98 Contour needs new 2.0 Zetec

[morpho18]

Do I need to source an engine from the same year of Contour, or can I drop in a similar 2.0 Zetec from a Focus/Escort?

VIN for my Contour: 1FAFP6637WK277970

Thanks in advance.
Adam

Edit:

Also, the valve cover is white, and i'm pretty sure the timing cover is black. Not sure if that helps any.

[striker2]

if you want it to drop in without any additional work you will have to source one from a 98-00 Contour/Mystique or 99-01 Cougar

[morpho18]

if you want it to drop in without any additional work you will have to source one from a 98-00 Contour/Mystique or 99-01 Cougar

great, just the info i needed. thanks!!

[morpho18]

okay, so i did some digging with a friend of mine to see if this is really a boat anchor or not.

originally thought i had blown a head gasket - was driving and had a large burst of steam. however, no coolant was leaking externally, and none was leaking internally (oil is normal color).

well we found something tonight that I had never seen before. take a look:

found a burst plastic connector of some sort, definitely a coolant line - thinking it's the line that runs into the heater core.


which is located here (circled area):


the original thought amongst CEG'rs was that I had a bad water pump which caused a break in the coolant system somewhere. with this burst line, it definitely adds more to that theory. was driving at 65 mph for about 40 minutes and then a bang and a poof of white smoke, with coolant sprayed on the driver side of the engine bay. Anybody know what this plastic connector is?

[striker2]

that line does indeed go to the heater core. however, it looks like someone replaced part of that line with the plastic connector and some new hose as i dont ever remember seeing that connector there. however it is possible its supposed to be that way on the 98+ as i had a pre98.

[morpho18]

I'll try to tie it back together with a metal air hose coupler and a few ratchet clamps.

I'll have to see if my mechanic friend has a heat gun that he can use to see if the motor is truly not circulating water. we'll have to tow it to his shop (he has free reign to his lift and tools over weekends ) and swap in a new water pump.

any other maintenance items that should be done while the pump is off? new timing belt? serpentine belt? any positioning sensors?

[mcgarvey]

98+ do indeed use that coupler from the factory. No need to mess with anything else while you're in there, just do a water pump and see if that fixes it. The timing belt isn't in the way or anything.

That said, the rate of water pump failure on these cars is VERY VERY LOW. You may find that you water pump is just fine and something else is wrong. Was the coolant maintained properly?

[morpho18]

98+ do indeed use that coupler from the factory. No need to mess with anything else while you're in there, just do a water pump and see if that fixes it. The timing belt isn't in the way or anything.

That said, the rate of water pump failure on these cars is VERY VERY LOW. You may find that you water pump is just fine and something else is wrong. Was the coolant maintained properly?

Coolant was fine. What was happening was it would take the car forever to come up to operating temp, and to generate any heat through the heater. It wasn't until 10-15 minutes into a drive that I'd finally get some warm air coming out of the vents. Thought maybe the ECT sensor was bad, so I swapped in a new one, problem still remained.

I talked to my mechanic friend and found that these water pumps have plastic shafts on the impeller, and sometimes those impeller shafts break, stopping waterflow through the engine. It all makes sense for my scenario. The water pump wasn't pumping water, so the fluid was never flowing. I'd finally get heat to flow through the vents when the water/coolant finally got hot enough that it would steam inside the cooling system. When the line finally popped while I was driving, there was an enormous white cloud, which was all steam. It makes sense thinking the scenario through, but it's not to say that there is something else wrong.

[zorrex]

Your mechanic has the V6 water pump and the Zetec water pump highly confused. The Zetec water pump just does not break. (Although, I'm pretty sure I have a Cardone water pump in which a seal went bad, causing it to leak, but I have yet to run tests on it to verify if this is true). However, it IS common for hoses to burst on the Zetec. I blew off the heater hose on my car, and I have read of many others having the same and/or similar problems.

I bet your water pump is working, but your system is plugged up somewhere. However, it is still a good idea to replace the pump, as it is pretty cheap. Swap in a new pump, run some water through the cooling system for awhile to clean it, then refill with coolant.

[striker2]

if it was taking 10 minutes to come up to temp the first thing i would check would be for a stuck open thermostat.