Why does my SC die when idling?

thumper

Registered User
Hey guys. Here's the deal. My SC (94' auto) likes to die when idling. Sometimes it idles really rough, then it comes back. But most of the time it just dies. It also intermidantly makes lower oil pressure (not quite out of the normal range, but enough to make me gringe). I have reason to believe it might be the O2 sensor, but nothing concrete. Any suggestions? Thanks!

P.S. My Sc has a steering wheel that says LX. Does this mean I have a Thunderbird Super Coupe LX, or just a SC with a LX steering wheel? Thanks again.
 
Tbird SC LX

Thunderbird LX and Thunderbird SC (Supercoupe) were seperate packages, so you probably have an SC with an LX steering wheel; assuming of course exclusion of the possibility that its not an SC :D . Strange why someone would switch the wheels, perhaps they wanted the SC wheel in an LX, or maybe the LX wheel has something the SC wheel doesnt.. but I couldn't imagine what.
 
What probably happened is someone had an accident and the airbag was replaced with one from an LX as they are the same save for the lettering.
 
Incidently the oil guage on my 94 (and likely your SC too) is a phoney. It is only a 5psi low pressure switch hooked to the guage, so as long as the oil pressure is over 5psi, it sits near the middle of the guage.

The only reason it would move is if you dash voltage was fluctuating, which happens. If the temperature changes or more items draw current the voltage will lower and the normally fixed oil guage needle will drop a bit.

Steve Best
 
Thanks for the help guys. I think I'll pull some codes and see what they have to say.

BTW, my SC was wrecked. I figured that is why it had the LX wheel. Thanks!
 
I'll second scbest's opinion, electrical problem.

You should either see a 'good' pressure reading or no reading, anything in between means something is up electrically.

Now, if someone has already converted the oil guage to a true pressure guage then you should see the pressure fluctuate normally as the RPM changes.

Check your battery cables and ground straps on the engine, also get a voltmeter and check the voltage both with the engine running and with it off.

Aaron
 
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