Newbie w/ Contour Issues

[noalias]

Hello ladies(?) and gentlemen. I stumbled upon this message board while doing a search on my vehicle, and I'm glad I did. I didn't even know such a forum existed!

Well let me cut to the chase. I'm fairly ignorant about cars as far as repairing them. Hopefully y'all can give me some advice in layman's terms lol. I own a '99 Ford Contour Sport (automatic.) I bought it in Dec. 2003 with about 65,000 miles, it now has about 85,000. For the most part, no problems until recently. For starters, the car won't start! (Pun intended, sorta.) I thought it was the battery because prior to trying to start it, the interior lights were dim, power locks wouldn't work, etc. So I replaced the old battery with a brand new one, and now it just clicks but won't start, and when I try to start it again, it acts as if the battery is draining (lights get dim, etc.) I tried to get a jump, and I could hear the car trying to turn over, but it won't. Any ideas on what it could be and about how much it would cost to be repaired?

Another issue I've had before the one above is that I've noticed that the car "hesitates" whenever I accelerate from being stopped (at a light, stop sign, or just being on the brakes.) It feels like the car wants to backfire as I try to accelerate, but once it gets out of 1st gear it drives fine. Is this a common problem among Contours, or is there something simple that needs to be changed/fixed?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[beyondloadedSE]

I suggest replacing the fuel filter. Usually mine would hesitate on a cold start up, but after it warmed up it was fine. I replaced the fuel filter and its fine now.

Not really sure why it wont start. Sounds like you have an electrical problem. Or the sharter is shot.

Btw, the knowledge on this forum is pretty weak. Id suggest checking out www.contour.org. Surprised you didnt find that one. Its the first site that pops up when you type in ford contour in a search engine.

[JoeyBoy]

Change the starter and get some new plugs and wires.

[noalias]

Thank you beyondloadedSE and JoeyBoy! Fuel filter huh? Actually someone had mentioned that to me before. I'll give it a shot. And I'll also check out contour.org. Thanks again!

[brj2e]

to quote quagmire, "i know where you're going, and i'm already semi-there!"

i don't think that's the problem at all... assuming your car is like my '95 in this respect...

i had those exact same symptoms, and it was a bad alternator, which ended up costing me close to $700 at a dealership. it's the 2nd time my car has done this in 3 years...

that obviously explains the inability of the new battery to work correctly (while a fuel filter wouldn't really?)... and also the instrument panel was dimming as the battery lost charge steadily.

to my surprise, it also explains the gear-changing problem!!! because your car apparently uses the most power between first and second gear, you can get hesitations as you switch from 1st to second b/c not enough power is available.

again, those are the exact signs my car had and this was the fix... twice! save your paperwork (unlike stupid me) in case someone tries to give you the shaft with a craptastic alternator!

best of luck!