stupid question

[umina]

just picked up a 1995 Contour GL 5spd V6 with all the options (except keyless entry). Everything including the power moonroof works. Anyways, the car has 120K miles on it, was very well taken care of by previous owner. Got it for a grand because it needed a $50 PS pump. Got it all taken care of and love driving the car. Bought it to turn it around and sell, but now thinking of keeping it. Are these cars/motors/transmissions known for racking up the miles? I wonder how close to end of life i may be with this car.

It starts and doesn't make any funny noises, stick shift is smooth. Its got a check engine light that is on and off, MAF or TPS according to autozone. Not worried about it as all contours seem to have this problem and i dont have emissions where i live (though previous owner said it passed with flying colors even with light on). Only problem i can see is that alot of the wires have cracked insulation on them due to the faulty wiring harness on these early cars. I've taped up the ones i can access. Should i just sell this car and be rid of it, or keep my 97 Bonneville SE (99K miles, needs nothing and runs great). Your thoughts are welcome, thanks!

[beyondloadedSE]

All 95-97 Contours were prone to cracked wiring harnesses. There was a recall on this, but was only good for 10 yr/100,000 miles so your out of luck.

See the contour forums for more information regarding this recall
http://contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=24

The V6 is a good engine. Some people have almost 300K on them. The MTX-75 transmission is very reliable. Just have to be careful with the stock differential as its likely to grenade with a lot of abuse. (i.e. wheelhop)

See CEG here for the reliability pros/cons
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/sh...c=1&PHPSESSID=

And see contour.org for anything else you need to know.

[Davescort97]

I would keep it. Wires that look bad on the outside will be all right if the cracks aren't opening up. On the other hand it would be in excess of $1000 to get the wiring harness replaced. seeing that you only paid a grand for it you probably wouldn't want to put another grand into the wires. I'd sell it before they start causing problems. Sell it outright as the book value for it on trade in is only $850.

[beyondloadedSE]

Originally Posted by Davescort97

the other hand it would be in excess of $1000 to get the wiring harness replaced.

$1300 to be exact for all 4 harnesses.

[Davescort97]

Yeah you are right. I was a little low on the estimate. I had a bad wire going to my rear tail light on the turn signal circuit. It was ( a long story) causing my rear light on that side to be very dim because I got some water in there. I took it to the dealer and they said the entire harness assmbly had to be replaced. Hence, $1,000. I just ran a new wire from the RF side back. Took care of it. I guess I was lucky. Couldn't expect the dealer to do something like that.

[12Ounce]

If you keep the car, I would recommend correcting all the emissions issues. It may be related to the wiring harness and you may heal everything as you heal the harness.

But you will only get "correct" (near perfect) combustion when the engine control module is happy with all the sensor inputs ... and clean air, and clean oil, ... along with correct EGR, and PCV functions, etc, etc. It all works together. Anything other than near-perfect combustion results in soot and carbon starting to build up ... on piston crowns, ring grooves, valve heads, etc. Once baked in place, no chemical "bullet" that you place in the tank or spray in the air inlet is going to dislodge it. It takes engine disassembly and elbow grease.

Then you start the downhill slide all over. How fast the engine goes into the toilet is dependent on the maintenance its afforded.