First post - CEG Archives

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

Hey people.

Picked up a mystique couple years ago for my step Daughters.
Great little car.....99 Duratech,auto. Looking at 130,000. Been through alt/starter/flywheel

/ uim lim cleaning/iac and so on...Got her runnin strong.Ive done lots,and lots, I mean an insane amount of searching. Still have to deal with the sunroof issue.

Anyways, thanks for all the info/ how-to's and for putting a smile on my face with some of the cracked humor!
I dont drive the car much, but when I do I beat the * out of it.Would love to drive the real deal. When the girls are done neglecting it I plan on pickin up a CSVT.

Again, Thanks man.

Jake

Originally posted by The Spelling Nazi:

ditto, and thank you for learning to use the serch feature. Many would call that talent for a n00b.

welcome to CEG

Welcome

Yes, there's a lot of info in this forum

Welcome

Originally posted by Tony2005:
Welcome .

Originally posted by AliasJerkâ�??¢:
and thank you for learning to use the serch feature.

Originally posted by LUCA:

Originally posted by Tony2005:
Welcome .

Originally posted by todras:

Originally posted by AliasJerkâ�??¢:
and thank you for learning to use the serch feature.

Another warm welcome. Thanks!! Charged the A/C today, hope to get a month or so out of it.

My first post too. I just purchased a 1996 Mystique. Gettin plates tommorrow. It's very clean and ran GREAT on the test drive. 85,000 miles showing. V-6 automatic. I hope I didn't get a lemon. Some of the review sites have me worried.

Originally posted by Williedaprinter:
My first post too. I just purchased a 1996 Mystique. Gettin plates tommorrow. It's very clean and ran GREAT on the test drive. 85,000 miles showing. V-6 automatic. I hope I didn't get a lemon. Some of the review sites have me worried.

Welcome Williedaprinter

. Listen to the reviews sites and you will never buy a car (any car). Check out Duratec Maintenance FAQs for good info. In addition, we generally suggest coolant half inch above max line and engine oil half quart above max line (which makes it 6 quarts for the 96 Duratec engine with an oil and filter change).

Download an Owners' Manual free www.fleet.ford.com

Duratec Maintenance FAQ.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=v6maint&Number=958650&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=31&fpart=1

Originally posted by Tony2005:

Originally posted by Williedaprinter:
My first post too. I just purchased a 1996 Mystique. Gettin plates tommorrow. It's very clean and ran GREAT on the test drive. 85,000 miles showing. V-6 automatic. I hope I didn't get a lemon. Some of the review sites have me worried.

Welcome Williedaprinter . Listen to the reviews sites and you will never buy a car (any car). Check out Duratec Maintenance FAQs for good info. In addition, we generally suggest coolant half inch above max line and engine oil half quart above max line (which makes it 6 quarts for the 96 Duratec engine with an oil and filter change).

Download an Owners' Manual free www.fleet.ford.com

Duratec Maintenance FAQ.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=v6maint&Number=958650&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=31&fpart=1

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll check the coolant(in the overflow tank?) and oil tommorrow. I had a 82' Firebird v-6 and don't think any car could be worse than that. I still loved that Firechicken. I was impressed with the handling of my new Mystique. And power of the V-6. Hope I can get a few good years out of it.

Enjoy. Get ready to get your hands dirty.

Welcome to CEG

You might want to change the trans fluid, unless it has been done recently. I put Mobil 1 trans fluid in my 1998 Mystique, 80,000 miles. If it drives well and no Check Engine lights or overheating, it's fine. The waterpump often fails, causing overheating (mine did) at your car's mileage. It might be a good idea to change it to a metal impeller pump, although it is likely to have been done. If the coolant temp stays near the center of the scale, the pump is OK.

Planning on changing the trans fliud and flushing the radiator within the next month. Does the trans pan have a plug? Should I change the filter in the trans while I'm at it? If that's the case I may take it into a trans shop that I know is honest. Thanks for the advice. I try to do the stuff I can myself.

Welcome,

You may come to find, as many of us have, that the CEG is an asset to the Contour. I've read a lot of car enthusiast forums, and like the Contour itself, the CEG does the best job of balancing practical and performance topics. You will find many step by step tutorials, objective analysis, heated debate, and collaborative experimentation.

Beware of scammers (classifieds), and don't take any advice without second, third, fourth, fifth opinions via searching. There is a lot of good advice on the CEG, but also some pretty scary posts that can catch you off guard if you don't read carefully.

I haven't posted a lot, but searching these forums has saved my car from catastrophic failure at least twice.

By searching the forums and reading as many of the sticky threads as you can, you'll have the opportunity to learn every detail about the Contour -- and chances are, within two months, you'll be craving a SVT Contour.

Regarding ATX maintenance (sticky from the Transaxle forum):
CD4E FAQ

Quote:

Does the trans pan have a plug? Should I change the filter in the trans while I'm at it? If that's the case I may take it into a trans shop that I know is honest. Thanks for the advice. I try to do the stuff I can myself.

The trans pan does not have a plug. The filter is intended to be left in there unless you overhaul the trans, it's not accessible. If you know a good shop, they will have the flushing machine. Enjoy Driving your new car

Thanks guys. I think I'll take her to the shop for the trans flush. It's shifting great now, so I'll do it before fall. Got insurance today. Tommorrow I'll get plates. Just got license back after 14 years. Lost for DUI. Really making me jump through hoops on that. Did it to myself. Sober 2 and a half years now. Plan to stay sober for life!

That, my friend, is commendable. Thank you, for choosing to do so.

CEG has been a positive outlet for me. Now If I could only kick my Ebay addiction.