Hi! I just bought myself a 1986 Contour GT(?) last night. Its 4 cylinder, 2.5 litre I think is what the garage told me today. Anyway, I had the gas door not opening thing, but between using the backup tab in the trunk to open it, and finding a kind service mechanic who fixed it for free for me, it's working beautifully now.
My problem is I have a CD player which I plug in using an cigarette lighter adapter. Except, my ciggie plugis too small for the adapters. I tried two of themand can't seem to ram it in there. Has nayone else had this problem?Is my car just weird, or is there a fix or smaller adapter that can be used?
I love the rado and tape deck, but I want my CDs!!
Aside from that I'm hoping I have none of the problems I have seen mentioned regarding trouble in wet and cold, it seems that goes more for the V6 engines, as I'm in Canada and it gets bloody cold here in the winter. We can get up to -30 at times which brings me to my other question. Has anyone had experience with the block heaters in these models and how do they work? I notice the coolant fluid seems to be to the left in a clear white container as opposed to in the Rad like I'm used to (I just came from a 1983 fairmont, so understand my confusion).
Another thing, I was told it came with tilt steering, but I'll be darned if I can find this anywhere. Am I just blind and can't seee the button for it,or was I simply just told wrong?
It doesn't have power windows, or power locks but it does have power mirrors. I found the hazard light button on the top of the steering wheel shaft, the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel, and I think I have figured out the air condidtiong and the heat. I'm not quite sure which button is for the rear window defrost though I thinkit may be one with an amber light to the right of the steering wheel.
Sorry for all the questions,I'm very new at this modern car thing.
If it rattles and shakes I can generally figure it out, if it runs smoothly I get confused.
The engine is either a 2.0L I4 or a 2.5L V6. If the trim is GL (there is no GT) then most likely you have the 2.0L.
Not sure on the plug, the stuff I've used fight tightly, but didn't require much effort.
I have an engine block heater in the SVT, but since I don't drive the car in the winter it never gets used.
The lever for the tilt steering is on the left side of the column, near the base.
The rear window defrost is the button to the left of the wheel, but otherwise you're spot on.
Welcome aboard.
Do yourself a favour and download the owners manual here....
Owners manual download Many questions can be answered from this.
I have a block heater and have never had to use it. Car always starts fine the first crank in winter.
I doubt you bought an 1986 Contour GT, but a 1996 Contour GL.
LOL,oops, Force of habit with 1980 era I guess.Thanks so much for the link to the manual. that's exactly what I need.
Thanks very much for the answers.
2.0 Litre and V4 sounds pretty good to me. I feel so sporty.
You know what is so sad. a modern v4 goes waaaaaay faster then the older v8's. I feel so disillusioned. I guess size doesn't matter anymore.LOL
Originally posted by Tella:
Thanks very much for the answers. 2.0 Litre and V4 sounds pretty good to me. I feel so sporty.
You know what is so sad. a modern v4 goes waaaaaay faster then the older v8's. ..
Welcome Tella! Zetec I4 engine. I have a 1996 and it did not come with tilt steering. I think it became an option in 1997 (or maybe it was just an option for Canada in 1996). If you have a problem with the gas cover again, we have a simple fix in the how-tos. In addition, as mentioned earlier the cigarette lighter socket is very tight. You may want to see if you can get an aftermarket adapter which fits into the car socket and the CD plug.
Edit. Gas cover how to
http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=19
Originally posted by Tella:
Thanks very much for the answers. 2.0 Litre and V4 sounds pretty good to me. I feel so sporty.
You know what is so sad. a modern v4 goes waaaaaay faster then the older v8's. I feel so disillusioned. I guess size doesn't matter anymore.LOL
Is this guy for real?? 
Originally posted by Hdbngr8:
Originally posted by Tella:
Thanks very much for the answers. 2.0 Litre and V4 sounds pretty good to me. I feel so sporty.
You know what is so sad. a modern v4 goes waaaaaay faster then the older v8's. I feel so disillusioned. I guess size doesn't matter anymore.LOL
Is this guy for real??
He probably means acceleration is much better. I used to drive an old Oldsmobile Delta 98 (I think it was a 454 engine V8). Acceleration was poor and when I got a Civic 1500 DX after that, it showed. 
No I mean the part about a V4 in a Contour
Why, when someone talks about cars is it automatically assumed the person is male? I'm not sure what is wrong with saying V4, I'm assuming then that is the wrong term? So sue me. I'm no greasemonkey, and I have never driven a car newer then 20 years old. To me this is a pretty big thing. I'll go off and stop bothering the "pros" now. I guess someone who doesn't know everything about cars isn't very welcome here, and just has to tolerate ridicule form those who can't seem to understand that some people are actually here to get help because they actually need it.
I'll slink off to somewhere else where others are just as stupid and uneduacated as me.
Originally posted by Tella:
Why, when someone talks about cars is it automatically assumed the person is male? I'm not sure what is wrong with saying V4, I'm assuming then that is the wrong term? So sue me. I'm no greasemonkey, and I have never driven a car newer then 20 years old. To me this is a pretty big thing. I'll go off and stop bothering the "pros" now. I guess someone who doesn't know everything about cars isn't very welcome here, and just has to tolerate ridicule form those who can't seem to understand that some people are actually here to get help because they actually need it.
I'll slink off to somewhere else where others are just as stupid and uneduacated as me.
There is a reason why they call it a "v6" or a "v8" primarily because the cylinders are angled so that they make a "V" 3 on each side of the engine. Either way, there was never such an engine as a "v4" an interesting concept... But the only thing I have ever seen out of a 4 cylinders is an inline 4... Which means all of the cylinders are in one straight line. Amaizingly, there are a LOT of people I know who had no idea that there was no such thing as a "v4" There also was such thing as an inline 6 and inline8. they tend to be called "straight 6's" or "straight 8's" But the technology kind of phased out over the years. some of the older GMC Trucks had them... I think my dad's old 95 S-10 had a straight 6 in it.
Thank you so much for explaining that to me. I didn't know any of it, but it makes a lot of sense. It will also make it much easier for me to identify what size engine it is in the future. All my cars up until now have always been V8 or V6, so I just asumed that was the correct technical term for all engine sizes.
BMW still has all its 6 cylinder engines as straight 6's. No v6's but they do have V8s and V12's
Subaru has a horizonally opposed 4 cylinder engines.
Once I had straight 6 engines in a 65 Plymouth and a 67 Chevy Van.
4 cylinder I4 or a straight 6 makes a lot of sense. One less catalytic converter than a V configuration and half the number of O2 sensors. Cheaper to maintain.
Originally posted by dellowm:
BMW still has all its 6 cylinder engines as straight 6's. No v6's but they do have V8s and V12's
Subaru has a horizonally opposed 4 cylinder engines.
Once I had straight 6 engines in a 65 Plymouth and a 67 Chevy Van.
4 cylinder I4 or a straight 6 makes a lot of sense. One less catalytic converter than a V configuration and half the number of O2 sensors. Cheaper to maintain.
But considerably less power (unless you are BMW that is...)
Originally posted by dellowm:
BMW still has all its 6 cylinder engines as straight 6's. No v6's but they do have V8s and V12's
Subaru has a horizonally opposed 4 cylinder engines.
Once I had straight 6 engines in a 65 Plymouth and a 67 Chevy Van.
..
Used to own a Ford Gran Torino Straight Six (I think it was a 1975 model). I think the idea with horizontally opposed cylinders was that it was more "evenly" distributed due to gravity (or so they say when I first heard of them in a car). But it probably did not catch on as it takes up too much space on a horizontal plane. And once again an V configuration would be more space saving as opposed to a straight line configuration.
P/s Ms. Tella, stick around, there is a lot to learn from this site. Most of us are pretty o.k. folks.
Well, just to enlighten a few people, Ford US had a 1.7L 60 degree V-4 engine that was in one of the original Mustang concept cars. It was the mid-engine Mustang. Ford didn't (obviously) build the car for sale so they sold the motor to Ford of Germany. They used it extensivley and sold some V-4's to Saab for use in the Saab Sonnett III and a couple regular model cars. Then they also added 2 more cylinders and the various V-6 engine sizes were 2L, 2.3L, 2.6L, 2.8L, 2.9L and 3L, for Europe. In the US we had/have the 2.8L, 2.9L (truck), 3L (truck), 4L (truck & '05 Mustangs). And of course the 60 degree design is what our Duratech use. And now alot of you youngsters and Tella have learned somethin' new. Sometimes old is good, EH.
Later. Pepse.
Cool! Thanks for letting us all know that. So I wasn't 100% wrong in saying V4! *does smug happy dance*
.
Pepse.
Dude, There are V4 engines out there and not every 4 cylinder is an inline 4. My Subaru uses an opposing 4 cylinder set up like the old Volkswagens, only with a water cooled engine. These cars have two cylinder heads and 4 cylinders. Gotta remember that just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Never said they didn't exist - I only implied they are not found on the Ford Contour. Also a horizontally opposed 4 cylinder is not a V4 either. The whole premise of my original comment had to do with what Stazi posted a week or so ago, and that is newbies coming in and not SEARCHING for answers to OBVIOUS questions - when someone comes in and starts asking about a V4 Contour, I have to immediately question the credibility of the post.
Had the original poster simply popped the hood and looked in the engine bay the number of cylinders and configuration (inline or vee) would have been an obvious deduction.
Nothing is an "obvious deduction" to one who doesn't know a difference!! the key word you used was newbie. Newbie means one who is new at something and doesn't knwo everything or anything. that is why they come into forums for help, not to be condescended towards!
To someone who has done things for many years or has learned them all their life it is an obvious deduction. To one who has only heard the term V4 and V6 it is not. I had NEVER heard the term INLINE! That does not make me stupid nor uneducated!
This is one reason why many women will not deal with many garages or car shops, because they get the same treatment in many of those locations. Sexist assumptions, and ignorance that anyone may actually not know as much as you! That attitude costs companies a lot of money, because as much as many hate to admit it, Woman now drive a large percentage of cars and contribute to a large perentage of the money that goes into keeping the garages in business. I have a lisrt of shops and stores I will not even step foot into because of attirtudes form mechanics and clerks. I now send all my business to the one garage that was decent enough to actually show me what was what and explain to me what they were doing and why. The one shop that didn't treat me any differently because I didn't know something. they get all my repairs now and they make a good healthy amount from me.
May I suggest for the future that you purchase a Haynes (or equivalent) manual and/or the Ford service CD - a great number of questions can be answered there. If you can't find what you need there, SEARCH here, then ask. You will get much more help that way.
Originally posted by Tella:
Nothing is an "obvious deduction" to one who doesn't know a difference!! the key word you used was newbie. Newbie means one who is new at something and doesn't knwo everything or anything. that is why they come into forums for help, not to be condescended towards!
.. Woman now drive a large percentage of cars and contribute to a large perentage of the money that goes into keeping the garages in business. ..
48% new vehicles are bought with decisions by women and car designers do recognize that, and have started taking that into account in new car designs.
Headbanger8, I don't think we need to be running off every newbie who signs up on this board. 
The initial post was not aimed at men or women - doesnt matter which to me. I will tell either sex the same thing - get a manual, search, then ask questions.
Try a 90's Toyota Supra especially with the Turbo. Straight 6 that with mods some are getting 1000HP out of. Needs the laminated head gaskets though.
Originally posted by Hdbngr8:
The initial post was not aimed at men or women - doesnt matter which to me. I will tell either sex the same thing - get a manual, search, then ask questions.
No where in your initial nor second post did you mention "get a manual, search, then ask questions." If my eyes and Math skills are working correctly, it was your third post. If you had initially posted "Search", probably no one will even notice your post. With your first two posts, you came off as an e-thug, in your third post, you finally said something constructive and in your fourth and fifth post, it sounded like "backpedalling" to me. With this post, I am done with this thread. Tella, you have a PM. And now I will wait for Ray to make peace and moderate.
No need to moderate.
this thread is running/has run its course.
Key points to have observed:
1. Welcome, Tella!! We aren't all sexist, or overbearing.
2. Searching is easy, and accurate. Try it, then ask your questions.
3. That's enough of the "whodunit"/arguing/whatever.
4. Tella (and ANYONE ELSE!!).. ALWAYS feel free to PM me with anything you are confused about, or need help with, both on the forums, or on your car.
Ray
Tella,
It's was obvious to me throughout the thread that you were not male. Folks here don't seem too intuitive... Please don't be offended. All of your questions are real. Please don't go away. I4 or V4; who cares?!
Oh, I'm stickin' a round.:) I'm too stubborn to stomp off in a huff.
Originally posted by Tella:
Oh, I'm stickin' a round.:) I'm too stubborn to stomp off in a huff.
Good for you!
Welcome to the CEG.
And now you learned something new, more power to you!