95 Contour SE 5 speed Electrical Problems

[dw_pirate]

Hi, Im having some problems with my Contour. Its a 5 speed, and I have numerous problems, especially in the rain. In the beginning of the summer, whenever I went thru a puddle, if I pushed the clutch in, the engine raced to almost 7000rpm. It would do that every time until I would shut the car off, when it wouldnt start for a few days. It doesnt do that any more, but now if it gets wet, I can be travelling at 50-60mph and suddenly the tach will drop from 3+ RPM (or whatever I am at) to 1500 or so and fluctuate wildly. I cant keep the car going when it does that, the car jerks and bucks so bad and eventually stalls.
Today, (10/31) I went to start it (it has sat in my driveway since 10/29), it caught, raced to about 2000 Rpm, then stalled. Now, it turns over, but wont catch. Jumping it doesnt help (I tried, just to be safe). UPDATE: Battery is getting weaker and will barely turn the car over.

Also, turn signals stopped working the other day (Friday, 10/27). Hazards work, all the rest of the lights work, but no signals. I cant find the ticker or whatever you call it. Car parts guys cant seem to figure out what the problem is either, and local Ford dealer decided they didnt want to help either.

Any ideas on these problems? are they related? any quick fixes?

[Ian Szgatti]

If the Ford dealer didn't want to help, theres a good chance that your problem is on a Technical Service Bulletin, and the work might not cost you anything. The only thing I suspect is that rain water is making its way into your electronics.. possibly at a wiring harness..
Be persistant in calling around and requesting TSB info.. you can get it if you ask for it. Post any new findings for us please... thank you

[dw_pirate]

Update:

I took the car to a local service station, where a repair on the wiring harness was done. Apparently, my entire wiring harness is rotted away. I love the car, but dont have the money to fix it and dont have any other mode of transportation should it die again, so I am just going to scrap the car.

[Ian Szgatti]

Originally Posted by dw_pirate

Update:

I took the car to a local service station, where a repair on the wiring harness was done. Apparently, my entire wiring harness is rotted away. I love the car, but dont have the money to fix it and dont have any other mode of transportation should it die again, so I am just going to scrap the car.

www.fordcontour.org

Try this web site and see if there is a buyer in your area. The people on this site are crazy about contours, and they would likely repair the car themselves. Just a thought

[dw_pirate]

The car is a piece of junk... it has a huge dent in the hood, no drivers side rear window, and needs the wiring harness and numerous other repairs. I find it hard to believe that someone would spend a pittance on the car and have to put nearly 3 grand into it... But I'll post it just in case.

Thanks for all your help guys. Unfortunately, as much as I hate to see it, the contour will be leaving... replaced by an '07 Scion tC

[beyondloadedSE]

Cracked wiring harness recall...A shame its a 95. Luckily I got mine replaced under warranty this last year.
http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=24

Btw, www.fordcontour.org is pretty much a dead forum. Theres probably only honestly, like 20 active members at the most over there. fordcontour.org started because a couple of guys from contour.org got banned and started their own website. Unfortunately, because CEG had been around for about 5 years at the time, everyone stayed there and thats where the knowledgebase continues to be. We have archives from 2001 of just old forums where people can continue to search for answers to problems. Why do you think I post links to contour.org so much? Because its all been asked and readily available.

fordcontour.org does have the head trans engineer that designed the MTX-75 though. Hes the go to guy when it comes to MTX-75 questions.