No Oil Pressure.

The fact that you only drive the car in town is not good because the oil never gets heated up to the point where it boils off the moisture which is a cause of the oil thickening and plugging up the pickup tube. Also, even though you don't drive the car much, you should still change the oil and filter at least every 3000 miles or 3 months. Short trip driving in city traffic is very hard on a vehicle. You need to drive your car at 60-65 mph for at least 30 minutes every week to burn off all the impurities from combustion in the oil. I have worked on many Contours ( even in Ford dealers ) and never really saw a problem with placement of the exhaust system. Many cars, i.e. Honda, Toyota use the same type of system with no problems.