Going 1500mi from Omaha,NE to Buffalo,NY May need help along the way

Rpdboss

Registered User
On monday august 28 I plan to leave from the Omaha, NE area to follow the I-80/90 using back routes to Buffalo,NY. I'm be taking a hurt 89 thunderbird sc and my wife, brother-in-law, and 17month old daughter will be in a 89 olds royale. Becuase we could not get a trailer hitch in time for the olds we have to use my Tbird to pull a 5x8 uhaul trailer. Bad thing is it overheats randomly and has a strange growl,vibration,pre-knock which starts at 2250rpm and fades as rpm increases. Had the rear wheel bearing replaced as well as hub for $300 (ouch) and thats when I had the mechanic drive it to feel/hear the sound. he syas its a start of a rod knock. Crap I totally rebuilt the bird about 650 miles ago and have been pretty light on it. Anyone in the area of our path please lend some help along the way, we plan to take about 300 mi a day for 5 days. I'll try to hit any wireless spots or public librarys if i come into any trouble. I have an erie feeling about this but its has to make it there. Message me if ur in this path and could help.
 
I'm not really in the path, but good luck. 80 should be pretty flat for you. 90 gets a little hilly in PA, but nothing bad.

Have you tried running a thicker oil for now? How does it overheat (i.e. what symptoms and driving conditions)?
 
Im Just Outside Of Buffalo. Welcome To The Area. If You Need Anything Once You Get Close, Call Me On My 716-998-0599. If I Dont Answer, Just Leave Me A Message And Ill Call Right Back.

Good Luck And Have A Safe Trip.
 
Im in Omaha if I can be of assistance let me know. I drove out to syracuse NY a few months ago. Only problem area I ran into was in Chicago, where they had both sides of the road tore up for miles, you might want to figure out a way to bypass that. Maybe some one in that area will chime in and get you around that mess

Ken
 
haha yea dont go through chi town on a week day. 80 though most of illinois isnt bad but once u get near the south side of chicago and are going into indiana it sucks. a lot of construction. all of the express ways suck and have construction. the only other way around is the streets but they suck too. ill c if i can find something for ya.
 
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Id run some good 20-50 oil and some STP oil treatment... Do the low speed fan mod ( you clip the #13 i believe... Wire going off the IRCM module) this will make it run ALOT cooler
 
Jacob_Royer said:
Id run some good 20-50 oil and some STP oil treatment... Do the low speed fan mod ( you clip the #13 i believe... Wire going off the IRCM module) this will make it run ALOT cooler

clip the #14 wire
 
Update: gpt the trailer and have new info on the noise

I noticed when i have the manual in any gear with the clutch fully pushed in that the car jerks forward with a blip up to 2500rpm with a clear thud and shudder vibration. when i do this with the trans in neutral it wont jerk forward but has the same thump and vibrations along with a knocks/grumbles above 2500rpm. when i drive along it does the same thing with the clutch pushed in and in gear, but it does go away when i go above 3000ish and let it coast on no load, but comes right back with some gas. when i am driving it shudders and vibrates/knocks/growls anything above 2250 with a little felt in 1800+ when in 1st,2nd picking up speed. I changed the oil to 20-50w with lucas thick stuff added and have my fan when t comes on with the a/c even though its not there. The a/c radiator fins were all mashed over blocking alot of air. We're leaving on our trip tommaro as out packing took a bit longer than expected.
 
oh crap, it oil smokes too

when the wife took off i saw a dual trail of blue smoke cummin out the ~~~ end of the bird
 
Kevin Varnes errored when he told you about I-90 in PA.
There is only about a 50-mile stretch and it is quite flat.
---Just for the record.

I'm in your path in Erie, PA. Find me in the phone book if you need me.
 
Having recently driven that stretch in an SC on the verge of overheating going up every incline I can tell you it will feel very hilly. Especially compared to Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio :) Like I said before it's not bad, but to a car on the edge it can be enough to push it over.
 
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