I made posts a couple days ago about 90' 35th jerking and heat. PLEASE HELP

tctc1981hotmail

Registered User
PLEASE HELP... Just purchased 1990 sc 35th
I just purchased a 1990 automatic sc 35th at a great price. It has 129,000 on it and from what i no it sat for at least two years. I had to replace the battery to get it off the lot. Anyways I had drove the car for atleast 150 miles never died out skipped or jerked when going through the gears. It ran GREAT until my dumbass decided to floor it while my gas tank was on empty. Upon doing so it started jerking real hard I then pulled over turned it off waited 5 min then got about a block away and ran out of gas. I put gas in it it drove fine for a few miles then start jerking real hard. I recentley put a few gas filter on the guy said it was pretty bad and that he drove it after and that was prob the problem. Well it obvious wasn't. My car will drive fine for along time then all of a sudden start jerking hard never at a specific mph or rpm just when it wants. I then put it in neutral wait 5 sec then it works. If it doesnt i pull over and let it sit. Sometimes it wont start right after but everytime i wait atleast 20 min or more it starts and drives fine. It drove great until I had it floored and ran out of gas so I assume it has to do with that. Thank you for your time and comments greatly appreciated. THANKS
Quote

I just purchased a 1990 sc auto 35th a week ago. My temp gauge stays between the c/f halfway never overheats or drops below half but yet my heat only comes out hot every once and a great while. Other times its cold. My coolant light says low but not all the time. It also says change. I checked the levels they are filled to the top. I bought some anti freeze the kind thats says you can add to any vehicle I the filled my reserve half way since it was low. still no changes. I opened my radiator cap and it was full. Any suggestions will be appreciated. The car sat two years prior to driving .

Well i finally took my car in they told me it was a head-gasket. They said they tested my radiator fluid and it tested positive for combustion. Could that have anything to do with the fact that the car sat for a couple years and I havent had the radiator fluid flushed yet. Anyways I think I made the mistake by bringing it to them on there web site they said they specialize in commercial equipment. I was wondering why I didnt see any other cars in there. " I only went there because it was close to were my car was." I guess I'm just hoping they could be wrong because they quoted me 1300 dollars not including tax. There charging me 90 dollars an hour labor at 10 hours they say it will take. Sounds a little high. Anyways does this sound like it could be a gasket blown. Prior to taking my car there I drove 20 miles and it didnt jerk once and the c/f level remained at half.
 
The SC is a complicated car. That 10 hour quote would be about right. I'd really encourage you to use the search and do the work yourself.
 
10 hours at 90 per hour sounds very resonable for this vehicle.

allthough I bet you could find a better hourly rate if you searched around for a mom and pop shop some where near you.

most ford dealerships around here (washington state) are close to 100 per hour.

we are 125 per hour at the BMW dealership I work at.

i just looked on alldata and work time for this job is 9.8 hours to remove and replace both banks and includes all set up and adjustments. Add .3 for air conditioning.

so 10hours is right on money.

as for the combustion in cooling system? you can go to napa and get a tool called a block tester. its a tube with a rubber connector that you press into the radiator neck and you then add the supplied blue solution in the tube and apply vacuum to the top, when the small amount of air in the radiator bubbles through the solution it will turn yellow in the presence of exhaust gas.

i bet thats the test they performed to your car. anyway i would flush or change coolant and eliminate that the coolant may have deteriorited and caused a false postive on that test. then drive car and test again.

i am willing to bet that you do have something wrong with the head gaskets. if enough combustion gasses get in coolant you can create air pockets that will travel to the heater core and cause the no heat you are describing and then it may be pushed out on other times.

have you performed the checkes that others have told you in other posts that you have posted on this site. it seems to me that you dont follow advise and just throw up new posts from day to day.
 
Once again thanks for advice I really don't no to much about cars like I said on my prev post I threw up so I really cant check the stuff my self thats why I took it to put on a diagnostic I told the mechanic about the stuff I heard on the site like fuel pressure on the valve and etc. he told me there is no way to check if there stuff caught in the strainer unless i drop the tank and as for the other advise i recieved I also mentioned but like i said before these guys didnt sound to sure.
 
1300 is right on the money for a hg change, you might be able to find quotes up or down a couple hundred, thats about it.

if you have some car knowledge, know how to operate a torque wrench and can do intermediate maintenance, with some researching, you could do the job yourself. it gives you a little more intamacy with what you are driving and a deeper appreciation for these fine automobiles.

but, the caveat, doing it yourself is the typical "no warranty, only one to blame is yourself, etc etc.." if you arent comfortable under the hood of a car, and the most you can do is change your oil... well, best leave it to the pros.

one thing also, depending on how long you had the automobile before the hg failure, and if the place sold it to you as a good, running vehicle, you may be able to hit them legally for selling you a lemon. kansas has a law against that.
 
..tctc1981hotmail......where are you located?You need to find someone close by who has an SC or at least has previously owned one....someone that can check that car of yours and give you some hands on advice..........
z
 
While Im all for you doing the work yourself if you are capable, If you have little to no automotive mechanical experience, just pay the money and get it over with. You will likely do more damage then good if you have no idea what you are getting into. 10 hours and 1300.00 sounds correct to me as well. Alot of shops wont touch them since they are more complex then your average pushrod V6. Heck back in the 90's when these cars were still being produced and were under warranty, there was only two of us technicians in our dealership that wanted to work on them. Out of 30 techs!!
 
I currently reside 30 miles south of chicago,illinois. So if anyone lives near there and is interested in doing the job please contact me.
 
Back
Top