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Thermostat stuck on open or broken Engine Coolant Temperature sensor. So far, it was not necessary to know if you had a 2.5 V6 or 2.0 I4. Do you have a I4 Zetec Engine or 2.5 Duractec engine? And yes. Changing the thermostat or ECT sensor can be done by an amateur.
Not getting to 4th could be the OD off button being depressed.
Thermostat.
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/c8/7d/0900823d801bc87d.jsp
"Always do the cheap and easy ones first."
1996 V6 ATX 96K miles
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Its a 2.5L Duratec V6 thankfully. I'll look at replacing these compomponents and post back the result. I've tried switching OD on and off but it doesn't have an effect on rpms or speed over 45mph and still seems to be in third with that gear's amount of resistance. OD button does have a downshift effect between 25-40mph or so. All gears are running 500-1K higher rpms than I am use to seeing.
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The shift points are quite low, I mean at 20 - 30 MPH (or 30-40 KM/H) the first gear goes into second and RPMs drop back down to under 1500, sometimes lower than 1200. If you can get a rebuilt tranny for cheap, and have a guy install well but for cheap go for it, the leaks here and there can be sealed without too much problem. The rotors on the other hand, is there anyway you can live without them or are they warped really badly? IF it comes to a point where spending all the $2500 is necessary I would invest in another car right there and then.
1998 Mercury Mystique LS
- Looking for SVT EXHAUST, SVT Rear bumper (silver frost) and ANY rocker mouldings (side skirts)
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Originally posted by m4gician:
..The rotors on the other hand, is there anyway you can live without them or are they warped really badly? IF it comes to a point where spending all the $2500 is necessary I would invest in another car right there and then.
LOL. My tolerance is a little higher. Rotors are maintenance items. Even when you buy a new car, you will have to plan on spending money on it in 4 years or so. I have spent $800 this year on maintenance items (2 tires, ball joint, wheel bearing, alignments, etc.). And expect another $1500 to $2000 next year (2 tires, brakes, probably suspension items, etc.). And maybe $3000 the next year (probably time for new precats and main cat then).
My insurance now is $450/yr (comprehensive) and personal property tax is $40/yr. With a new car, I can expect to pay $2000 in insurance and $1200 in personal property tax per year. In addition to a yearly car payment of about $5500 for the next 5 years. So when I think about it, $2K to $3K per year seems cheap compared to $8700 per year for the next 5 years. 
"Always do the cheap and easy ones first."
1996 V6 ATX 96K miles
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I don't have a diagnostic computer to read the sensors, so I took the car up to Firestone and they checked the thermostat and it is opening/closing properly, the VSS is reading the proper speed, but the ECT is reading they say about 10 degrees below normal but shouldn't be causing a problem. It looks a lot more off than that since the temp gauge usually runs between the "O" & "R", but since last Saturday runs between the lower limit mark and the "N" in Normal on the temp gauge.
Could this be causing rpms to run high in all gears as the PCM adjusts rpms to get the temperature up and return higher readings from the ECT?
They did not find any error codes on the ECC, but that is because I pulled the 3 amp fuse for the ECC error code memory a long time back. This fuse is pulled because one of the three catalytic converters is returning a low voltage although there is nothing wrong with the cat or the sensor. It was constantly switching on the Check Engine Light, so I pulled it to wipe the codes when the car is turned off.
They said they were not sure if the '98 model year takes the square or round ECT and they only have one of them and to bring the car back on Monday morning when their supplier is open.
I read my Chilton�s repair guide on this but since I live in an apt complex this might be difficult to do myself especially if the trans fluid has to be drained and recycled. I'll likely take it back to them Monday unless there is a better alternative for Contour repair in the Metro-Detroit area.
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What do you know...The Autozone Online Repair Guide is a verbatim copy, pictures and all, of the Chilton 1995-99 Contour/Mystique/Cougar Repair Manual. I wonder if there is a CD burnable copy of it...
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The ECT is not the cause of your transmission problems.
Take it to another transmission shop for a second opinion.
Steve
98 Contour SE Sport 2.5 Duratec ATX The wifey's car
89 Taurus SHO - 246K miles
94 SHO ATX - 190K
1997 F-150 5.4L ATX - The Workhorse 150K.
ANY THREAD WITH "OMG" or "WTF" ETC IN THE TITLE WILL BE IGNORED!
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I'm not absolutely sure it is a trans problem. I'm the amatuer trying to determine why high rpms, 500-2000 above normal, are occuring before gear shifts and stays high even at freeways speeds. I'm not getting bangs and determined that the car is not missing gears(the only one might be OD, but that would be expected in a cold condition like Winter before the car warms up). Its acting exactly the same way it does on me in winter on a 10 degree morning and the temp gauge is reading much lower than it normally does and sometimes it drops all the way to the low mark. Its also guzzling a tun of fuel, another indicator of a sensor problem.
This points to a bad ECT returning too high resistance and a condition that would be expected if the sensor were going bad.
If it ultimately turns out to be my amatuer assesment of a trans problem, it's not going to a trans shop, its going to a dealership as a trade-in or sold as-is though an eBayMotors reseller. Its not worth the money, especially when I can buy another late model used Contour SE sport for less than $3000 from a private seller with half the miles this one has. I see them online quite often.
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I did some additional driving tests this evening in a business park. It does appear that 2nd gear exists, but engine rpms are "racing" and not adding any additional speed over 1st. Staring off with the gearshift in 2nd and depressing the gas to reach 4000rpm only gets the vehicle to 25mph. Starting off with gearshift in 1st and reaching 4000rpm gets the vehicle to 25mph, and then shifting the stick up to 2nd drops the rpms down to about 1250. Depressing the gas pedal and accelerating to 4000rpm in second does nothing, it immediately races like its in neutral. Shifting to 3rd (D) at 25mph@4000rpm will upshift to 3rd gear. Performing high rpm and shift tests causes the temperature gauge to drop out from "N" to below the low mark once in 3rd gear. With this info in mind, would you say bad transmission or sensor?
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