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I have an electrical problem with my 1996 Ford Contour GL its 4 cyclinder and has 112,000 miles. About a month ago the car when started in the morning would stall unless you kept your foot on the gas for several minutes, then it would run fine. A couple weeks later the battery light came on so we decide to change the alternator (its only 6 months old) because the battery is brand new and the car ran fine for 3 days then the radio shut off by itself and the windows took 10 minutes to go back up all the way. The next day the car was working fine radio and windows were working then after 10 minutes of driving the car shut off. The wheel and brakes got stiff, and then any random light will come on and start blinking. when you try to get it to start the wipers go off without you touching it. After 15 minutes the car starts back up fine then shuts back off after 10 minutes. If you jump start it it will start immediatly but only drives for 10 minutes. Also the key gets stuck and the car will stay stuck in Drive until you jumpstart it. It seems like its not getting enough gas before it stalls. I checked the cables connected to the alternator and they all work. What can be the problem? Also i've had the car for about a year and have now changed the alternator 5 times. What can be causing the alternator to stop working? Do you have any tips on how to install the alternator and check the catalystic? I don't know if this is related but it has a check engine light code P1780 Transmission Switch Out of Range.

Thank You in Advance.  

This is a short some where in the car.  My ford contour is doing the same exact thing.  Did you ever find where the short was?  Did you replace a relay?  I have files that tell you how to replace the the alternator I can e-mail to you.  If you could get in touch with me about the solution I would be greatly appreciative.  Thanks.  

Dear sir; did you got the problem fix on your 1996 ford contour?
I have same problem on my daughter car it would stall and alterator
just the same problem as yours ,,please help me  thank you  

Hi,
 Did you every find out what your problem was?  

Hi,
Did you every find out what your problem was?  

this is a long post.. you might want to copy the text and print it out... so you can refer to it.. while testing...

wow...  what a bunch of hard to find problems...

i would think a voltage drop test... after checking the state of charge the battery has in it...

you need a digital volt meter to do this...   5 bucks ones will do this so you don't have to spend a bunch of money...

set the digital volt meter to 20 volts dc...

with the engine off... turn on the headlights for one minute... then turn them off.. measure the voltage in the battery...

12.65 volts is a full charge...
12.45 volts is a half charge..
be sure to put the battery on the charger for an hour at 10 amps if it is less than full charged..

now.. start the car...   test the charging system voltage...

with the car idling...   you should have over 14.1 volts .. on that model.. you should have just over 14.4..

DO NOT EVER PULL THE BATTERY CABLE OFF TO TEST THE ALTERNATOR>>.   this will damage the alternator and possibly other electronics...

now.. with the engine running..   turn on the head lights...

measure between the negative battery post and the body...  should be less than 0.02 volts...

now measure between the negative post and the engine... should be less than 0.08 volts...

can you reach the output terminal on the back of the alternator???    touch that and the positive battery post.. you might get 0.1 volts...

why am i testing the same side of the circuit... with the engine running and the lights on???

volt meters measure the difference in voltage..   if the circuit has resistance.. you will have different voltages on different parts of the car.... this test can only be done with a load on the system...

now.. for some of the other problems..

i would think that installing a new ignition switch...  the electric part.. not the key and cylinder...   if the contacts in the switch are going bad.. it will act strange.. things turning on and off...

i would also check the tightness of the various maxi fusesup on the under hood relay and fuse boxes...  these is a 175 amp mega fuse up near the battery on the end of the relay box... i have found these loose and others shorting to ground..

if the fuseable link or maxi fuse is loose.. it will cause the alternator to cook...  

have you tested the alternators after you have taken them off... at the parts store on the alternator tester...


with the battery disconnected.. also use a stainless steel tooth brush from the hardware store to clean the various cable ends at the starter relay....  you do want to take them off the solenoid to clean them...  

he also mentioned a manual position sensor code ... the manual position sensor sends various voltages back to the computer to tell what gear your transmission lever is in...  do to its location.   it can get oil, antifreeze, rain, water from the wheels splashing the engine compartment...   when these go bad.. and they do they can cause all kinds of problems...

i would also check the motor mounts... i know on earlier models they had a few problems...

there is so many places to check... and it seems many different systems are effected...

can car owners list carefully the affected systems so i can get a few friends together and work this out for everybody ...

i do check on the forum almost every day...    so i will be watching for it.. or .. repost and send me a PM of the link...  or a reminder... the first poster has not posted since 2006....  

I have found the cause and cure for contour battery problems.

I have been having a problem with my battery.  Walmart put in 3 new batteries and they all went bad.

   I had 3 garages test my car and found the electrical system to be perfect but walmart said the problem was with the car as it is impossible for them to have 3 new batteries go bad in 3 months.

  I took off the Battery cables and found that they were tightly tie wrapped together and the insulation had melted and welded the plastic insulation of the postive and negative cables together.  There was copper showing and it is a wonder the cables didn't stay shorted all the time.

  I recall now that my car would stumble when I accelerated and at other times.  I now think that was the arching of the + and - cables.

  It is no fun replacing the cables, they are very stiff and the + cable goes to the starter solenoid. I had to remove the starter to remove the + cable.
   To get a new + cable I must buy a set of both cables and some other things for $120 from the dealer.  I found some in the internet for $95. Hmm

  The cables came in but I can't install the starter and cables as there is no room to work  I will have to call a mechanic.

  I was in a store and saw a guy with a "T" shirt advertising that he would go to your home and fix your car.  He went straight to my house and jacked my car halfway to the sky and had the car running in 1 hour.  He asked for $60 and I gave him an extra $10 tip for getting me out of this mess.

  The car runs great, now to see if the battery will last more than a couple of weeks. It is now July 25.

  As a bonus the a/c is blowing cold air like never before. July 31 and all is well.

Aug 1, 2009
 Car won't start.  Battery voltage is 1.4 v

Does anybody have the cure for this problem????Help!!!!!

FIXED!!!!

  I need to learn to read modern amp meter.  I was on the 500 milli amp scale and read 0.7 so I believed it to be 0.7 millamp but it was 0.7 amp. Once I realized I had a large drain I went looking for it.  It was the trunk light.

  The trunk light switch was not snapped in place.  Snap and my troubles are over, now it reads 0.0 amps between the neg post and neg cable.  No parasitic drain.

  An easy way to find this is to open the trunk and if the light is hot then it has been on, lighting up the dark and draining the battery.  Thank you Lord.  

This whole dead battery problem was caused by myself when the trunk struts went bad.  I was replacing them when I got locked in the trunk and I screwed up the lock trying to get out.  I recall putting everything back together around the trunk latch but there was a wire with nothing to plug it to so I just stuffed in in a cavity.  It was the light switch.  It is normally on and turns the light out when the trunk is closed.  A trunk light that is always lit is always a battery killer.  Some people say I am not the sharpest tool in the shed.