The list of wrongs

5150Bird

Registered User
I just bought a 90 SC and just had some quick questions seeing how ive owned 3 lx's and this is my first SC. At idle my vacuum is at 20in but when im cruising it drops to 25-30. Also when in gear my idle drops to 500-600 and seems to shift into gear alot sooner..3rd gear engages at 26-31mph with slight throttle. Antilock light stays on but im sure i know its just a realy or accumilator/condensor. Fan is rigged up to a switch b/c it wont turn on by it self..also think it may be relay. Not sure about the vacuum/boost set ups yet but hopefully will be able to diagnose them like my Lx's. Any input would be great and look forward to getting this SC running smoothly. Thanks again and god speed!

Jesse
 
Sounds normal to me.

Sorry can't help with the electrical part.
There have been many post for fixing fan .
I did a search but could not find the post
I was thinking of.Others around here should
be able to help with the fan set-up.

Hope you have better luck with your 1990
SC than I have had with my 1990 SC. Mine
has been The worst & most costly Ford that
I have ever owned. As far as reliability.
I feel very lucky if the car runs over 750 miles
before I need to spend another 1 to 3 gran.

I think I may have a lemon SC. No amount of
money or work will ever make it run right.
The car only had 82,000 miles on it. I don't
think thats very many miles to have all the
problems that I have encountered in the last
5 to 6 years.

Randy
 
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Most of the time the fan problems come from the IRCM relay that sits just behind the PAX headlight. Instead of replacing it, or if they find their car running too hot, tend to bypass it and use a manual switch.... bad idea in my mind but whatever.

Your vacuum sounds about perfect to me.

The older sc's, ie pre '94 had the AOD transmission which used a TV cable to the throttle body which basically determined the shift points. I would HIGHLY recommend taking it to a tranny shop to have it adjusted, unless you have a set of pressure gauges so you can adjust the TV pressure properly.... if its not set up right and a smidge out, you could cook that tranny in a heart beat.

If you search on brakes for this car, you'll get ways to figure out whats causing the light. The Teves system we have does not use Vacuum and is all electronically controlled. First question to you is are your brakes rock hard?

My '90 has been great for me, unlike Randy's so don't get disheartened ;).

Lately searching can be a real pain, cause over half the posts you get in return will tell you to do a search :( instead of giving an answer, but thats the nature of the beast now and will only get worse.
 
Well i think i may have found my brake problem. i was looking under the car for a while just doing a basic inspection of things and found a brake line on the driver side ( about where your feet are ) that was crushed and looked like it may pass a only a few drops of brake fluid. LOL Just a thought! as far as my other problems im slowly overcoming the gremlins that are popping out at every turn. I took out my octane pin tonight and it seems to be running a bit smoother but i know its only a temp fix until i can find out the real issue. Next on my list is the seals and pulleys. I orderd a set of steeda pulleys for the crank, water punp and SC but going to wait to install until i know my HG are good and other seals are ckecked before i put more boost on. Tomorrow im going to my buddys shop and were going to go through all the wiring and make sure everything is in its place seeing how the previous owner was scotch lock happy and put in his own alarm. Got the new hinges on and man what a diff. I dont have to Bo Duke it anymore LOL Well take it easy guys!

Jesse
 
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