Contour Curve Balls

I helped smack two curve balls in one week and bring in at least one homerun for my old team.

I was introduced to the Tempo, which was Contour's predecessor in late 1983 when they were brand new. There was a head gasket recall program I really enjoyed because none of the older techs wanted to fool with it, and I made a lot of money on that program alone.

It seemed that Ford's powertrain engineers had fouled up when they chose the head gasket. Just about every engine had a nasty oil leak down the front side of the engine block. The early gaskets had no adhesive, so I'd yank the valve cover off and the bolts out and disconnect the brace at the rear. With a hoist, I'd raise the head about two inches and then slide the old gasket out from under there like a business card. Carefully feeling the head and the block for any needed scraping, I always found both surfaces smooth and clean. Sliding the new adhesive-coated gasket into place, I'd set the head back on it, zip everything back together, and get a 3.5-hour flag for 45 minutes of work. Not a bad return for a recall, eh?

During the decade of the Tempo, I really grew to like the bulletproof cast-iron engine that must have been designed by powertrain engineers from days gone by. Many times, I've seen Tempos that have run so hot that the thermostat would actually turn as blue as the barrel of a gun and the engine would still survive with no blown gaskets, detempered rings or any other ill effects. Not many engines can take punishment like that. For years this little car and I had a wonderful relationship. I even bought my wife a brand-new one in 1993, which we still own.

Then, in 1995, Ford discontinued my little friend and introduced the Contour, which appeared to be a close cousin of Mazda's 626. It was obviously a whole new car, and as a replacement for my old friend, I hated it. Everything seemed to be wrong about it. For instance, shop manual procedures on the 2.0L call for the removal of the catalyst to gain access to the PCV valve.

Growing to like it

I worked on Contours for five years at the Ford dealer, and saw so many that I actually began to enjoy working on them. Every Ford dealership line tech has probably done a few of the many recalls: replacing wire harnesses, crash sensors, blower switches and resistors and a host of other parts too numerous to list here. As for the ZTEC 2.0L (122 CID) four-cylinder engine with dual overhead camshafts (DOHC), four valves per cylinder, an aluminum cylinder head and sequential multiport fuel injection (SFI), it actually seemed pretty reliable, but with some peculiar idiosyncrasies. The spark plugs are supposed to last 100,000 miles, and usually they do. In 1998, the ZTEC became the ZTEC VCT, which added the dimension of Variable Cam Timing to the exhaust camshaft.

The exhaust camshaft was connected to its gear by a compact sliding helical gear set, which is operated through an oil servo at the command of the PCM. Variable Cam Timing is an emissions strategy based on the idea that closing the exhaust valves early actually retains enough exhaust gas to reduce combustion chamber temperature so that EGR for that engine becomes a thing of the past. Retained inert exhaust gas cools the combustion temp to below 2,500°F, thus preventing the formation of oxides of nitrogen (NOX).

Curve balls

Contours love to throw curve balls. I've gone to the service lot on several occasions to check out a no-start on one of these. Like most seasoned technicians, I always listen to the sound of the engine when I spin it over, particularly if it is equipped with a rubber timing belt. If I hear uneven compression or no compression at all, my mind logically superimposes the words 'timing belt' over everything else.

On a 2.0L Contour, however, be careful when confronted with that free-spinning sound. Sometimes the Idle Air Control valve sticks, and the mill won't fire up. The seats of today's vehicles are awash with 21st century drivers who have never had to tap the gas pedal to set a choke and aren't accustomed to fiddling with the accelerator. These drivers sometimes just keep spinning the engine until they've washed the cylinder walls down with gasoline and all the compression is gone. A few tablespoons of oil and some clean spark plugs will bring a washed down Contour back online and surprise the guy who might swear it has jumped time.

'Curve Ball' number one

Ryan pulled the ticket on one 1995 Contour that had come to us from a small dealer in Florida. Somebody had slapped a salvage yard engine in this car, but they couldn't get it started. They dragged it to the local Ford dealer where the timing belt was replaced, but the car still wouldn't fire up. After who knows how long, it wound up crossing the state line on the hook and landed in Ryan's service bay. The compression sounded decent. It would attempt to start and gently backfire out the throttle body while the engine was spinning. If there had been a distributor I could grab and twist, I would have advanced the ignition timing. Turning the wheels to the right for access and removing the splash shield, I connected a timing light to the number one plug wire and watched the timing flash while Ryan spun the engine. The spark was occurring about 30 degrees late.

This set of circumstances confused some of the engine guys, who claimed the gears had to be out of time, but I was quick to explain how that just didn't wash. To begin with, Ryan had already checked the belt timing, and secondly, the Variable Reluctance Sensor (VRS), used by the EDIS ignition module to fire the coil pack, gets its signal from the flywheel, which couldn't care less where the valves are.

Somebody had obviously put the flywheel on incorrectly, and at the very least, the transmission would need to be removed to inspect the flywheel alignment. This is somewhat mysterious, because the flywheel boltholes will only line up one way. But some shade tree mechanics will leave a bolt out if they get a little frustrated. However, the owner hauled the car away without letting us fix it.

'Curve Ball' number two

Donnie and I walked together out to the service lot where another '95 Contour had come in on the hook. When he spun it over, the sound indicated some of the cylinders obviously had more compression than others, and it was a 138,000-mile vehicle, so a timing belt would probably be in order. We pushed the Contour from the service lot into Donnie's bay.

Jerking the two bolts that hold the top tip of the timing cover in place, we found a fresh-looking belt that would whirl the gears when the key was turned, but it was obviously loose. Pulling the valve cover to access the camshafts, we brought the engine around to the place where the slots in the driver-side end of the camshafts should have been lined up.

The slots wouldn't line up, so at the very least, the camshafts were out of time with each other. We jacked the car up, put it on a stand and removed the passenger-side front wheel and the splash shield. We brought the crank pulley up on top dead center (TDC) and found that all the gears were several teeth away from where they should have been.

Surgery

The owner okayed a $60 dollar timing belt and three hours labor. Supporting the engine with a floor jack, we removed the engine support brace and mount and worked the bolts out of the plastic timing cover. Removing the harmonic balancer isn't usually a big deal; just yank the retaining bolt, grab the balancer and rock it off with your fingers.

Removing the lower half of the timing cover, Donnie noticed some steel balls lying below the crank gear and found that one of the two idler pulleys had lost it's marbles and caused the belt to jump. The belt tensioner felt okay, but because the other idler was rather noisy when I spun it aggressively and the car was sporting such high figures on the clock, we decided to replace both idlers along with the belt.

A note is in order here: These belts don't usually shuck teeth like most of the other timing belt equipped engines, but we do see quite a few that jump because of tensioner problems and other reasons.

Lining things up

Technicians who have worked on Volkswagens are familiar with the slot in the end of the camshaft where a small flat bar is inserted to locate the shaft when timing the engine. A modified file of the right thickness works well for this procedure. The DOHC Contour has an offset slot cut in the end of both camshafts, and when they're lined up, the lift end of the #1 exhaust lobes are pointing forward and the lift end of the #1 intake lobes are pointing rearward. The camshaft drive gears have no keyway but are retained by the torque of the bolts that hold the gears to the shafts. This handy set-up actually makes the belt easier to install. The chain-driven gears on 4.0L SOHC Explorer engines are retained the same way, but that's another article.

There is a special tool Ford didn't require on the '95 models, and it isn't really necessary. The tool is inserted in a hole near the number 4 cylinder crank throw. When cylinders 4 and 1 are at TDC, the crank will contact the tool to provide a solid location for TDC. The '95 shop manual simply provides instructions for lining up the balancer timing mark with its corresponding boss. With the belt installed and the camshafts positioned by the bar, the gear bolts can be tightened to specifications. Be careful to hold the camshafts securely while tightening the bolts. The slots used for the locating bar won't handle the pressure, and a broken camshaft can ruin your whole week. If you're using the tool to pin the crankshaft, it's obviously important to remove it and the locating bar before attempting to start the engine. 'Nuff said about that.

Contact! Curve ball!!

With everything reassembled and two new idler pulleys in place, Donnie turned the key. The engine started, ran about two seconds and then died. He spun the engine again, and we were greeted by the freewheeling sound of no compression.

"Oh, great!" we both said simultaneously. "Now we get to do it all over again." It was one of those situations where we both were absolutely sure everything we had done was right, but the evidence indicated otherwise.

In less than two minutes the valve cover was back off, and we brought the engine around to the point where the camshaft slots were aligned once again. With the camshaft slots aligned, the crankshaft should have been in place as well. It was exactly where it was supposed to be. Reinstalling the valve cover, Donnie spun the engine and some of the cylinders started gaining compression. First one cylinder began to fire, then another. The engine fired up and ran rough, then it slowly smoothed out. A 20-mile test drive verified the repair.

"Oh, duh!" Donnie said. "This one has a manual transmission. When the cams stop turning and the engine is being driven by the transmission, it pumps up the lifters." What was strange was how the engine had sounded so perfect during its first two seconds of life after the timing belt!