Lincoln/Mercury Repair: 99 CONTOUR TIMING BELT, ford contour, mercury man

Question
HEY DINGER, I KNOW YOUR THE MERCURY MAN BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD ASK. I'M A TECH AT A KIA DEALER WORKING ON A 99 4 CYL FORD CONTOUR THAT KEEPS EATING TIMING BELTS. I REPLACED THE TENSIONER AND BOTH IDLER PULLEYS. THE BELT LOOKS STRAIGHT WITH PROPER TENSION, BUT AS ENGINE RUNS THE BELT WALKS TO THE EDGE OF THE CAMS. I ALSO CHECKED CAM AND CRANK END PLAY. THE CRANK HAS JUST A LITTLE BUT I DON'T BELIEVE ENOUGH TO MATTER. I WAS WONDERING IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS PROBLEMS ON THE MYSTIQUE WITH THE ZTECH ENGINE, ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.   DARREN

Answer
Hey Darren,

This is what I have on this. There are some crappy pics, if you need them, I'll need your email address.

Article No.
99-25-4

12/13/99

ENGINE - 2.0L - REVISED TIMING BELT AND
TENSIONER SETUP PROCEDURE

FORD:
1998-2000 CONTOUR, ESCORT ZX2
2000 FOCUS

MERCURY:
1998-2000 MYSTIQUE
1999-2000 COUGAR

ISSUE
This TSB article is being published to provide correct service procedure for setting up cam timing belt and tensioner, due to the procedure being inaccurate in the Workshop Manual.

ACTION
During a timing belt servicing, refer to the following Service Procedure for details.

SERVICE PROCEDURE

NOTE TO ACHIEVE PROPER TIMING BELT TENSION, THE CAMSHAFT SPROCKET BOLTS SHOULD BE LOOSENED ENOUGH TO PERMIT THE SPROCKETS TO TURN FREELY ON THE CAMSHAFTS. WITH CAM SPROCKET BOLTS LOOSENED AND CYLINDER #1 AT TOP DEAD CENTER (TDC), CRANKSHAFT MUST BE ROTATED TO TDC IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION (INSTALL CAMSHAFT ALIGNMENT TOOL IN THE CAMSHAFT SLOTS).



 



1. Back out the tensioner bolt four (4) full turns and position the tensioner so the locating tab is at approximately the 4 o'clock position. Line up the hex key slot in the tensioner adjusting washer with the pointer that is located behind the pulley (Figure 1).

2. Working counterclockwise from the crank sprocket, install the liming belt.




 



3. Rotate the tensioner locating tab counterclockwise and insert the locating tab into the slot in the rear timing cover (Figure 2).

4. Position the hex key slot in the tensioner adjusting washer to the 4 o'clock position (Figure 2).

5. Tighten the attaching bolt enough to seat the tensioner firmly against the rear timing cover, but still allow the tensioner adjusting washer to be rotated using a 6 mm hex key (Figure 2).




 



6. Using the hex key, rotate the adjusting washer counterclockwise until the notch in the pointer is centered over the index line on the locating tab. (The pointer will move in a clockwise direction during adjustment) (Figure 3).




 



7. While holding the adjusting washer in position, torque the attaching bolt to 25 +/- 3 N.m (18 +/- 2 lb-ft) (Figure 4).

NOTE IF THE POINTER DOES NOT REMAIN CENTERED OVER THE INDEX LINE DURING FINAL TIGHTENING, LOOSEN THE BOLT AND REPEAT THE PROCEDURE BEGINNING WITH STEP 4.

OTHER APPLICABLE ARTICLES: NONE
WARRANTY STATUS: INFORMATION ONLY
OASIS CODES: 490000, 499000