Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||||
| 98203 | 01/01/1999 | 604389 | Concerns with the potential effects of adhesives used for body panel repairs. *tt | 04/28/1999 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||||
| 98164 | 04/07/2000 | 609732 | A transeal coating is on the front and rear bumpers. this coating must be removed before delivery to the customer. yd | 04/07/2000 | |
| 983583 | 01/07/1998 | 607850 | Some vehicles may experience a vibration at highway speeds. *tt | 10/14/1999 | |
| 98203 | 10/12/1998 | 603688 | Concerns with adhensives not recommended for body panel repairs. *yc | 03/02/1999 | |
| 9844 | 03/02/1998 | 601263 | Some difficulty in matching the texture of the oem anti-chip stone abrasion material to rpair materials when servicing. *yc | 07/15/1998 | |
| 9831 | 02/16/1998 | 600585 | Repairs to vinyl covered surfaces. *yc | 05/27/1998 | |
| 9833 | 02/16/1998 | 600587 | Service tips for surface defect removal without repainting. *yc | 05/27/1998 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||||
| 99-8-15 | 05/03/1999 | 606419 | Subject regarding door trim panel replacement - service tip. *tt | 01/05/2001 | |
| 99215 | 10/18/1999 | 6089665 | Subject regarding vehicles that have water leaking onto front floor from door panel area. *tt | 02/11/2000 | |
| BC2395970501 | 05/01/1997 | 52832 | Customer complaints of doors that lock inadvertently. *tw | 09/18/1997 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - TRUNK LID | |||||
| 12726 | 05/01/1999 | 6091702 | Information regarding decklid release issues. *tt | 11/09/2000 | |
| 6243 | 05/01/1999 | 607038 | Online service information pertaining to various decklid release issues. *tt | 11/03/2000 | |
| 9843 | 03/02/1998 | 601262 | A condition with the the foam gap hider inside the luggage compartment may become detached from the rear light bar. *yc | 07/15/1998 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||
| 07/15/2003 | 0 | ||
| My 1998 contour is at 128,225 miles. the problems that i have experienced with the car are the following: -the headlights go out of aim and moisture collects in the headlamp and when the moisture dries it leaves a film on the inside of the lens. the brightness of the headlights is terrible. i can barely see at night even when it is a clear night. i have had several near misses. i almost hit a man on a bicycle the other night. he had reflectors on his bike but i didn't see him till i was right up behind him. i haven't had this fixed because i can't afford to pay two four hundred dollars for a new pair of headlamps. i have been actually looking in salvage yards. -another thing is the transmission. it shifts out hard between first and second gears. now it jerks when i go up hills or when i let off of the gas pedal. i figure if i take it to the ford dealership they will tell me that i have to replace it. -the next thing is the drivers seat. the seat track itself has rust on some of the parts. the driver seat is the only one with the rust problem. when you sit in the seat it rocks side to side (from door to center console). this scares me because i read someone else's complaint and he said he was hit from behind and the seat and the track itself broke on him. | |||
| 1 | 08/01/1998 | ||
| Design of the structure causing excessive wind noise. mjs | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||
| 07/01/1997 | |||
| While driving through a puddle and turning a corner, water was sprayed into the engine compartment and disabled the power steering. luckily there was no one at the corner or i would have hit them, with the sudden loss of steering. ford has a tsb, but this is a life-safety issue. | |||
| 02/19/2000 | 1 | 05/01/1998 | |
| The dealership had installed an aftermarket rear spoiler on the vehicle without disclosing this information. after having problems with the third brake light in the spoiler in learned it was not a factory part. the dealership stated to me that it was factory. i was not able to get the part replaced until i called ford directly and threatened to sue the dealership for fraud. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - BUMPERS | |||
| 11/15/2005 | 1 | 09/17/2000 | |
| My dash on my 98 contour has been warping / curling , even while it kept in my garage , in a cool climate . also my rear bumper is sagging for no apparent reason . *jb | |||
| 01/25/2001 | 01/01/2001 | ||
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||
| 11/14/2006 | 128000 | 1 | 01/02/1999 |
| Drivers side door window crank shaft (manual window) snapped off clean inside regulator leaving window utterly inoperable. this happened during normal operation of window during normal operating conditions and warm weather. dealer claimed it happens a lot. very dangerous if vehicle was in a fire, accident, submerged in water etc. *jb | |||
| 2 | 05/08/1997 | ||
| Door locking mechanism shorts out causing the doors to lock when exiting the vehicle with the motor running. *tt | |||
| 05/05/2000 | 4 | 06/13/1997 | |
| The interior dome light & cover fell down while vehicle was parked. *ak front passenger side door never fitted properly. *yh | |||
| 1 | 06/01/1998 | ||
| Consumer experiencing noise at driver and passenger side doors. nlm | |||
| 06/01/1999 | |||
| There is a short within the electrical system, causing the horn, brinker's and brake light's not to work. also, all the rubber has fallen off the door panel, and the driver's side shoulder belt doesn't retract. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR - HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS | |||
| 1 | 07/01/1997 | ||
| Transmission has a defect, there is a slip when you applying gears. also, brake pedal goes all the way down to the floor, and grabs a little bit. dealership is aware of problem. brakes have failed, on one occasion consumer almost hit a child, brake pedal slips from under foot. emergency brake is only effective 50 percent of the time. transmission intermittently changes gears roughly, at times jarring occupants in the vehicle. possible electrical problem: light of the clock has burned out twice, consumer states there are shorts in the dashboard, causing the heater or a/c to only have one speed working, dome lights work intermittently, light under dash works intermittently, warning bell does not chime all the times it should, consumer states a sensor causes heater to act as the ac and vice versa. hinges not made properly, causing door movement while opening/closing, does not stop when it should. seat blet retarction does not have enough elast, causing it not to retract properly, has gotten caught in the door jam. alarm system has failed. wheel cover cracked when a tire was being changed and another one fell off, consumer was not aware of the time or place it fell off. *slc | |||
| 1 | 03/31/1998 | ||
| Seal on the rear passenger door came completely off. *slc | |||
| 3 | 03/01/1997 | ||
| Front passenger door off hinges. | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - ROOF AND PILLARS | |||
| 10/12/1998 | |||
| When driving at night there isn't any light in the inside for the consumer to be able to use the sun roof, and the consumer states that is a safety defect. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - TRUNK LID | |||
| 11/09/1999 | 1 | ||
| Consumer states that there is a water leak in the trunk, this has caused the trunk floor to rust. *slc | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS | |||
| 05/06/1999 | 3 | ||
| Subframe out of alignment causing vehicle to pull right while driving. nlm | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS - UNDERBODY SHIELDS | |||
| 07/08/2003 | 1 | ||
| The vehicle was taken to the dealer on 6/17/2003 for recall# 01v255000 subject: front coil spring corrosion. on 7/8/2003 the vehicle hit a pothole. the shield that was installed due to the recall went down onto the front passenger side tire. the dealer was contacted but refused to make any repairs. *ph | |||