8th Jun 2007, 03:59

I have a 99 Contour with 97000M miles. I have no problems, except normal maintenance. One thing I am very dead on is keeping all filters changed. Maybe a little more than regular maintenance will help you people.

7th Jul 2007, 16:53

I also have a 95 Contour. Although, unlike most of you, I have not had any major problems with it. After 150,000 miles, I replaced the water pump (and timing belt while I was at it). I replaced them myself and it was a long, hard job, but much less than Ford wanted for t he job. However, the car runs hot and I can't pin down the reason. Maybe the sensor mentioned earlier will solve the problem (if I can find where it is hidden). For those of you with the O2 sensor problems: I have found that the EGR, O2 and MAF sensors all go out together. If you hook it up at Auto Zone to the computer, the EGR code seems to prevent the other 2 from showing up. Once you replace the EGR, the O2 code prevents the MAF from showing. I went back 3 times to Auto Zone -- once after each sesor replacement -- before I figured this out. Hope it helps.

28th Jul 2007, 16:02

I guess I am the only one here with positive comments? lol. I have had my 1996 4cyl 5 speed Contour since it was new, I have NEVER had anything happen except for this year I had a wearing rear passenger bearing, and replaced the brakes. I think a lot of your guy's problems are that you are getting a piece of crap that someone else had not taken care of and you yourselves haven't either. A fix? Don't buy a car that is 10 years old, have it checked out by someone who actually knows about cars, common sense shows that if a car is under a few thousand dollars it has things wrong or high mileage. In my opinion these are great cars, I still have mine, no issues ever, and my wife's 2000 was just now sold about 6 months ago, again no problems, just wanted a SUV. It is all in how you take care of it and drive it.

29th Jul 2007, 15:39

Ah no, I hear that Ford actually had made some big mistakes with this car. This is like saying that my Pinto did not catch on fire, so everyone else must be wrong. NO in my book!

8th Oct 2007, 11:03

Please advise:

My 96 Ford Contour won't start unless the steering wheel is played around with, meaning you have to turn it around a lot for some switch goes on.

Does anyone know what switch this is, if in fact it is a switch?

15th Oct 2007, 23:33

I've had this happen intermittently on both a Volkswagen Jetta and a Hyundai Accent. Maybe you are having it happen every time you start up so it's worse for you. In any case I drove each of these cars another 50,000 km before I sold them--I just fooled with the steering wheel until it engaged. It was not a safety issue and never turned into a worse problem for me.

(after reading this board I don't think I'll buy the contour I've been looking at though, but it's the wiring and the bearings that have me worried.) Seems like a really clever mechanic might be able to work out the problems--but I don't know any with ESP.)

16th Oct 2007, 17:44

My Contour did that (the not start until the steering wheel was moved.) You just move it to the right or the left as much as you can and the ignition frees up. Never really understood it.

22nd Oct 2007, 15:56

I have a 1996 Contour with 2.0 engine. I also have the some of the same problems mentioned. However, one problem I am having that was not mentioned is an excessive amount of engine oil comsumption. I have checked for leaks and there are none. The engine does not smoke when started and does not smoke while driving. Can someone help me out with this one. Also, when I press on the gas there is a hissing sound coming from under the dash which I believe makes the engine hesitate. Please help if you can.

30th Oct 2007, 18:11

I had to replace the head gasket on my 1996 contour. I got it all back together Timing belt on and the cams timed. It runs fine at Idle, but cuts out bad as RPMs build. Any Ideas.

11th Nov 2007, 09:58

I just bought 1996 Contour 115,000 miles. I have most of the same problems. The wiring insulation cracking off is the big worry. The car will run hot and the air (blower) will only blow on the windshield? Any answers?

28th May 2008, 10:14

I have a 1996 4 cyl contour with many of the same issues mentioned here. I have driven the car since 2001 and it has always been well taken care of by myself and the previous owner.

The timing belt went, 2 of the brake lines have corroded seemingly out of nowhere, leaving me in a very scary situation driving without brakes! The overdrive light flashes on and the car is jumpy and has trouble shifting it seems like when I drive on hilly roads. The car used to constantly stall out while idling, especially on really hot days. On cold days, it often has trouble starting and sometimes I need a jump (common, I think). I have also had trouble with the engine light always being on, the trunk and gas latch not working, the cup holder broke quickly, and the license plate light wires have shorted.

On a positive note, this car can really boogie and I have enjoyed driving it when it's in good spirits.

12th Jun 2008, 22:15

We have a 1995 Ford Contour with a V6 engine.

The day after we purchased the car the check engine light came on.

Two oxygen sensor changes later, the light is still on.

The car ran fine and every mechanic I took the car back to said it was the oxygen sensor. (How many sensors does this car have? One mechanic told me it has three and I have replaced two of them.)

I no longer take the car to the local Ford Dealership for service. They kept the car for three days and all they did was change the battery.

We purchased another car in 2004 and the Contour sat for three years without being moved.

We purchased a new battery and the car started right up!!

However, the shocks were all shot and one tire was stuck.

We finally got the tire to move but had to have the car towed to the mechanic because the brake line had busted.

The car runs fine now but the check engine light is still on.

We had a problem with the front passenger floorboard flooding every time it rained but that seems to have fixed itself somehow.

The door locks would lock and unlock in one sequence whenever you touched the door lock button. I touched and slightly moved a wire under the hood and we have not had any problems with the locks since.

The car still has some problems.

The air conditioner is not working.

The front speaker on the drivers side does not work all the time.

The drivers side window makes a scratching noise when you roll the window up.

The release latch to release the gas door is broken. (We have to open the truck and release the gas door from there.)

The head rests are broken.

We are having the air conditioner fixed tomorrow and rest of it we will tackle little by little.

I am also going to ask my mechanic about the Mass Airflow Sensor and the EGR valve. Maybe we will get the check engine light to go off after all!!

I wouldn't say the car is bad. It has 152,000 miles and is still going strong!

Most of the problems we have had was our own fault for letting it sit for so long. (other than the check engine light)