Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting No dash lights at all after a blown fuse..

A few weeks ago I noticed my dash lights weren't working, neither were the lights for the ignition light, the cigarette lighter, the climate control lights, even the clock illumination.

There was in fact, a blown fuse for the cluster lights. I headed to wally world and replaced the fuse -- still don't work. I checked the new fuse, it hasn't blown. What should I be looking for now? Hella difficult to drive in the dark

By the way.. since I bought my contour (95 gl), it runs between middle and high on operating temp. Usually barely staying off of high. A/C doesn't seem to affect it, neither does highway driving or anything blasting wind on the radiator. Should I be worried about this.. perhaps needs a thermostat?

Turn on the lights. Go out and check if rear lamps are working. If they are not, then it is probably the headlamp switch or associated wiring. There is a recall on most 95 to 97 models (Headlamp Switch Recall 99S14). Check with your local friendly Ford dealer or register at www.fordvehicles.com. You need the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

Read this.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=trouble&Number=1172316&Forum=trouble&Words=headlamp%20switch&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=1year&Main=1172187&Search=true#Post1172316

and this for a how to from Autozone
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/d1/17/0900823d801bd117.jsp
As for the temp, if it isn't close to the Red zone, don't worry about it. You should check the coolant strength ($5 tester from Autozone or Advance).

Actually, tail lights and brake lights all are working :-/

The temperature gauge, after about an hour of driving around (street driving, looking for places to move.. you get the idea) the meter sat on the white line on the left of hot.

C|( | )|H
^There

It was barely out of the red, I started on my way home and got a check engine light until I turned it off and let it cool down some.

It was 98�º here but I've had the car since March or so and the days were much cooler then (around 80), still had the same temperature issue.

I'm running a 50/50 mix of coolant/antifreeze -- the $7 or so jug you'd find at autozone. Should I switch to straight up coolant until wintertime, or move to a 75/25 mix.. or is this more of a mechanical problem than coolant issue?

Do the contour water pumps have valves that will leak when they're going bad? Dunno, this is my second car and my old one (92 Mazda Protege, pump died at 198k miles) had a valve that leaked coolant as it was going bad to let you know you needed to replace it. I'm not losing any coolant.

When I replaced the fuse I turned the dimmer knob all the way both ways (just in case I had it wrong ) to check that.. no effects

Air blew hot.. it was 103 outside so turning on the heat *sucked*

I guess I'll go get a new thermostat when I get paid -- anyone have diagrams or anything for the replacement? Never worked on a Ford.

Oh, sorry for the double post.. but should I get a low,med,high temp. thermostat?

Get a 180 F themostat.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/c8/7d/0900823d801bc87d.jsp