OK. Here's my dilema. I bought a SC sight unseen on EBAY. Third one I bought that way. Up to now I have been 1 for 2 with a good deal. This one is still up for grabs as for the "deal" I got. According to the previous owner, (no reason to doubt) he is the 2nd owner and it was running fine then just quit. It is 94 5-speed with 81,000 miles, headgaskets replaced on recall in 97. He replaced the ECM, harmonic balancer, crank sensor, plugs, wires, cam sensor and finaly the computer. During testing it was flooding and adding gas to the oil, so they changed the oil. Somewhere in there they also cracked the timing cover and inspected the chain and timing was OK. After replacing the cam sensor a second time one day, it started. (Don't sound right to me) They quickly jumped in it to run down to the corner and back for fuel. It died 4 blocks down the road.
Ford has had it for the past week and says it has low compression and believe their "could" be a problem with the timing chain (slipped tooth?) or the crank could be broken or twisted. The owner swears that he and his wife never thrashed it so their is no definate answer. When the owner and his mechanic tested compression, it was around 90 on at least the easy to access cylinders. (Could have been washed down cylinders?) Ford also says the compression is very low. I have asked them to verify the valve train is moving and that the center pulley is turning the belts. (The service rep is like ,OK, I'll ask my boss) This is frustrating because I am in AZ and the car is in FL.
My question is this: What else can I tell Ford to check before commiting to a $1000 to tear down the front end of the motor and posibly then more $ for the bottom end?
Ford has had it for the past week and says it has low compression and believe their "could" be a problem with the timing chain (slipped tooth?) or the crank could be broken or twisted. The owner swears that he and his wife never thrashed it so their is no definate answer. When the owner and his mechanic tested compression, it was around 90 on at least the easy to access cylinders. (Could have been washed down cylinders?) Ford also says the compression is very low. I have asked them to verify the valve train is moving and that the center pulley is turning the belts. (The service rep is like ,OK, I'll ask my boss) This is frustrating because I am in AZ and the car is in FL.
My question is this: What else can I tell Ford to check before commiting to a $1000 to tear down the front end of the motor and posibly then more $ for the bottom end?