mattkilla97

Thanks spridget! Yes, it makes a lot of sense they did not do a test drive after doing the rebuild. The problem with the vibration has largely gone away but it's back in the shop because of an electrical/fuel pump problem apperently someone before I had the car put a relay to the PCM in the fuse box and a lot of the fuses are bad, and a lot of things do not have power to them including my fuel pump. I think I have a dmm and will do a test after this is all taken care of. Maybe some of the problem with my electrical may have to do with setting the gain up on the amp. but I do have a fuse on the power cable from the amp is only getting power from the battery (high amp batt)

Thanks, ... my amp settings are physical knobs by a screwdriver Do you are anyone know of what tool I would need to see if I'm getting all the current/power from my battery to the back of my amp? I think I have an ohm meter but last time I tried to use it when I first put my system in there was some sparks and stopped right away.

Wow didn't see how old this thread was lol

I had a rental for a month on a 2012 jetta 2.5. Loved it. Almost bought a new gti after I test drove one but decided to fix my contour. I'm regretting that decision but needed to save up for a bigger down payment. I am kinda scared if I get one in a year because of the reliability of the dsg which I love. That's a great looking tdi you have there and wish the best for you

Hey everyone. I just got my tranny rebuilt and right before that had coil packs replaced. When I accelerate there is a vibration coming from the pedals and a loud humming noise that accompanies that. The problem seems to be getting less apparent in lower speeds but at 70+ it is still very much there. Idk if this is normal and it will eventually stop (maybe something is breaking in?) I will be calling the place i got it done as they were away for the New Years for a week and I have warrenty. But it's 30 miles away and need my car because I'm moving. Also for about 5 minutes the transmition light was going blinking the other day but have not seen it on since. Very frustrated because I should have just bought a new car instead of all this hassle. Finally I have a nice sub and speaker system in my car and noticed that it was at a much lower level then I had it in before I got my car fixed. Idk if this could have something to do with the problem I'm having (maybe loss of signal coming from the power line to the amp). I could not think of any reason they would mess with the amps because if how cramped it is in the trunk and is a b$#% to get to. I turned the gain and bass boost up (it's been years since I installed it and forgot where the levels were). It's better but not as clean as it used to be.

never mind me asking if they were fog lamps. looks pretty cool and i am considering it.

just looked af ddm tuning, right here in san diego!

are those used for the foglights??? would you mind telling me your cali supplier? I have a couple more questions. those that have installed the hids, how snug is the connection from where the bulb goes into the headlight and the harness? I have had a kit before on my old chevy and even though it said it was for my car, the rubber/plastic piece that filled the hole of the headlight where you put the bulb in was too small and rattled and eventually the bulb fell out of the headlight! what do you guys mean by glare? i know that the lights will not be like ones in a projector and will scatter because of the design of our headlights. my headlights are old (97) and i see that i can get replacements online for 70 for both passenger and driver. would this be a good idea for optimal viability or should i get one of the lens cleaners instead? I am going towards getting new headlights with a 4300k conversion kit. would getting better fog lights/hid conversion be a good idea? or are they too low to the ground to do any good i have bad night vision as of now and really want to get the best possible viability and brightness while driving my contour thanks in advance!

so i found out that nothing was wrong and i passed smog! computer did reset after 1000 miles or something but glad it worked out

i will look for the usb ones or i might just get a regular scanner. i really liked the idea of using my phone but i got what i paid for.

so got my bluetooth scanner and does not work. the bluetooth is paring but not connecting. tried two phones and same thing happened.

thanks terry. got my scanner tonight will scan tomorrow

thank you for the drive cycle pdf. i could not find the paper, the other smog shop guy might have taken it (ahhh!) when he did the test. i cant remember what monitors were not ready but i did order an elm327 code scanner that can read all o2 sensors and emissions from my phone, cant wait to get it. i also read that since my car has a obd!! and disconnecting the battery will not reset the ecu. when i was reading the failed smog test it said that their was a failure on the check engine light or something (but the check engine light is not on. every emissions tests passed. this is very frustrating when they know my car has good emissions but still fail me bc of what i would call semantics. details yes, i have a 97 with the 6 cylinder engine 2.4l. also thank you terry haines for telling me that the scanner can clear the hidden codes, this give me hope!

thanks, but whats a jumper? i do not have any codes at the moment, the problem is the computer is not ready to be smogged because i had just had it serviced. the smog guy gave me a print out and it showed the test could not start because of certain things on my computer were not ready. Ill go to my car and get the paper and see exaclty what is on there, the other smog place said this as well. i did not believe that i had to drive either but then i read about the drive cycles, are you saying that its unnecessary?

thanks i will try this, and look to see what fuse i would need to pull via google or the forums.

Hey everyone, is there a quick/easy way to reset my computer? im having a big problem getting my car to pass smog. at first there were a couple codes that i had fixed (2 o2 sensors and my egr valve replaced.) i was told to drive 40 miles to reset my computer 120 miles later my car was still not ready to be smogged, iv been to 2 smog shops one of them said that it might be another o2 sensor (but there are no codes showing up) , the other place said that it was my computer. the second shop failed me and i thought i would be able to get temporary registration but it was too late for that. I really do not want to scrap my car for 1500 because there are no cars for $1500 that are as good as my car and i dont have extra money to put into a used car.

I see now, lol my mistake.

looks nice, my car has the fuse box on the opposite side of yours as well as the battery posts being toward the firewall as opposed to the front bumper.

are you talking about the oem ground wires from the battery to the cars body? no i dont know where the wires lead to, everything under the hood is pretty damn tight as it is and i dont have enough experience to start taking apart things to get to the wires, i really wish i did because i was hoping for a clean install. well the redtop fits sideways so im just going to have the gm posts facing up and connect the oem wires to that along with the power wire since it would have been hell to get the aftermarket battery terminal on the side with somehow finding a place to place the fuse safely. i wish optima made batteries with the reverse posts along with the side posts that would make it easier, but nothing ever seems to be when it comes to me working on cars.

ok so we worked on my audio system for a couple hours last night and got to take pics with my crap cell phone camera at just of the battery wires, i finally got the drivers seat out to be able to get to the screws for the side trim. the power seat did not move forward and back/up and down, found out it was just a connecter. (as it was, the seat was too low to get the socket wrench to remove the seat)we got the wires all hooked up for the cd player and hd radio to the factory wire harness and got the speaker wires hooked up to the harness as well and ran them with the rca's down the center console to the trunk where the wires will go to the amp, plus got the main power wire run on the side of the car, thats about all we got done. though i was not a part of it i could tell it was a pain in the ass to get the auto shift knob off the shifter and remove the center console. i dont think i will be doing the big 3 for now, but still a lot more to do such as finding a place for the crossovers and tweeters, grounding it, figuring how im going to power this thing to the battery, testing it, and then putting all the trim back together. i have a plan: i want to see if i can get the red top to mount on the side so i would i could use the side posts that it came with the redtop for the top and have it for the factory wires and use the top posts for the power. make sense? but i dont know if it will fit sideways. sorry bout the pics i thought i would be able to draw arrows to the wires so it would be more clear. to give you guys an idea, there is one wire thats connected to the clamp that goes to the battery post but there is also a metal bracket with a couple wires attached that also hook up to the main wire connecter. (this goes for both positive and negative wires) its not as simple as taking off just the main connecter and attaching it to my aftermarket battery terminal.

i will see if any store in my town has something that will fit but dont know if i can afford another battery right now, been sick for the last couple days and hopefully can work on it tomorrow since the person thats helping me has the car in his garage and also sick. ill try to take some pics of the battery cables/wires when i get to my car next but it will be on a crappy camera phone since i dont have a real one. thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. if anyone else has some general tips for putting a system in a contour that would be great, it is my first time doing any kind of audio work besides changing out a cd player. also where do people find a good spot for putting in the ground wire for an amp in the trunk, is there any good bolts already in place that i can just sand off the paint and screw in? thanks

what battery did you get that had side posts, I whent to autozone and they didn't have any. I have a redtop that I was hoping to fit but doesn't and I don't know how well it would be having the wires come from the side posts bending over the top of the battery

hey everyone, my first post! just got a 97 contour v6 sport two weeks ago. started today to put in a little audio system and wanted to know if anyone here has done the big 3 and if so how did you run the wires, and also where did you find or cut a hole through the firewall for the power wire (i think i might have found an ok spot) and finally whats up with the negative and positive battery wires having all sorts of other positive/negative wires connected (excluding alternator)? never seen that before but then again havent been around too many cars. i dont know how im going to connect the aftermarket battery terminal/s finding out that taking out the side trim is a major pain in the ass and the alternator is going to be just a lot worse if i decide to do the big 3. hopefully i will make a lot more progress tomorrow than i did today. thanks guys for your input.