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protoadies

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well like i said in the title was running fine, cruising along in vacuum. all of a sudden the car started to stutter like no gas, pulled over shut the car down, it threw a code right before i turned off the car. tried restarting the car for an hour. it wouldnt kick over had spark, clean air filter. i heard the fuel pump only half the time i tried starting. so im thinking fuel pump died on me. Would it throw a code? tow truck came and took me home? its late but tommrow im gonna try to start it more. what should i look for clogged fuel filter what else? thanks for any help
 
Check what code it was with a scanner.
Fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel pressure regulator, fuel pressure regulator vacuum hose, fuel pump cut off switch in trunk, etc. Could be a number of things. Start with what code kicked out w/ a scanner, then put a fuel pressure tester on the schrader valve (On drivers side fuel rail next to the SC) and verify good fuel pressure if you think it lies in the fuel system somewhere.
 
Do you get a Yellow UP-SHIFT light at the bottom of the tach when you try to start it? If so, Crank Position Sensor is gone. I've had to replace it on both of my SCs but haven't had a fuel pump go bad yet. Good luck
 
Are you sure you had spark?

Start with checking the harmonic balancer on the front of the crankshaft. Validate that the retaining bolt is still in the end of the crankshaft keeping the balancer from walking off. If it's broken, it can cause the crank sensor to hit the balancer and fail, causing a no start condition.


Otherwise check for fuel pressure.

And when you are trying to start it, cycle it by key on, crank, key off. The process of key on, key off between crank cycles gives the eec a chance to try again if the Cam shaft sensor is acting up. An acting up cam sensor will cause a hard start.
 
I would go with the advice of VancuverBC and check for the shift up light to be one when you start the car. Usually is a tale tell sign that its the crank sensor and usually its because your harmonic balancer is about to fall off.

Same senerio happened to me...basically I was driving home passing a SHO Taurus..goofing around with quick sprints and such and then all of a sudden my car lost its juice, and powered down (keep in mind this is after blowing the doors off the SHO). I was baffled...anyways I cranked and cranked and cranked and finally it started just long enough to make it home. Anyways from then on it wouldn't start, had it towed to my mechanic, and well it fired up and ran as smooth as ever after the tow. Then 2 days later it wouldn't run again...it was a saga... however the entire time I was telling him it was my Harmonic Balancer and the Sensor (but I'm an idiot remember cus he is ASE Certified and worked on SC's before :rolleyes: ) Anyways to make a long story short, it was the sensor and it was because of the o' so famous Broken Bolt!

Check it first, I could almost bet my bottom dollar that's what it is.

-Tim
 
well i did the fuel presure test, great preasure.... replaced spark plugs and wires with stock ford replacement......still all messed up... i had a friend mechanic who use to own a 89 sc ...well he did some compression test or something to the radiator and it had a presure like pushing the collant he told me a bad head gasket and i need to replace the harmonic balancer. how can a verify if hes right im pretty sure hes correct he knows his stuff. ........ if thats what i need where is the best place to buy felpro head gasket, bolts, etc... everything im gonna need to do to fix her up. and can anybody recommed a place in the st. louis area and what would a shop normally charge :(
 
oh yea no it doesnt have upshift light, no coolant in the oil and the overflow tank was full of bubbles and looked like it had oil in it.
 
If the over flow had bubbles and oil..then yes it is the headgaskets gone bad. Also another give away is a cloud of white smoke behind the car (but when my SC blew the HGs it never happened so its hit and miss I guess).

As for the harmonic balancer...first check to see if it has a bolt holding it on. Mine had no bolt and I used my hand to remove it...it was crazy! Basically the tension on the belt was the only thing that saved my arse. Your balancer my still be good but without a bolt holding it in place, everytime it moves it causes the sensor to lose its signal...in which killing the motor. Also sometimes the shift up light won't appear. I know that I replaced the sensor (this was before I realized my bolt was missing) and well the car ran for a while but it was very rough due to the signal being out of whack.

Now to the part you're fearing...costs of such a job.

Headgaskets...if done by your self $400-800 if you replace your belts, hoses, wires, plugs etc. you'll be on the higher side of the total. If done by a shop you'll find prices ranging from $1000-$1300 usually 500-800 bucks being only labor...so might want to see if you can get your buddy to do it as a favor with your assistance.

As for your balancer...just did mine, and instead of a crap stock unit I went with a BHJ...little more pricey but worth it in my eyes. Also added ASP underdrive pulleys while there... Total damages was some where's around $550...however I did the work myself and God only knows what they may charge you in a shop.

I hope you have good luck and things don't turn out like your saying.

On both jobs I got my stuff from www.supercoupeperformance.com Bill E. will take care of you! Also most of the stuff you can get from any parts store, but its always nice to give back to one of your own when you can in my eyes. Plus Bill is always there when you need assistance and actully knows something unlike most parts store guys.

-Tim
 
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I'll second that.
Bill E. is a heck of a nice guy to do business with, and is very knowledgable when it comes to these SC's. Sorry to hear of the infamous HG problem. Balancer will be simple.
 
My head gaskets cost around $900 to fix, but I didn't replace any belts or anything as they had all been replaced recently. While your engine is apart have the mechanic check around to make sure everything is solid. I don't know if it happened when I blew the head gasket or what, but when my car came out of the shop my piston rings were mysteriously F'd. So that meant stripping the engine again. I don't know much about the internals of engines, but I took it to another mechanic after that and he said there were huge gaps between the ring and the piston and that the other mechanic should have seen it. I don't know if that's true or not, I'm just saying have the mechanic check it over, cause believe me, it's much cheaper to fix everything at once.

Good Luck.
 
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