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I've owned a few. Never been stranded by one 
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A 13K mile one sold on Ebay for $10.5K, a 50K mile one sold for $6500. I have no illusions that mine is worth that, but the values are going up on these cars. NADA classics shows $4400 in average shape and since the values are all over the place I'm probably going to start in the 4K range on mine, see if I get any bites.Originally posted by Denny View PostComment
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The best way to not get stranded by a 2.3T when you own one is to not drive it .Big Rooster RacingComment
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What is so unreliable about them? It appears to be a very simple engine. Aside from the timing belt, I don't see much that would break.Originally posted by dumpycapri85 View PostComment
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Fuel injector harness?Originally posted by 46Tbird View Post
Word up!Originally posted by dumpycapri85 View Post
Everything falls apart on them. I mean everything. When they run right for ten minutes and you're pushing over 20 pounds of boost they are fun as shit though.Originally posted by JC316 View PostComment
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Again, I'm not seeing much. I define the Ford Contour as an unreliable piece of shit. The head gasket will blow, the wiring harness crumbles, the transmission is shit, the cooling fans short out, etc.Originally posted by jw33 View Post
Originally posted by Denny View Post
I still don't get why. The 2.3L rangers are know for being reliable. The ignition items are known problems, TFI is a problem on all Fords, I have heard of them throwing the timing belt. All of these seem like easy fixes.Originally posted by talisman View PostComment
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well, the water lines to cool (except they really dont) the turbo tend to spring leaks, the wiring harness needs a few more grounds to work properly, the ignition is finicky and like to give fits under boost, the turbos are great until you crank up the boost, clutches dont really hold that great..."If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry FordComment
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Sounds like typical high performance crap on a car that's not high performance in nature. The clutch in this thing is beastly on the pedal effort. I'm not sure what kind of clutch it is, but it makes my Cobra's clutch seem soft.Originally posted by Baron View Post
I got everything together today and took it for a drive. The powerband reminds me very much of a subaru WRX. It's a slug until the turbo kicks in, then it's a slug going down a steep slope.Comment
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they're reliable if you address known trouble spots... I like themComment
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Oil lines to the turbo are prone to breakage, head gaskets blow, valves chip, pistons melt, most have 7.5 rear ends instead of 8.8s, T5s aren't up to handling power and have smaller input shafts, the electrical is a fire hazard and prone to be finicky at best, went through about 6 alternators on mine, but that may have just been due to AZ garbage before I knew better, heads crack easily injectors aren't really big enough if you up the power at all, some of them had 2 fuel pump systems instead of just 1, which meant you were twice as likely to starve the engine for fuel, blow the turbo, then clog up your brand new converter with oil.... Did I miss anything guys?Comment
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honestly sounds like you were buying pieces of shit
if you use junk vatozone parts or cheap reman parts (using NA valves in a turbo application, etc.) you're going to have problems.
The electrical isn't any worse than any other Ford from that era (which weren't known for electrical issues)
head studs and safe tuning protects head gasket failure...
braided oil feed line is cheap. if I had a water cooled one, I would just convert to dry center
you can put a V8 T5 in if you want, but the 4 banger T5's are decent if you get a later one
I guess I was just leading a charmed life back then, but I really never had any major problems with any of my 2.3t's
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I had the occasional bs small failure. Only time I was actually stranded was when one of the few grounds was loose and it wouldnt stay running.Originally posted by Cooter View Posthonestly sounds like you were buying pieces of shit
if you use junk vatozone parts or cheap reman parts (using NA valves in a turbo application, etc.) you're going to have problems.
The electrical isn't any worse than any other Ford from that era (which weren't known for electrical issues)
head studs and safe tuning protects head gasket failure...
braided oil feed line is cheap. if I had a water cooled one, I would just convert to dry center
you can put a V8 T5 in if you want, but the 4 banger T5's are decent if you get a later one
I guess I was just leading a charmed life back then, but I really never had any major problems with any of my 2.3t's"If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry FordComment
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