Back into SCs and have a couple questions

snakesm13

Registered User
Its been a while since I've posted anything on here, the past 5 years I've been creeping around the forums. Some may know the story of my white 89 5spd SC I got when too young and way too poor. It is in the garage right now in pieces waiting for a major rebuild, but that is not what this post is about.

Recently I purchased a 91 AOD SC tan/champagne black leather with 200k but I can tell certain things had been done to it to keep the engine up. I don't have a whole lot of information on the vehicle so I will post a picture and some information later to see if anyone knows anything about it. I saw it for sale locally in Corpus Christi and couldn't pass it up and feel I got a great deal on it.

There a quite a few things I need to fix before it is road worthy:
I am told there is a Brake leak around the ABS assembly
Power Steering Leak but 90% sure its a line not the pump
Boost Gauge didn't work (line had broke) fixed it but I'm only getting 10 in. Hg of vacuum at idle... Leak?
Suspension needs an overhaul
and quite a few small things need to be fix.

Other than that it's perfect :cool:
but I did come across something that was not behind the dash in my 89
What is this??? The white piece of flex hose.
6549196231_b3387d5f44_z.jpg


I have Renewed my membership and it is GREAT to be back!
 
That hose is used with the electronic automatic temperature control (EATC) to sample the inside air.

The connector below it plugs into the sensor at the same port.

The dash will have an opening for the sample air, too.

RwP
 
The brake fluid leak is most likely coming from the pump motor shaft seal...

This needs to be fixed ASAP.....

Brake fluid is highly corrosive and if left inside the pump motor, it will eventually cause it to lock up.....

Then you will have the dreaded case of HBP (Hard Brake Pedal)...:p
 
That was extremely fast RalphP Thank you!
Makes sense as to why my 89 didn't have that.

I had left out the main reason for posting in Technical Forum.
The car had a ticking noise that I thought was maybe a lifter or exhaust leak
Turns out the culprit was the oil dip stick but now there is another noise that concerns me.

It is more of a deep Thump or thud, the only thing I can compare it to is
maybe the sound made when trying to find a stud in the drywall,
or maybe the sound of a pump cavitating.

At first I thought it was coming from the supercharger but it sound deeper/lower
than that. Any Ideas?

I did take the stock exhaust off and put the Exhaust off of my 89 on it (gutted cats, resonator delete, dual flowmaster 40 series) maybe it has something to do with that.
I searched but its a hard noise to describe.

Right now It is only on jack stands so all of this is without a load, just idle and slight revving
 
>Power Steering Leak but 90% sure its a line not the pump

If the front wheels were forced left/right and the rack/pinion back drove fluid to the pump, it may be spillage only....
 
That thumping noise you hear, deep in the motor, could be a rod knock. That was the culprit in my brothers 95.
 
Thanks for all the responses.

The holidays have been killing me and I haven't been able to work on the car.

the-big-e:
I will be getting with you once I determine my brake problem but would it be best to pull the whole assembly out and look at it or see what it is doing on the car first?

KMT:
The previous owner had a funnel with a plastic tube attached to fill up the power steering easier so my guess would be it wasn't just a spillage incident.

scskydivin:
Don't scare me like that! I will have to investigate more before jumping to that conclusion. Also when I bought it It was low fuel and the owner put 87 octane in it (aprox. 3 gal since then I put 93 octane and seafoam).... could that cause some detonation problems/noise?

Now I have a Compression Test Kit that I was going to use while I'm changing the spark plugs....
Problem is I've never checked compression before, I hear its easy and I will do some Searching on here but,
are there any tips or suggestions or specific to SC quirks?

Thanks for all the help! I should be able to start working on it this weekend or start of the new year!
 
The braking unit is a stand alone system....

You need to find out where the unit is leaking fluid....

Most common places are the pump motor shaft seal or the rubber supply hose....
 
Had today off so I figured I would work on the thunderbird... Should have stayed in bed.

First off there is a cable that goes from the auto shift assembly (seems to be loose only in the park position) and it goes up by the Steering wheel and Ignition cylinder but it can't seem to get it connected back to the plastic mechenism at the shifter.

Figured I would replace the Thermostat with a 180, when I removed the old on it was a 160F didn't know that was a popular option for our cars but thats not the best part.

When tightening the bolts for the thermostat housing back on to spec torque as per Haynes manual 70 in-lbs... I twisted the head off and the threads are still in the block side :mad::mad::mad:

Any suggestions? I don't think I can get an "ez-out" in there and I'm afraid drilling it out may mess up the block side threads...

this car is eating my lunch.
 
I hope you know how little 70 in-lbs is. You can do 70 inch pounds with a 1/4 driver ratchet pretty easily. I'm very surprised you were able to twist a bolt off at that rate. Make sure you werent trying to get them to 70 ft lbs!

Anyways, you will probably have to drill it out. If you have bad luck like me you might have to drill it out slightly bigger tap the hole and use a helicoil repair kit.

chris
 
If the bolt head broke off while being tightened you may be ok. Take the housing off and whatever else you need to in order to have ample room to work. Try using a small punch and hammer and slowly back the bolt out. If this doesn't work you can always try an EZ out. As previously stated make sure you were torquing to the proper in.lb spec and not the ft.lb spec.
 
Had today off so I figured I would work on the thunderbird... Should have stayed in bed.

First off there is a cable that goes from the auto shift assembly (seems to be loose only in the park position) and it goes up by the Steering wheel and Ignition cylinder but it can't seem to get it connected back to the plastic mechenism at the shifter.

Figured I would replace the Thermostat with a 180, when I removed the old on it was a 160F didn't know that was a popular option for our cars but thats not the best part.

When tightening the bolts for the thermostat housing back on to spec torque as per Haynes manual 70 in-lbs... I twisted the head off and the threads are still in the block side :mad::mad::mad:

Any suggestions? I don't think I can get an "ez-out" in there and I'm afraid drilling it out may mess up the block side threads...

this car is eating my lunch.

The thermostat housing attaches to the intake manifold, not the block. If you screw up the threads trying to get the broken bolt out, it's not that big of a deal to swap out the intake manifold.

David
 
Ok that makes me feel better, I was just really frustrated at the time.

I will try all the suggestions but it is nice to know its just the intake if something does go wrong.

Does anyone have any input on this part?

First off there is a cable that goes from the auto shift assembly (seems to be loose only in the park position) and it goes up by the Steering wheel and Ignition cylinder but it can't seem to get it connected back to the plastic mechenism at the shifter.

Thank you again for all the help!
 
Ok thanks, also I may need to clarify (to save face) the bolt was tight coming out as it was going in, threads look a little stripped but I went with it and there was still a 1/4" gap between gasket and intake so it wasn't flush yet so I kept tightening :rolleyes:
 
Ok thanks, also I may need to clarify (to save face) the bolt was tight coming out as it was going in, threads look a little stripped but I went with it and there was still a 1/4" gap between gasket and intake so it wasn't flush yet so I kept tightening :rolleyes:

Buy an inexpensive tap and die set and always clean threads. In the block/head/intake etc and the bolts themselves. Makes life so much better.

As for the cable I am not help. All 5 speed cars and 94-95's.
 
I'll also add, always use new bolts / studs for thermostat housings.

They're too prone to rusting and ANY rust will weaken them.

RwP
 
Buy an inexpensive tap and die set and always clean threads. In the block/head/intake etc and the bolts themselves. Makes life so much better.

As for the cable I am not help. All 5 speed cars and 94-95's.

I agree with everything he said except for the cheap part. Buy a nice snap-on set otherwise you may be breaking taps off inside of things you are threading and a broken tap is a real pain to extract because they are harder than drill bits.

chris
 
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