts as though it is going to stall. Then the RPM's rise back up to 700-750 (normal). I am dreading the torque converter is failing or maybe this is happening as a result of this electrical problem.. WHO KNOWS? NOT ME! WE NEVER LOST CONTROL. YOU'RE FACE TO FACE WITH THE MAN WHO BROKE HIS TOUR....

For what it's worth, the heater blower is on the same master fuse as the ABS/TCS system if U have them. Are they working ok? The harness section that loops under the brake booster has all the ABS circuits and seems to be even more prone to cracked insulation etc.. then the rest of the harness!

If you are having a charging problem, the lower voltages will make the PCM do funny things. It just does not like low voltage at all. My 99 has a braided ground wire on the front driver side bolt of the coil, and some kind of junction box on the front passenger side bolt. Not sure if the 2000 is similar, but look around for it.

NTB should be a good battery, but have your system checked. I had a bad experience with Interstate batteries - had to replace two that were less than a month old, then switched over to whatever I could find with the best warranty.

In Florida batteries need replacing every 4 years or so with few exceptions. The last battery I replaced cost me $13 because of the warranty.

just a note... my 2000 svt has done this since day one. i am under the impression that the altenator does not put out enough juice at low rpms when their is a high load on the charging system (i.e. blower motor, fans, lights, defrost et cetera) stupid ford. if you have a big system i imagine the problem would be worse. as i said before, mine has done this since i drove it off the lot with no mods. i suspect that a higher output altenator would cure this. for what it is worth, I have ran 15.2 @ 90 mph with this "problem."

130 amps should be more than enough juice. You may have a grounding/electrical problem too. I have an ATX, that puts additional drag on the system at idle that your SVT doesn't have to deal with.

Hunt it down & you should be quite happy with the result when you finally find it.

By the way, I just replaced my alternator. It was in the process of going bad. Battery light would come on when the rpms were over 5500 or so. When cold, the headlights, interior, radio lighting would kinda dim & blink like I had a friggin' disco Contique thing goin' on.
(where's a barf emoticon when you need one)

TCS...HMMMM that sounds like the key possibly. ABS/TCS same thing?
I knew that the two were somehow connected...

Well, i guess that and the coil ground wire will be the next two things I'll check.

Wanna know what the gayest thing is though?...
My P.O.S. landlord says aboslutely not mechanical repairs on the premises!!!
That makes me want to shave her hairy neck with a buck knife! What kind of retarded a$$ $hite is that?



Rest in Piss Ridgmar Manor!!!