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Car ALWAYS has problems!!

M

MarcMiller

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
501
Location
Philadelphia
Ever since i got this car off my dad its been acting up on me. Before he gave it to me it needed alot of work...not sure what he did to it but he told me it cost around 1200$

since ive had the car ive had my starter , waterpump, all breaks replaced.
New struts new sway bar. Sway bar links. Motor mounts tranny mounts.oil sending unit replaced.
Theres been alot of money thrown into this car to keep it going.

Now recently my cars been making a noise that i noticed was my belt around my gasket. Head gasket i think? Left side of the engine. I didnt think to much of it i knew i had to get around to it eventually when the snow cleared up.

When i got my sway bar links replaced i noticed the sound in my rear went away. Week or so later we got hit with about 20 inchs of snow and i started hearing some weird noise from my rear again. Not sure if its the links or what. I had my struts in the back replaced already.


My power steering is making noise thats fluid i need. ( maybe a leak knowing my luck with this car)

i was driving to work nd at a red light i noticed it was shaking...not too bad but i could tell. So i get to my work and i stop to wait for someone pulling out of a parking spot and my car completly stalls. I tried starting it nd it didnt work didnt get a cranking or anything...still in drive.
Put it into park and it started up fine.

Anyone have an idea what this could be?


I wish some of yous lived around me so i have someone to turn to with my car problems and also just for help to mod it up.
I cant affors to send it to shops to get fixed its costing way too much.

I live in philadelphia..from what i hear closest people to me are hour or so away.


Well let me know if you know what it could be.


EDIT: My dads been paying my bills and ive been slowly paying him back each month...do yous think i shoukd just get a new car? Like a crappy cheap car i can trade for mine.
Im sick of all these problems but i love my tour ya know?

If yous were in my shoes what would you do?

If i had the knowledge to fix my problems myself i would but i dont.
 
MarcMiller said:
Ever since i got this car off my dad its been acting up on me. Before he gave it to me it needed alot of work...not sure what he did to it but he told me it cost around 1200$

since ive had the car ive had my starter , waterpump, all breaks replaced.
New struts new sway bar. Sway bar links. Motor mounts tranny mounts.oil sending unit replaced.
Theres been alot of money thrown into this car to keep it going.

Now recently my cars been making a noise that i noticed was my belt around my gasket. Head gasket i think? Left side of the engine. I didnt think to much of it i knew i had to get around to it eventually when the snow cleared up.

When i got my sway bar links replaced i noticed the sound in my rear went away. Week or so later we got hit with about 20 inchs of snow and i started hearing some weird noise from my rear again. Not sure if its the links or what. I had my struts in the back replaced already.


My power steering is making noise thats fluid i need. ( maybe a leak knowing my luck with this car)

i was driving to work nd at a red light i noticed it was shaking...not too bad but i could tell. So i get to my work and i stop to wait for someone pulling out of a parking spot and my car completly stalls. I tried starting it nd it didnt work didnt get a cranking or anything...still in drive.
Put it into park and it started up fine.

Anyone have an idea what this could be?


I wish some of yous lived around me so i have someone to turn to with my car problems and also just for help to mod it up.
I cant affors to send it to shops to get fixed its costing way too much.

I live in philadelphia..from what i hear closest people to me are hour or so away.


Well let me know if you know what it could be.


EDIT: My dads been paying my bills and ive been slowly paying him back each month...do yous think i shoukd just get a new car? Like a crappy cheap car i can trade for mine.
Im sick of all these problems but i love my tour ya know?

If yous were in my shoes what would you do?

If i had the knowledge to fix my problems myself i would but i dont.
Click to expand...


Wow, just wow! I'm pretty sure most of the problems are driver related, but I'll hit the biggest DOH! first- CARS WON'T START IN DRIVE!

Maybe just quit throwing money at it and accept that a 12 year old car will have some rattles. And adding power steering (ATF) fluid isn't really rocket science.
 
Tex said:
Wow, just wow! I'm pretty sure most of the problems are driver related, but I'll hit the biggest DOH! first- CARS WON'T START IN DRIVE!

Maybe just quit throwing money at it and accept that a 12 year old car will have some rattles. And adding power steering (ATF) fluid isn't really rocket science.
Click to expand...

i obviously know that? I just have to buy some.
And i just freaked i didny think about it being in drive.
IM 18 TOO. chillout. Sorry i dont know all that.

And some rattles are not a new problem every other week.
 
You came on here ranting and raving about how horrible your car is, and I'm just pointing out to you that your "issues" either aren't really issues, or should be expected with a 12 year old car. Buying another "cheap, junk" car isn't going to fix your problems, as it's likely to have the same issues or worse. These little Contours are quite reliable comparatively.

Buying ATF to put in your power steering reservoir isn't a crisis. It's available at any gas station, Walmart, auto parts stores, probably even grocery stores.

As far as your starter going out, once again, we're talking about a 12 year old car and a driver who doesn't even know that you can't start a car while in drive, so who's to say you weren't over-engaging the starter by failing to release the key as soon as the engine fired?
 
Tex said:
You came on here ranting and raving about how horrible your car is, and I'm just pointing out to you that your "issues" either aren't really issues, or should be expected with a 12 year old car. Buying another "cheap, junk" car isn't going to fix your problems, as it's likely to have the same issues or worse. These little Contours are quite reliable comparatively.

Buying ATF to put in your power steering reservoir isn't a crisis. It's available at any gas station, Walmart, auto parts stores, probably even grocery stores.

As far as your starter going out, once again, we're talking about a 12 year old car and a driver who doesn't even know that you can't start a car while in drive, so who's to say you weren't over-engaging the starter by failing to release the key as soon as the engine fired?
Click to expand...

Yeah i know that and from being on this site ive learned a few things. Maybe its my contour but i havent seeb one bit of reliability. I just need a push in the right direction to fix some of the problems before they turn into bigger and badder problems.

My car is still low milage so i wouldnt expect that many problems.

Idk what to do to start making my car run better.
Should i fix the noise and not worry about the rear?
 
All in all maintenance is key.So with the power steering is the fluid low and making noise or full and making noise :shrug: If it is full and making noise a flush of the system may help .As far as brakes ,struts, mounts, ECT. these are also wearable maintenance items even more so on an older car.
I try not to drive automatic cars any more than I have to but I can under stand being flustered in an intersection or whatever and the car not starting .One time with my first car (66 Mustang 302 3 speed) my throttle broke as I was crossing a busy intersection :blackeye:.People beeping and such will I was trying to feather the clutch enough to move the car
So with the shaking and stalling, do you have a check engine light :shrug:
 
car has 93xxx miles.



my dads thinking my engine might be shot.
When i turned it on tonight my engine started "rattling". The noise was coming from the intake manifold it seemed.
he said its a rod tap or something like that i forget the name...im sure yous know.
I checked my oil today and i have none...i checked it 2 months ago and it was max. Maybe snow made my car burn the oil.
the rod tap could be from the oil being so low..i have to check the oil when the car is not warm.

My dads saying if my engines shot we'll buy a new engine.
i was telling him about people on here doing 3.0 swaps and buying used engines for 400$ and all that.

he says new would be the best? not really sure...




either way i have no money to fix this car up. i love my car to death but these problems are getting old. Not that I'm sick of it...its just that i don't have the money or knowledge to fix it.




After my problems are all fixed (IF:mad:) i dont think im going to do any more mods. i realized how stupid it is to throw money into my car when i have no money for things like this.


Im going to do the skirts and grille mod and i think i might be done...other than small mods like lights and things like that.
 
zorrex said:
No oil = no rod bearing :blackeye:
Click to expand...
yeah i know...3 quarts low...oil light still not on.
does it only go on if i have no oil? being down 3 quarts is pretty bad...especially when your oil light doesn't come on.


So today I'm going to get more synthetic oil and ill let you know if the rod knocking goes away.


I'll be honest i was kind of excited talking about buying a new engine...a 3.0 swap would be awesome and make my car so much more reliable...just knowing my engine only has 20xxx miles on it...compared to the 93k i have now.
 
Oil light comes on due to insufficient oil PRESSURE. It's not like the coolant where it measures how much...


Not trying to be a jerk, but you have much to learn about cars. :eek:
 
Yeah well how am i going to find out more about cars? Im 18...im learning slowly.

Yous all think im gonna come on this site and just know everything...i learned alot but i dont know everything.
 
BrApple said:
its brakes .... all brakes replaced.
Click to expand...
ohh my iPhone corrected that idk why..



anyway just put 3 quarts of oil in and the engine knocking did not go away. We let it run for about 10 minutes and still does it.
Think it could take a few days? get the oil circulating?
 
MarcMiller said:
anyway just put 3 quarts of oil in and the engine knocking did not go away. We let it run for about 10 minutes and still does it.
Think it could take a few days? get the oil circulating?
Click to expand...

if the bearings are damaged, they are damaged. adding oil and letting it run isn't going to help. you shouldn't be running it with a noise like that.

not sure off hand what it is, but it doesn't sounds good. can drop the oil pan and windage tray and check the rod/rod bearings for play.
 
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