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Ford Contour 95 Spark Plug Wire Corrosion
My Ford Contour 95 GL V6 has its spark plug
wire damaged by corrosion, and costs me $400 to
repair.
I first felt that the engine vibrated several
times once in a while, then started vibrating all
the time at all speeds. Putting the gear in parking
reduced the vibration a little bit. The car felt
very sluggish in acceleration. Occasionally I
sensed a very strange smell.
This morning I learned from my dealer's repair
department that the spark plug wire is corroded,
and causes misfire, and the smell.
Too bad that it costs $400, and is not covered
by my extended warranty.
One colleague who has two Contours, one 95,
one 98, told me that his 95 Contour developed exact
the same wire corrosion twice. Once after his wife
went to New York and left the car for a week. The
second time is when his wife delivered a baby and
had not driven the car for several weeks. Each time
costs him big money. He swear that next time
Contour gives him trouble, he will swap it for a
BMW.
Spark plug wire corrosion seems to be a common
problem for Contour, or any other car. My wife's
colleague has the exactly same problem with a
Toyota. The question seems to be when you will have
this problem, not if. Is there any way to prevent
it? Is it easy to repair it by yourself? How to
check if I do a good job? What is the risk if it
turns out that my auto repair skill is not as good
as I think?
Two month ago I spent $200 to change the EGL
valve ( or EGR valve?). $600 for 5 year 40K car is
too much in such a short time. That makes me
dreadful of the opening of the flood gate, that is
when the designed life expectancy is reached for
most parts. You can throw in thousands of dollars
and still be forced to give up the car shortly
after. I wonder how long is this "magic" life
expectancy for most Contours.
My previous car is a 84 Toyota Tercel. After I
started to do the maintenance and minor repair on
my one since 94, the car goes bad rapidly. On 95,
after changing alternator and starter, it developed
engine problem and could only go as fast as 7 mph.
I had to ditch it to junkyard. It only has 84K.
That experience left a bad taste for me, on
the general myth of high quality of Japanese cars,
and on my auto skills.
Now it seems that my gamble on newly revived
US auto industry is going to be a very costly
mistake. Any advice on feasibility and risk of
do-it-yourself repair work? Any advice on some
really reliable family car or minivan or
family-oriented SUV if I need to give up my Contour
next year? Reliability index on edmund is good
reference. But people experience is much better. My
experience, along with many others on Toyota
Tercel is not consistent with its high reliability
index on edmund.
To be fair, I enjoyed the trouble-free high
performance of my Contour for the last five years.
I am not complaining about the past, only trying to
steer away from future expenses.
wire damaged by corrosion, and costs me $400 to
repair.
I first felt that the engine vibrated several
times once in a while, then started vibrating all
the time at all speeds. Putting the gear in parking
reduced the vibration a little bit. The car felt
very sluggish in acceleration. Occasionally I
sensed a very strange smell.
This morning I learned from my dealer's repair
department that the spark plug wire is corroded,
and causes misfire, and the smell.
Too bad that it costs $400, and is not covered
by my extended warranty.
One colleague who has two Contours, one 95,
one 98, told me that his 95 Contour developed exact
the same wire corrosion twice. Once after his wife
went to New York and left the car for a week. The
second time is when his wife delivered a baby and
had not driven the car for several weeks. Each time
costs him big money. He swear that next time
Contour gives him trouble, he will swap it for a
BMW.
Spark plug wire corrosion seems to be a common
problem for Contour, or any other car. My wife's
colleague has the exactly same problem with a
Toyota. The question seems to be when you will have
this problem, not if. Is there any way to prevent
it? Is it easy to repair it by yourself? How to
check if I do a good job? What is the risk if it
turns out that my auto repair skill is not as good
as I think?
Two month ago I spent $200 to change the EGL
valve ( or EGR valve?). $600 for 5 year 40K car is
too much in such a short time. That makes me
dreadful of the opening of the flood gate, that is
when the designed life expectancy is reached for
most parts. You can throw in thousands of dollars
and still be forced to give up the car shortly
after. I wonder how long is this "magic" life
expectancy for most Contours.
My previous car is a 84 Toyota Tercel. After I
started to do the maintenance and minor repair on
my one since 94, the car goes bad rapidly. On 95,
after changing alternator and starter, it developed
engine problem and could only go as fast as 7 mph.
I had to ditch it to junkyard. It only has 84K.
That experience left a bad taste for me, on
the general myth of high quality of Japanese cars,
and on my auto skills.
Now it seems that my gamble on newly revived
US auto industry is going to be a very costly
mistake. Any advice on feasibility and risk of
do-it-yourself repair work? Any advice on some
really reliable family car or minivan or
family-oriented SUV if I need to give up my Contour
next year? Reliability index on edmund is good
reference. But people experience is much better. My
experience, along with many others on Toyota
Tercel is not consistent with its high reliability
index on edmund.
To be fair, I enjoyed the trouble-free high
performance of my Contour for the last five years.
I am not complaining about the past, only trying to
steer away from future expenses.
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