Ford 1996 Contour Manual page 168

Preparing to Change the Tire
Make sure that your vehicle will not move or roll. If you
1.
have an automatic transaxle, put the gearshift in P (Park). If
you have a manual transaxle, put the gearshift in 1 (First).
Set the parking brake and block the wheel that is diagonally
opposite the tire that you are changing.
When one of the front wheels is off the ground, the transaxle
alone will not prevent the vehicle from moving or slipping off
the jack, even if the vehicle is in P (automatic) or 1 (manual). To
prevent the vehicle from moving when you change one of the
front tires, put a block behind the wheel that is diagonally
opposite to the tire.
If the vehicle slips off the jack, you or someone else
could be seriously injured.
Get out the spare tire and jack.
2.
To avoid injury, never run the engine with one wheel off
the ground, such as when changing a tire.
Remove the wheel cover from the wheel with the tapered
3.
end of the wheel lug wrench. Insert and twist the handle,
then pry against the inner wheel cover flange. For
information about removing optional wheel center ornaments
see Styled Polycast Wheel Ornaments later in this section.
Loosen the wheel lug nuts by pulling up on the handle of
4.
the wrench one-half turn counterclockwise. Do not remove
the wheel lug nuts until you raise the tire off the ground.
For information about removing anti-theft lug nuts, see
Anti-Theft Wheel Lug Nuts later in this section.
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