Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Riddel me this...

The thread has btrautment saying that the relays could be partially fused. You should check out that ticking relay.

In addition, the wires under the fuse boxes. You are checking for wires with broken or no insulation. If one is "cross feeding", you may have power all the time. Our Contours have a wiring harness issue.

Have you checked the Injectors yet?

Well I checked out all the wiring near and under the engine compartment fuse box and they looked pretty good. But then after staring at the Hayne's manual, I realized that the things that are getting power, are all those that use relays in the passenger fuse box. I then futher investigated to find the exact wire that is sending power to these relays. And so I took some pictures:







It is the one with the red and green wires. Anyone know why these wires would be supplying power?

From Passenger compartment fuse box, Fuse 30/Green wire goes to ignition switch. Fuse 34 in Passenger Compartment Fuse Box has Red wire which comes from Fuse 1 (Main power supply) in Power Distribution Box.

Maybe the cross feed is in this connector. Does this connector seem to be in bad shape?

Well I pulled the connector that those wires are connected to and the functions such as the wipers and heater blower and stuff, no longer worked. I don't think this has anything to do with fuses. The wires don't seem to be going out, but rather in. And that is why they have constant power which is giving power to those relays.

I think...

Was the ignition switch you installed, new or was it a used part?

Relay 16 (Black color) in the passenger compartment fuse box is for the ignition. I would try changing that and see if it helps. I think it is $30 or so.

It was new. But all the things that those relays control are all on until i remove that wire. Then they no longer work.

Yes, it could be the relay or a cross feed from wires which go to the relay. Note, I edited the price for the relay in earlier post.

I can understand how the ignition relay would keep the car running. But what I don't get is how a bad ignition relay would cause all the other relays to stay on as well. I need to find out if that wire should have constant power before I go out and spend $30 on a new relay that I might not need.

Can someone do me a huge favor and test this wire for me as soon as possible? Thanks!

Can anyone help me?

I'll try a little more since nobody else is chiming in.

I looked at the Ford CD diagram for the A/C-Heater. The green wire goes to the Power Distribution Box and another goes to the ignition switch. The red goes to the battery positive (so this means that the connector end should have power all the time). The green wire which goes to the PDB (Fuse 4 igniton) should have power but the one which goes to the ignition switch should not have power unless the key is in the acc or run/on position.

In your case, even when the ignition is not turned to run/on, the heater blower will come on when you turn on the blower switch. Now, did you say that the blower turns on when you turn to A/c or Panel, and was it at the red or blue side when that happens. (Trying to determine if it is a heater circuit or a/c circuit which has the cross feed). If it set to the blue side, and it does not come on during the Panel, then the cross feed could be from the heater circuit. If the blower comes on, then the cross feed could be from a/c circuit.


You should check the wiring under the passenger compartment fuse box again.

In addition, I remember you had a issue with the lights on the door not turning off. I think you should check the headlamp switch. It could be broken and that has a free safety recall if yours has not been changed yet. Call your dealer or register at www.fordvehicles.com to see if you are covered.

From Ford CD to diagnose a NON-OPERATIVE door lights.
PINPOINT TEST CA: ALL INSIDE HANDLE LAMPS, DOOR LOCK AND WINDOW SWITCH ILLUMINATION INOPERATIVE

�² CA1: CHECK OUTPUT OF FUSE 31 (7.5A)
�² CA2: CHECK INPUT TO FUSE 31 (7.5A)
�² CA3: CHECK HEADLAMP SWITCH OUTPUT
�² CA4: CHECK INPUT TO HEADLAMP SWITCH

Edit. 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