Ford Contour (2000 year). Manual - part 47

Maintenance and care

186

Checking wiper blades

Check the wiper blades on your
vehicle for roughness by running
the tips of your fingers over the
edge of the blade.

Traces of grease, silicone and fuel
prevent wiper blades from
functioning properly. We
recommend Ford cleaning
solutions or equivalent to clean
wiper blades.

Change the wiper blades on your
vehicle at least once a year.

Cabin air filter replacement

In your climate control system, you
have a filter that cleans the air
before it enters the interior of the
vehicle. This filter should be
replaced at the intervals in the
“Scheduled Maintenance Guide“.

To replace the cabin air filter:

1. Unscrew the nut in the base of
each windshield wiper arm.
Remove the windshield wiper arms.

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187

2. Remove the plastic caps from
the screws on the grille. Remove
the screws.

3. Open the hood. Pull off the
rubber weatherstrip at the back of
the engine compartment. Remove
the screws that hold the grille,
separate the two halves and
remove the grille.

4. The filter is in a housing at the
back of the engine compartment,
on the passenger side. Pull off the
two clips on the sides of the
housing. Slide out the top part of
the housing and filter.

5. Slide the filter out of the
housing, replace with the new filter
and slide the top part of the
housing and cabin air filter back
into place. Reinstall the clips on the
housing.

6. Replace the grille and wiper
arms.

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188

New vehicles are fitted with tires
that have their Tire Quality Grade
(described below) molded into the
tire’s sidewall. These Tire Quality
Grades are determined by
standards that the United States
Department of Transportation has
set.

Tire Quality Grades apply to new
pneumatic tires for use on
passenger cars. They do not apply
to deep tread, winter-type snow
tires, space-saver or temporary use
spare tires, tires with nominal rim
diameters of 10 to 12 inches or
limited production tires as defined
in Title 49 Code of Federal
Regulation Part 575.104(c)(2).

U.S. Department of
Transportation – Tire quality
grades: 

The U.S. Department of

Transportation requires Ford to
give you the following information
about tire grades exactly as the
government has written it.

INFORMATION ABOUT TIRE
QUALITY GRADES

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Treadwear

The treadwear grade is a
comparative rating based on the
wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a
specified government test course.
For example, a tire graded 150
would wear one and one-half
(1 1/2) times as well on the
government course as a tire graded
100. The relative performance of
tires depends upon the actual
conditions of their use, however,
and may depart significantly from
the norm due to variations in
driving habits, service practices,
and differences in road
characteristics and climate.

Traction AA A B C

The traction grades, from highest
to lowest are AA, A, B, and C.
Those grades represent the tire’s
ability to stop on wet pavement as
measured under controlled
conditions on specified government
test surfaces of asphalt and
concrete. A tire marked C may
have poor traction performance.

The traction grade assigned
to this tire is based on

straight-ahead braking traction
tests, and does not include
acceleration, cornering,
hydroplaning, or peak traction
characteristics.

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