Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Forced Induction I'm LIVID ... the saga begins!!!

First, let me start with some older pictures of the install from where I left off. I was fitting the wiring harness to fan assembly on the radiator and noticed some badly exposed wire. I dug deeper to find this:





I stripped all the wires as far back as I could go before they stopped falling apart in my hands and rewrapped them in electrical tap.

I also took this picture to illustrate the differences between the two harnesses ... top picture is of the 99 Cougar harness on the fan assembly and the lower picture is of the 98 SVT Contour harness. The connectors to the main harness are in completely different spots:



Finally, Someone please confirm ... I think I have my tubing backwards here ... the line from the water pump side is on the bottom and I THINK it is supposed to be on the top.





OK, back to today's discoveries. I found the cause of some problems while others have me stumped.

First, the IAC was replaced and the moosing has stopped, but the idle is still above 1,500 ... I would suspect a leak, but I would definitely be running lean and I don't have a CEL. So, I'm suspecting the Throttle Body is actually cracked open slightly. Anyone have a stock SVT unit they want to loan me?

Anyways, I got the car running by replacing the battery. Upon hooking up the battery, I noticed that my tail lights where once again on. So, I got under the dash and discovered that the brake light sensor was loose and would not tighten. Here it is:





I suspect this combined with the blown main harness fuse link between the alternator and battery was the cause the drained battery problem. It was drained for so long while I was working on the car that it simply can no longer hold the charge. My new red top Optima should take care of energy requirements. I had to remove the brake sensor in order to avoid the problem from re-occurring.

So, IAC and battery taken care of, I was back up front to find the clunking. Think I found it, along with a nice surprise ... make that two surprises!

First, I think the clunking was indeed the front sway bar end link. I found the top nut loose and the bracket that holds the brake line in please could be moved by hand. Any sway bar movement would cause the threaded rod portion that goes through the bracket to change pitch and in turn would shift the bracket and cause the clunk. New end link added and problem solved.

Now for my two surprises:

1) Found the ABS Sensor wiring was hanging down and got rubbed clean and nearly sheared between the tire and strut perch ... frayed pretty damn good. Please excuse the blurry picture ... you get the idea.



2) This combined with the brake light switch issue are going to ensure that the car doesn't move till they are fixed. Drum roll please ... front LCA attachment bolt is rubbing on the transmission ... anyone else have this problem

I'm guessing it's a worn mount OR I didn't properly preload the mounts before dropping the full weight of the trans/engine on them.







Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Actually, I think the problem could be easily solved by simply unbolting the nut and reversing the bolt/nut so that the nut attaches from the bottom. This would place the bolt head at the top and it isn't nearly as tall as the end of the bolt & nut ... thoughts?

the coolant tank lines are backwards, my car has the water pump one on top and the short one to the radiator on the bottom.


on the control arm bolt, it hits because it is upside down, turning it over to the proper position will solve it, or one of the roll restrictors could be worn

I was thinking the same thing on that mount. Flip it.

Looking at the last picture I posted, you can tell that the other two bolts are facing down. God I love buying a used car!

You have to put them in that way when you replace the LCA's. He needed to drop the subframe to have them the correct way.

As far as the TB, before you pull it, take the pcv port and plug it off at the manifold, then pinch off the IAC tube with a pair of needlenose pliers. If the idle still doesn't change, AND you've checked the other vacuum ports for leakage, then pull the TB.