conti questiions that need to be answerd urgent!!!!

[zj95]

ok we just bought a 96 conti aat a auction and have a few questions.

1. the front left air bag is bad and the right side isnt much better it just doesnt leak as bad. what do u suggest? i was looking at strut masters 1995-96 Air Suspension Conversion Front Spring Kit it sounds like a good deal because u keep the ride controll strut thingy <---lol what ever u call it. does anyone have this?what is the ride like?

2. also i was reading about the trans this one has 178,000 miles on it( the car ) so i was just woundering why it is so un reliable and what can i do to make it last?

3. also i took out the rear seat yeaterday and found a wire that goes to nothing. it almost looks like an antena wire what is this? the radio words fine and this car does have the cd changer but i dont know if it works. i havent tried it. maybe a cb from the previous owner.

4.any know where to get any service and or repair manuals for this car?

5. how do u take off the passanger door panel? there is a wire hanging out of it that needs to be connected to something. any one have pictures?

6. how do u adjust the passanger door handle? the door is hard to open and the door ajar chime is annoyying me. i think it is because of that door

7.what tires work on this car best? right now it has small low profile tires that give it a rough ride.


thats about it for now Please help i need to know quik!

thanks in advance.

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

answers to the ?'s that I can provide...

#1. Spring conversions are popular, but no everyone likes the ride. Not have a converted car, I cant comment on ride. if you decide to keep air ride, check the age/condition of rear air springs, they may need replacement soon if they are originals.

#2. Cant provide specific info on that trans, mine is different year, but normal maintainance with quality parts/fluids should give you many years of use. 178k on clock is a lot of 'unknown' history tho.

#3. Not sure. could have been cb, or other antenna wire (maybe previous owner had TV antenna mounted on trunk, with receiver in head unit??) and they just cut the wire. can't provide much help on this one

#4. Look at Helm, or on Ebay. get factory manuals 2 of them, one 'mechanical' other is electrical and emissions.

#5. don't know, but service manuals will have procedure

#6. Cant help... manual or other forum user is best choice

#7. lots of different opinions on that one. if it still has stock sized wheels (check the sticker on door pillar), stay with size recommended on the sticker as well, for best ride/control. Of course some tires ride smoother than others, some others will surely chime in here with recommendations

 

[zj95]

thank u for answering all u could.

i ended up keeping the air ride and just boughtsome new bags from arnott inc.
the rear bags are fine.................. for now lol i hope they dont go out haha

anyways thank u for your help

i still need answers for the other questions tho...... ANYONE?????

 

[zj95]

WOW i just noticed how bad i was at spelling on that origanal post lol

sorry bout that i was in a hurry haha

 

[Magister]

Joys of Continental Ownership.....

In regard to the suspension, Arnotts (Good people to do business with) are worth a good look, or if you still want to keep the air suspension, They do a custom made Kye Based strut and Airbag kit, they weigh in about $700 for the pair.

Manual, I have the 1996 Ford all model CD manual for that year (Im just about to place my copy on E-bay in the next few days). Its a factory issue to Techs to promote better repair, some of it assumes good mechanical knowledge, but is real assistive in finding faults. The EVTM manual (which is on the model year CD, however the published EVTM is a little easier to read at times) is worth the purchase alone. With the amount of computers that run riot thru the whole system, you will be, when problems arise be needing that.

Transmission - Royal Purple - Max Atf, the boxes are and can be fragile, and the cost of the ATF above is cheaper than having a box rebuilt.

OBD2 - Scan tool, this is essential along with the EVTM manual, I use Scan Tools, $400, but a real good way of pinpointing a fault or at least leading you on the right path.

The ride can be pretty rigid, with the airbags, and a good motor pulls like a freight train, but its still a luxury car, and its not going to give an SVT a scare.

Oh and parts are an arm or leg..... depending on what you want, but that goes with the territory.

Panel removal...... you will need a panel tool (a replacement panel FYI is $700 Colour matched so be careful). Dont damage the securing pins, I bought 3 packs of them, and I didnt have a lot of change out of $50.


You can always drop me a line here if you need any pointers, but I can only go on my experience with the car in question)

ok we just bought a 96 conti aat a auction and have a few questions.

1. the front left air bag is bad and the right side isnt much better it just doesnt leak as bad. what do u suggest? i was looking at strut masters 1995-96 Air Suspension Conversion Front Spring Kit it sounds like a good deal because u keep the ride controll strut thingy <---lol what ever u call it. does anyone have this?what is the ride like?

2. also i was reading about the trans this one has 178,000 miles on it( the car ) so i was just woundering why it is so un reliable and what can i do to make it last?

3. also i took out the rear seat yeaterday and found a wire that goes to nothing. it almost looks like an antena wire what is this? the radio words fine and this car does have the cd changer but i dont know if it works. i havent tried it. maybe a cb from the previous owner.

4.any know where to get any service and or repair manuals for this car?

5. how do u take off the passanger door panel? there is a wire hanging out of it that needs to be connected to something. any one have pictures?

6. how do u adjust the passanger door handle? the door is hard to open and the door ajar chime is annoyying me. i think it is because of that door

7.what tires work on this car best? right now it has small low profile tires that give it a rough ride.


thats about it for now Please help i need to know quik!

thanks in advance.

 

[ND4SPDLSC]

I'd keep the air suspension on the car. Having a '99 and '00 Continental (factory front coils), they don't ride or handle that well and it seems the air sprung cars fair better in both areas. I've thought about retrofitting the air suspension parts. If you had to convert, I'd stick with Ford parts from a junkyard from '97-'02 Continentals. The conversion companies have had good and bad feedback. I trust the engineering and testing done by Ford a lot more. I doubt a place like Arnott has run the numbers on anything. If you are a little handy, you can fix the air suspension in your driveway.

Add a transmission cooler. Heat kills automatics.

Look for a Helms/Ford manual on eBay or buy it direct from them.

The OE Michelin Energy tires are good for low rolling resistance, nice ride, pretty good rain grip and decent dry grip. They're also quiet and fairly long lasting with average drivers, but they are expensive at $120 a tire. We trieda setof Continental ContiExtremeContacts with good results and they were $89 or $99 a tire. They were even V speed rated. Keep the same speed rating or go better than OE. Check tirerack.com for prices and reviews.

 

[zj95]

put new bags on the front and that did wounders. lol

i like how in everything that we looked at they just told you to losen the top nut to take the strut apart but none of the said anything about the special tool you need to do it. boy was that fun!

we ended up geting a oxygen sensor socket like this one

and a 10 mm deep dish socket just in case anyone else wants to know how to do it with out spending a bunch of money on a special tool

when we took the struts apart the bumb stops in side were totaly destroyed and there was shreds of them every where. we just took them out and all seems well. we didnt have time to look for new ones. haha

we found a book at checkers auto parts but it still is not a very specific version.

 

[JLewisinSyr]

3. also i took out the rear seat yeaterday and found a wire that goes to nothing. it almost looks like an antena wire what is this? the radio words fine and this car does have the cd changer but i dont know if it works. i havent tried it. maybe a cb from the previous owner.

What does the wire look like? Does it look thin like normal car wiring or really thick like cable tv wire? If it is thin, has a small connector on it, it could be for the ash tray in the middle of the rear seat.

7.what tires work on this car best? right now it has small low profile tires that give it a rough ride.

I'm a big Michellin fan, so my cars only have Michellins on them. They are expensive though, but the ride, durability and traction on all seasons is really good.

 

[ND4SPDLSC]

I'd put in new bumpstops very soon. They probably prevent the suspension bits from bottoming out on themselves and becoming damaged.

Continental ContiExtremeContacts seem to be a nice, cheaper OE replacement with great grip, but the OE Michelin Energy MXM4 Plus tires are long lasting, quiet, and provide low rolling resistance. They'll squeel like mad in hard cornering though. I'd upgrade to the Continentals if you needed all seasons or a higher performance Michelin. If you want summer tires, that's a whole new discussion.