Kyle E. Grathwol Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I noticed a "slapping" noise in my son's 1996 2.0l Countour. It sounds like a piece of the timing belt is slapping the cover or maybe a tensioner issue. I have never worked on this engine or many gas engines period. Are there any tips or advice you would care to offer before I start tearing it down? Are there any other components that you would recommend that I replace while I have it apart? Thanks for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchan68 Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Those engines were notorious for having the idler pulleys fly apart, causing timing belt failures. The good news is that they are not interference engines, so if the belt let's go, you won't be kissing valves. I would replace BOTH idler pulleys as well as the tensioner when carrying out this repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaysonfordtech Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I agree, check the tensioner and idlers. I thought I remembered a tsb for an updated top cover for a slapping issue, but I think it was for '95s. I have seen lots of t-belt idlers and tensioners die on zetec motors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle E. Grathwol Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 Thanks for your input guys. I do appreciate it. Any tips on the actual job such as shortcuts, special tools that I may need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaysonfordtech Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 The back of the cams have a slot to time them, use a file to line them up. There is a bolt behind the cat, near the crank sensor that is used sometimes to line up the crank, or you can do like most guys and just mark the notch, if the engine does not have VCT you are ok with just marking. The vct made it more sensitive to cam timing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle E. Grathwol Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 I assume VCT means variable cam timing. Remember, I am 99.9% Diesel Mechanic and mostly heavy duty engines. Will it be obvious if it is a VCT engine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchan68 Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I assume VCT means variable cam timing. Remember, I am 99.9% Diesel Mechanic and mostly heavy duty engines. Will it be obvious if it is a VCT engine?A 1996 Contour won't be equipped with VCT anyways. VCT was used only on 1998 and 1999 model years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle E. Grathwol Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 I finally got around to tearing it apart. The idler towards the front of the vehicle was significantly smaller than the other and showed concave wear. The idlers the dealer sent me look almost identical. The part numbers are almost identical except one was suffix A the other B. Since I have no access to parts info (especially at 7:00PM) I decided not to put it together until I was sure that I had the correct parts. My questions are...on a 96 2.0 Zetec are the timing belt idlers almost identical? What are the correct positions for the A and B idlers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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