This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Ltr from regarding complaints about the electrical system in his 1995 Ford Contour. The consumer stated the underhood wiring harness was brittle and the insulation coating was peeling off exposing the wire harness.
Ford's Contour and its sister car the Mercury Mystique have defective wire harnesses. The wire shields crack causing shorts, which lead to mechanical break downs and can lead to engine fires. Ford issued an owner notification program #99M03, which admits to this problem and extends coverage to notified individuals but limits the term of coverage. Wire harnesses are not a normal wear component and should not fall apart for no reason. Hundreds of thousands of these vehicles are on the road and have not been repaired. Ford has expressed no interest in helping notify consumers. Further, Ford's dealers are unable to locate replacement harnesses.
Under hood wiring harness got hot and melted the insulation off the wires, causing smoke and burnt smell of plastic and on some of the sensors that control the engine, resulting in high engine speed, lack of stopping power and steering, I parked the car at home and now will not start.
Experienced transmission issues, with intermittent rough shifting and intermittent failures to engage in drive or reverse. It mysteriously started to run fine for several days. One morning I drove a short distance for an appointment. Upon returning and starting the car I noticed smoke exiting the left side of the engine compartment. I turned of the vehicle and inspected the engine compartment, and I could still see some smoke coming from the left-rear part of the engine compartment. After this incident, several of the vehicle's electrical functions failed, including park/brake shift interlock, heater fan, backup lights, directional flashers. Following the incident, the transmission issues have resumed. Upon inspection, I noticed several wires had cracking insulation, and some even had bare wire exposed.
I have a 1995 Ford Contour and I paid over $16,000 for it. I have had nothing but trouble since I got this car. I have 50,888 miles and the transmission has been replaced 2 times and worked on 4 times. Water pump went out, air went out all wiring covers has crumbled off leaving exposed wires to start a fire and much more. I have been treated like I was a child and didn't know any better with the dealership and Ford Motor Company. I now have a car that I can't drive because it is a fire hazard. I want something done to my satisfaction. I know they quit making the 1995 Ford Contour because there were so many manufacturer problems. I am now told they can't get parts to fix the car and I can't trade it in on another one. I am a female and I am tired of the treatment I'm receiving from Ford. My car has always been serviced at a Ford dealership. I have contacted several agencys concerning my problems.
- St. Louis, MO, USA
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- the contact stated that the compartment wiring harness insulation on the 1995 Ford Contour's engine became brittle and cracked. The contact stated there was Ford recall number 99M03 which stated that the reason for this was due to heat and moisture. The contact stated most of the insulation has fallen off. The contact was unable to start the vehicle, and had not taken the vehicle to the dealership for repair. The vehicle currently had 18,8000 miles. Update 4/9
Wiring on 95 Ford Contour, we did a valve job to this car and at this time we noticed the wiring harness was a mess the coating was coming off the wires, what coating that is there is dry and brittle exposing the wires, the bare wires touching at places, went and got one from the recycle parts yard and it was the same way now we are having a hard time finding a good one to put back on the car a new one is so expensive I believe I was quoted around $1300.
Ford "owner notification program" 99M03 describes, and offers to fix for free, a problem in which engine wiring harness insulation rots due to certain environmental factors. Program involves a warranty extension to 10 years beyond original warranty, or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. Symptoms of the problem vary widely. In my case, the car just shut down while driving. While there were no injuries, this was an obvious safety hazard. If it had happened on the interstate instead of on a side road, the result could have been disastrous. In response to this problem, Ford issued 99M03, which they call an "owner notification program". the problem is that, according to my own experience, and according to the personnel at my local dealer's service department, owners were not notified unless they brought the car in for something that turned out to be caused by the wiring harness problem. This program needs to be elevated to a recall so that all owners are aware of the risks and are able to take appropriate action to protect themselves.
Deterioration of the wiring harness, Ford Contour 95 were made with a deficient engine wiring harness isolation system. Very dangerous ! short circuits! they just extended the warranty for 7 years or 100,000 miles, my car has only 45,000 and the wiring harness is in such bad conditions I am afraid to drive my car, as recommended by mechanics. The Ford and dealer says it has to be changed outside of the already expired warranty, about 3,500 dollars (by tropical Ford in orlando) it is impossible, the car price is 3,500 D. ( total lost) it is fabrication defect, the car has only 45,000. Why it is not a recall " the affected customers were not told the car will expire in 2005! because nobody will pay the car value to fix it! I should keep driving until the short circuit comes ! would you be comfortable with your daughter driving this car" I believe it is not fair! Ford should fix the problem if the car has less than 100,000 M at least! currently I have lights turning on by themselves on my dashboard!
Contact states underneath the hood the harness wiring melted.. recall campaign 011009000 was issued. Consumer did not receive a recall notice from the manufacturer. However, manufacturer provided consumer with recall 00S44, concerning electrical fuse connectors and recall 99M03 regarding underhood wire harness. The service dealer stated the recall campaign has expired.
1995 Ford Contour. Recall 99M03 (underhood wiring harness) was completed by Ford dealership October 2000. In 2003 and since, check engine light comes on, ABS light comes on, blows fuses randomly, finally the steering column started smoking and the wiring caught fire. After inspection, it appears Ford only replaced part of the wiring harness on the recall, not the entire harness as the invoice shows. Part of the wiring appears in very good shape, while some sections of the harness are frayed, insulation is falling off, and bare wire is exposed. If this is the norm and not just an individual incident, it is a very misleading and dangerous deception. It would appear they only patched a problem that was, for safety's sake suppose to be replaced. The invoice that was provided when repairs were done, does indicate that the entire harness was, in fact replaced. The bottom line is, Ford has failed to repair what can potentially be a very dangerous problem. They only patched the problem. Now the only option available to the consumer is to replace the entire harness, because Ford does not make sections of the harness available. The wiring harness on an automobile is not something that an owner should have to be concerned with failing. Of all the automobiles that currently reside in salvage yards, most of which are considerably older than a 1995 Contour, I would suspect that a very small percent are there because of a wiring harness failure. I still have the entire harness, photos of the harness, and the invoice where the work was done. The vehicle will not run until the ABS section is replaced. As I stated before, the only way to repair the car is to purchase the entire harness from Ford, which I have not yet been able to do. If this was common practice, Ford needs to go back and replace the sections that were not replaced. After all that is what the invoice shows they did. Thank you for your time.
Several instances of the car shutting off with no prior warning. I found out that Ford Motor Company used the wrong wiring in the engine compartment. The wiring that was used can not withstand the environmental conditions that it is exposed to heat. Ford motor is well aware of this engineering deficiency and issued a "campaign", not a recall on the wiring, that will cover consumers for 10 years from the date of original owners purchase or 100000 miles. Ford informed me that even though they are aware they will not repair the problem unless complaints about the wiring or related symptons are made. This is malicious act on behalf of the Ford co to their consumers. Possible consequences of not issuing a true recall could result in but not limited to the following brief listing: 1) fire resulting in severe injury or death of occupants from arcing wires dues due to broken, cracked, and damaged insulation. 2) crash resulting in death to the occupants of the vehicle and/or other vehicle(s) involved due to unexpected stalling of vehicle on roadway. 3) crash resulting in severe injury or property damage due to unexpected stalling of vehicle while being operated. To summarize people can die, be paralyzed or severly injured because of Ford's desire to save money and deny responsibility for their manufacturing/ engineering flaws. A simple "campaign" is not acceptable and should be a safety recall to protect the consumer which could eventually become innocent victims. Ford installed the incorrect wiring on the assembly line and tne after becoming aware of the defect did the very minimum to correct the issue. They need to be held accountable for this deficiency for the life of the car. Automobile wiring specifications is not new technology and to make a mistake of that magnitude can not be overlooked.
Defective engine compartment wiring harness in my 1995 Ford insulation evidently does not meets the performance specifications needed to survive the environmantal conditions present in the engine compartment. All wires are showing evidence of cracking and bare wires are actually showing through. I am concerned that this poses a safety hazard for driver and occupants. Ford will not honor recall as they say one of their dealers did the inspection; however, they must have been blind not to see this cracking. Based on the number of complaints I've seen on your site, suggest you institute a mandatory safety recall before someone gets killed.
1995 Ford Contour was pulled out of one of our garages and into another one. Got out of car went inside - someone walking by saw a fire in the garage. This blaze almost burned down our building. The car is a total loss and found out it was the wiring harness.Ford wont back their product even though we found out there was a recall on the wiring harness. We are totally getting the run around from Ford so called customer service. They wont do anything because of the miles on the car are over 100,00. Quality is job 1 with Ford is a joke. They knew these cars are starting fires. Lucky it didnt kill someone in the fire. It took 4 men to put out this fire. I have seen all over internet and national news stories about this exact same problem. I guess cause there has not been enought fatalities to fix their product. This wiring harness almost burned down our business - would Ford pay it - no way - I told customer service I was going to put this burned joke of a car on our front lot and write on the windshield "quality is job 1" if you dont burn up in one of our vehicles.!! I want a resolution to this matter!!!!
I have a 1995 Ford Contour and recently had it in the garage to have some transmission work done. When I picked the car up the mechanic informed me that the car was a safety hazard as most of the under hood wiring harnesses were faulty. The insulation om the wires were cracking and in some cases bare wires were exposed. I have not been notified of any recall's on the condition have I am the original owner of the vehicle.
My car stalled on me back in March of this year, and when it was looked at a garage, they told me it was a faulty engine wiring harness on my 1995 Ford Contour. I looked around on the internet, and saw that there was indeed a recall on this same harness. I never received a notice from Ford about it. I contacted the local Ford dealer, and they verified that there was indeed a recall on it, and to bring it in to have the work done. I then had the car towed there to have it fixed. After they had it for about three or four days, I went back to check on it, and they said that they couldn't work on it, because it was five thousand miles over their "recall warranty". I had the car towed back home, and called Ford themselves. I got the same runaround from them also. I notified them that I never received the recall notice on it, and they basically told me sorry, it wasn't their fault. I have found several message boards on the internet, that people complain of the same problem, and it seems that Ford, knowing there is a safety problem with it, should fix it no matter what. The wiring harness on the car is completely burned through, and most all of the wires are bare, and exposed. I was told from a dealership, that if I wanted to have the work done myself, the harness would cost around $1200, just for the part. I found this website, and was hoping, maybe I could get someone to help me out in getting Ford to fix a known problem on their vehicle. Thank you.
The problem is in the wiring harness under the hood. The outer coating cracked causing the wires to melt. This is a known problem by Ford Motor Company they did a recall on it --the recall number is 99M03. Ford will not honor the recall due to the fact the car was listed as salvage but the reasons for salvage had nothing to do with the recall issue. The wires have worked fine for the past 3 years and they are the original wires and harness.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Washington, DC, USA