1997 Countor Steering Wheel Vibration @ Idle - Ford Forums

1997_Contour · 08-26-2004, 13:48

I was curious as to if someone can explain to me why the steering wheel in my 1997 Ford Contour has "violent" vibration at idle when sitting at a stop light with the car in drive and the brake applied. The air conditioner has no effect on it, the air can be on or off and the vibration is still there. If the car is in park, nuetral, or going down the road the vibration is gone. Only in drive with the brake applied and at idle is the vibration present. Is there a fix for this? Is this a common problem with this car? I would definitely appreciate any help with this, as I don't have the funds to pay a dealer to diagnose and fix the problem....
Thanks
1997_Countor
mljohnson2002@mchsi.com

dhudson40420 · 08-27-2004, 07:55

As far as i know the rough vibration at idle is a common thing in the mid to late 90's countors and mystiques. i have a 95 mystique and it does the same thing.

1997_Contour · 08-27-2004, 09:08

And no one has investigated why they vibrate at idle?? I did do a search on all TSB's for the 1997 Contour and this problem was described in one of them. If I have a TSB number, can I obtain information on how to fix the problem either from the dealership or a website (www.alldata.com)? If this problem is so prevelant then why hasn't Ford issued some sort of recall. At least in my instance, the problem is severe enough that the horn button part of the steering wheel has vibrated loose and is about ready to fall off of the steering wheel now. This would surely qualify as a safety defect since the airbag itself is in danger of falling off the steering wheel....

Sylvester57 · 08-28-2004, 14:44

I have a '96 Contour with the same problem. I already posted a request for help on this forum. I tried to 'tune-up' the engine; replaced plugs, air filter, fuel filter, pvc valve (weekend job), and put some fuel injector cleaner in the fuel tank. This did nothing to help the problem. In my case, the vibration goes down a little when the AC is turned off. I finally gave up and brought the car to a Ford dealer to run 'diagnostics' on the engine. They didn't find anything wrong, but charged me $80.00 anyway. Their explanation was that the motor mounts were 'weak', thus the engine is allowed to shake somewhat. They said they could change the motor mounts for about $500.00, but might not completely fix the problem. I told them no-thanks.

ed724 · 09-01-2004, 22:33

I have a similar problem on my 96 but only when the air is on, and it's not real bad. My thinking is that the idle is too low or there should be a slight idle speed increase to compensate for the compressor load, I know some other cars I've owned have this but not sure on this one. Since yours is doing it with the air off, I would definately look at the idle speed.

ed724

kblast523 · 01-22-2005, 20:25

I have a 1997 Contour 2.0 auto with 94k miles. Same thing...shaking stearing wheel when idling. Fixed trans mount and it cured the "shakes". (It was NOT cheap, either...) That is the mount under the airbox and filter....

soulwinnerrj · 02-21-2005, 08:54

Some minimal vibration would have to be considered "normal".... but several years ago, we had a major vibration in my mom's old Contour and our mechanic guessed at the problem (tranny mount) and he was right on. No more extreme vibrating at idle.

partsman01 · 02-12-2008, 23:49

I am looking at a 96 contour for the wife, appears to do the same thing while idling in gear with an auto tranny, put it in neutral and it idles smooth, put back in gear and it vibrates.
I figure it must be the mounts maybe.