So, I have a 1995 Ford Contour that I purchased in May from it's previous owner.
Within the past couple weeks, I've noticed a combination of sounds coming from under the front of the car, especially on the left side and especially when I slow down and make left turns. I know nothing about cars and I just worry about my car sounding like a sinking ship.
I've got smoke coming out of my oil dipstick tube. 1996 Mercury Mystique 2.0L automatic, 62000 miles. I noticed a burning oil smell after a short (10 mile) drive, and checked the oil when I got home. A few wisps of smoke smelling of burning oil came out of the dipstick tube when I removed the stick. I was just curious how worried I should be about this.
As far as I can tell, my cooling system works (radiator hoses are warm, good hot air from the vents, thermostat and coolant recently replaced, hoses inspected, no leaks) and I'm not thinking the burnt oil is caused by overheating. There hasn't been any noticeable oil consumption, and I'm pretty diligent about checking the oil on this old car. Oil changes every 3000 miles since I've owned the car; dealer performed scheduled maintenance for the old owners.
Here's my thinking: a worn piston ring allowing oil to be burnt and then sucked back through into the crankcase. When I changed my spark plugs, I did notice an oily residue on one of the plugs (cylinder #1), which also leads me towards a piston ring diagnosis (though I was hoping it was a valve seal causing the oily spark plug, or even a spark plug seal). Do a wet compression test is in order, or should I go ahead and get a leakdown test? I am going to buy a compression tester, but I do not have an air compressor to use with the leakdown tester; I'd have to take it to a shop.
I do need to service the PCV system (and would have done it today, but the parts hadn't arrived at the store) -- would a PCV problem cause the oil to burn, though?
Experienced the crazy sounds coming from the front end when making a turns, like a squealing sound, 2000 Ex 4wd, truck in 2wd high axles are unlocked. replaced steering box.
View 3 RepliesI have a 2005 Explorer XLT with the 4.0L V6 and AdvanceTrac.
I've had a worsening growl in the front end that sounds like it's coming from the front left wheel. I can feel it in the steering wheel, and the sound goes away when I turn the wheel right of center. Center (going straight) or leftward steering, and the noise comes right back.
I changed the wheel bearing today, and there is absolutely no change in symptoms. Turning the CV shaft back and forth by hand, something feels kind of "grindy." It is the same at any point along the shaft, which has me worried that the bad bearing is in the front differential.
I have a loud rattling coming from my combi valve mainly when I start it up in the morning along with a strong sweet smell. The noise slowly decreases. 2002 Passat 1.8T....
View 1 RepliesI was on my way to the hardware store today and when entering the parking lot I heard a scraping sounds coming from the front end. I parked and looked under the GT and did not see anything hanging, drove around the parking lot and heard it again. Does not matter straight line or turning, i did notice when I braked I could not hear it. What this could be ? I went out again later to try to pin point it but I am not able to hear it anymore. Just not sure if I should take it in or not.
View 1 RepliesWhen I turn LEFT at medium to low speeds I hear a "gravel-ly" grinding noise coming from the Right Front area. What could this be? Wheel bearings?
View 1 RepliesI wanted to pass along the results of a brake issue I encountered in my 2010 Prius (15K miles) and report to interested Prius owners how the issue was resolved.
Problem: In the last second (or so) coming to a complete stop I noticed a few light clunk type sounds, like something was loose up front. I never experienced any degradation in the braking performance.
I have a 1995 Ford Ranger 4 cylinder and the other day on my way home all of a sudden sounded like a lawnmower, it was very sluggish and would take twice as long to get moving,it also smelled like gas and I used a quarter of a tank in about 24 miles. Someone said it could be the ignition coils...
View 5 RepliesI have a '95 Subaru Legacy L Wagon AWD 5-speed manual shift. There a new noise that seems to be coming from the front half of the car. I can't really describe the noise, but it only happens when all three conditions are met. If they are, the noise is continuous.
1.) The car has to be in gear--not neutral. But it doesn't matter which gear. I tried revving the engine in neutral, but nothing happens.
2.) I have to be accelerating on the gas petal. If I let off the gas--even if the engine and vehicle speed haven't yet dropped--there's no noise.
3.) Engine speed needs to be at or above 2,000 RPM. It gets louder at higher engine speeds, but it's pretty much proportional to the "normal" noises at higher speeds.
What might be causing this?
Mostly occurs at high speeds and climbing hills. Could it be a transmission problem? Or a fuel pump?
View 2 RepliesI have a 1998 Ford Contour se 2.0. The alternator went out in the beginning of January. Had it replaced, got it back it ran for a couple of days and it just died on me and wouldn't start. So back to the shop it went, fuel filter was clogged so they changed it, and I got it back last Friday. It ran until Saturday morning and as I was driving down the road it just died!! Just like that...died. Got it to run for a few seconds...it would die.
Finally got it back home and now it won't start. It will turn over, but won't start. If it does start it won't stay running longer than 2 or 3 seconds. I've had the fuel pump, fuel injectors, and spark plugs checked. Everything is fine. Oh and yes, it has 3/4 of a tank of gas in it. What is wrong with this thing?? It also has around 151,000 miles on it.
1996 Ford Contour 4cy. Runs great, except once in a while driving down the highway, it seems to go out of gear and then back in. Shakes violently. Have to pull over. Never know when it will happen. Once/twice a month maybe. Always when it is warm. Never in a Michigan winter. I have done all the normal tranny maintenance. Neutral Safety switch ???Other then that, the tranny shifts great.
View 1 RepliesWas having some clunking sounds coming from the rear end on the old F150. Bro in law said it was lack of gear lube and the rear diff grinding from the start. Wasn't the issue. U - joints are shot and causing the issue. My question is I marked the drive shashshaft and flange with a sharpie but it rubbed off on the flange from free spinning the rear end seeing if the issue was there. From the drive shashshaft to the rear diff flange does the flange need to be marked or no? I did scribe with a nail the transfer case and marked the drive shaft with sharpie. So is the flange being marked important or just the bracket with the u-joint? Would've used soap stone but don't have any on hand.
View 5 RepliesI drive a 1998 Ford Contour, the transmission goes into neutral on takeoff in drive, you can manually shift through the gears and get going, but not from drive.
View 1 RepliesCar started to jerk when 30mph and up. I changed the fuel filter and oil. Car was ok for a couple of days, however it started to make lound sounds, needing a muffler. i took it to the shop and it needed a flex pipe. All was well for a day, than the car had trouble staying started. It would drive fine, but when you are stationary at a light or stop sign the car wanted to stop. Took it to the shop and the guy said it need a pvc pipe/hose.
The guy told me that the pipe had rotted and it was at the back end of the engine. Car was good for several days, however it now started back jerking at 30mph and up. It will not do it all the time but sometime. It's like the cruise control is going on off. You can step on the gas, but the car will not go any faster, 'just stay the same speed.' When speed is drop it will be ok, but will jerk for a period of time and then stop.
I have a 99 contour svt and every once in a while the hazard lights will flash even while I'm driving.
View 1 RepliesI was driving the car yesterday and was getting on the highway ramp and stepped on the gas and car went crazy. It started to accelerate and decelerate by itself. I had no control of the car whatsoever. When driving at 0 to 40mph no problem so far, but anything over this car will jerk, like it's changing gears by itself, 'going fast and slow.'What is this? Do I need a fuel filter, or plugs or what? I don't know when the last time I changed anything the car mileage is 135,000
View 1 RepliesI have a 4 cylinder 2000 Ford Contour 133k miles
I've only driven the car for about 2 months, Ive never had an issue with it until yesterday other than an occasional hard shift when driving the car hard. Yesterday when I dropped the car in drive it wouldn't pull at all, I sat in my apartments parking lot continually revving the car high in drive but it wont do anything, its like the car is in neutral. Reverse works and I can drive by manually shifting from first to second and then putting the car in drive, but if I put it into drive before reaching 3rd gear it jumps back to neutral.
I checked the linkage, and the lever it connects to on the transmission; when put into drive the position of the lever coincides with the neutral position. I called a few local transmission shops and they diagnosed is as a broken sprag, but from reading online it seems like it could be a clogged transmission filter or a faulty transmission range sensor. Prior to this issue I would sometimes here a whistle coming from under the hood when driving, I didn't know until today that a whistle is indicative of a vacuum leak, but wouldn't it throw on my check engine light? I have checked my transmission fluid, its at the correct level and is a nice cherry red, it doesn't have any bad or burnt odor.
Almost everytime I drive the car for more than 2 consecutive it acts as if it drops a cylinder..running rough. The next day it will run fine until 2 hours go by...and so on. I have changed plugs wires and coil pack.... 4 cylinder .. automatic
View 2 RepliesI drive a 98 Ford Contour Sport. When I was driving today, I signaled a left turn, and the signal began working erratically. This also happened with a right turn, and, since I deliver sandwiches, happened when I turned my hazards on. Throughout the day it got worse, and eventually stopped working. I'm willing to bet that it's a wiring issue since all of my fuses are fine.
View 5 Replies