Faults:
Replaced leaking valve cover gasket, I compliment that part of the design, at least as far as how easy it was to do.
Put in new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, and pvc valve when I first bought this car.
The very first time I drove this car on the road the alternator went out, also, and this is possibly not the cars fault, I think my friend shorted it out when he was helping me, but the solenoid went out.
The emergency brake did not work when I bought it, nor does the light telling you that it is set. A friend of mine put the wires back in, it works now, but it is very weak.
The starter started acting like it was going out, I replaced that, it improved, but it seems to be harder to start at times, no particular time though. And by the way, I hope I never have to do that again, it is a huge pain.
My oil pan leaks, about 1 quart a day, I only drive about 60 miles a day. Of course this is weird, sometimes, it leaks less, can't tell whether it's a certain way I drive my car or not. The longest time period I have driven my car was about 2 hours.
It stalled on me once a while back, has not happened again since then, but it does idle erratically and Rpm's drop down very low quickly like it is dying. I do not go over the speed of 60mph in this car and have not had any freeway stalling.
My front left tire rubs on the fender wells, I do not know what is causing this, all I know is that I am afraid my tire will blow one day.
The steering shakes a little more than I am used to on any car. I'm sure it could use an alignment, but from the comments I have seen here regarding that, I would be wasting my money.
My gas door does not open with the button, I have to pop the trunk and pull the cord. Also, the key does not open the trunk.
The horn works when you touch the two wires together, but not when you push the button, so I had the cover partially on with the two wires sticking out of the top, this became a problem when I turned, cover would fall off, so I just took it off. Now I have no horn.
The alternator belt was being eaten, this was my fault though, it was too loose, they really should have made it easier to tighten, at least as far as specifications go.
I have not had any overheating problems, knock on wood.
As mentioned above the car stalled once, I put fuel injector cleaner in every time I fill up, I noticed some said the stalling stopped or eased when they did this, I think I will keep doing this.
Driver side automatic seatbelt does not work.
General Comments:
This car does not accelerate extremely fast, but it is also not the slowest.
The braking seems good so far.
The seats are set funny, too high I think.
Two words, Blind Spots!!!
My rear window defroster works! My blower does not, heater works, a/c does not, thank God for manual windows, some of the glow lights on the a/c panel do not work, where are the cup holders?
The interior lights come on when I open all the doors except one, rear left side.
I still have my exhaust, and it does not have some kind of smoke coming out of it.
The engine seems to run well and be in good condition except for the erratic idling.
My paint looks like maroon primer, people keep asking me what color I'm going to paint it.
My bumpers are all cracked and pieces are missing.
My doors do not always want to open from the inside, you just have to kind of pull and then pull again.
My headlights are way too dim, even on brights, and yes, I do drive with brights on, and no one flashes me.
The guy I bought it from ($500 if you are interested) said cruise control worked when he drove from Arkansas, but it doesn't now.
The ride in this car is not incredibly horrible as I had expected when I test drove the car, the transmission shifts well, shocks are working, and even though the steering shakes a little it still handles well, unless I take my hands off the wheel, then it goes to the right.
This would be a fun car to turn into a dirt track car, but for now it is my only mode of transportation.
I have named my car Chris, after my boyfriends ex-girlfriend, it got this name when I was mad at it. My boyfriend thinks that is funny. Does that give you an idea of how much I love this car overall?
When it is not broke, it seems to be a good car.
For those of you who are not paying someone else to work on their car, me for example, it is a pain. I run into problems with space and placement every time I work on it. The only time I enjoyed working on it was when I did the valve cover, I like the way you will not lose the bolts, the silicone boots are a great idea.
Has anyone figured out how to get a ratchet on the bolt to turn the engine top dead center? I could not.
I need to replace my serpentine belt, it looks like it will break on me soon, I have no idea how I will do that.
And by the way, the Chilton's and Haynes repair manuals are not accurate. This is the only car I have ever run into that problem on.
The interior is roomy, especially for an economy car.
This car is more reliable than some of the other cars, trucks, and vans that I have owned and driven, so maybe I am lucky. Yes, I would buy another Ford, just not a Tempo, I am looking into another Mustang, that was a wonderful car and I had several different year models. Compared to the Mustang the Tempo is a horrible car, but probably the third best used car (that was more than a few years old) I have had.
19th Jun 2003, 12:13
Retraction -- we fixed the squealing noise :-)