Hi all<br> Just found this site and have a question that should be easy for most of you. I need to know if the 2.0 L engine in my daughter's 98 contour is an interference engine? Also what milage do they recomend changing it? <br>thanks for any help Steve

The 2.0L Zetec Engine is a Non-Interferance Valve train Engine. I would change the belt at 60K.<br><br>GERII / Cone_Tour

yes it is interfernece. And yes if the the timing belt goes it could destroy your engine. Happened to me on my 98 contour GL at 90K. I would recommend doing it at 70-80k. While your there replace the serpentine too. Its not fun to do...Mine hasnt dricven the same since. I was lucky the engine didnt blow but somehow My camshaft timing cylenoid went out and now the car runs rough and hot. Thats not cheap. Take it from me., Replace the thing before 80k to be safe.

Thanks for that tip I did not know that about the car

it was non interference up until 1998<br>Then it all changed.<br>so pre 1998 is OK<br>post 1998 not<br><br>CAn anyone tell me what I would expereince if a camshaft timing cylenoid went out? It idles rough, and runs really hot. This seems to be unrelated to the cyclenoid. I had a tranny service down and a radiotor flush along with other routine maintence. What else should do I ? I m thnking maybe replace the thermostat?? Anyone have an idea about this?

  DARWIN

I found a recall for the 97 SE that I own.It says an external spring on the T-Belt tensioner could fall off and get stuck in T-Belt causing the engine to stall.(And I know I will do more than just stall!!!!) I was wondering if anybody has the same model and has gotten it taken care of.What do they do to fix it?And do they replace the T-belt?

I started to worry about mine at the same mileage... I can tell you two things: 1) When I took off my old timing belt (after much cussing and screaming during the process of replacing it), it looked in fairly good shape. 2) If a timing belt DOES break on one of our 2.0L Probe's, it will cause major damage. Our engines are interference engines, meaning that the pistons and valves will smack into each other if the timing belt breaks (or some other way of getting the timing waaaaaaaay out)... One of my friends lost an engine this way... Lemmie tell ya, it was a mess... If I were you, I would change it. They aren't that expensive (especially if you are comfortable doing the work yourself)... If you take it to a garage, be prepared to pay a decent amount in labor. But even if you do have to take it to a garage to get it done, it's still much cheaper than buying a new engine. It's cheap insurance dude. Brad > hey guys, i have a probe with 120k miles on it but still runs great. > my worry is that ford recommended to change the timing belt every 60k > miles. should i be worried?

be sure to replace the tensioner if need be. Also go to a privatly owned shop if need be. Theyre cheaper than dealers. I payed around 190 bucks including the belt about a year ago. I replaced it again just 2 months agop while i replaced my oil and water pumps.