Bacondoggy
Registered User
Is my cam stock? LOTS of crazy ??? & bad car symptoms. And how it was rebuilt (long)
When I bought my 2nd SC, there was a good amount already done to it (air bags in the rear, a rusted out flowmaster exhaust, lowered 1-1/2" (some baby blue springs I dunno what they are?) 3.55 gears, rtv on the tranny, engine bored .030 over, 10% (I think) OD pulley, I think underdrive pulleys (they look stock but were all bigger then my 89 SC - even the main engine one) and a "super chip", which I took right out). The car is a 1991 and has ~70k (original) on it. There was an engine knock, so my dad, grandfather, and I rebuilt the engine. We took WAY too long (over 2 years) to do this, but my grandfather was VERY thorough in the process (practically plasti-guaged everything). Upon taking the engine out and everything apart, I found a piece (side skirt) of a piston in the oil pan (YAY!). But, you could see the hone marks still in the cylinder walls.
I then found out the problem was with the bearings on the crankshaft. There were lower bearings put on the bottom AND top. The lower bearings had no hole in them to allow the oil to flow through the rods. I took the crank, and rods to a machine shop to make sure they were not stretched or cracked, etc. The guy before me (not sure why) also had the IAC totally blocked with a cardboard "gasket" (but the IAC was plugged in). I noticed on the camshaft there were NO marks whatsoever. Do the stock ford cams at least have a "Ford" stamp on them?
After I got the engine together, I put mustang v6 headers on it, no cats or resonator, and just took off the back mufflers, trying to do some type of exhaust (any suggestions?). Even the way it is, I still get a rattle in the exhaust. Can this be from the heat shield? Would it be a bad idea to take the whole thing off?
Anyways, the car threw "running lean" codes on the left and right bank after doing the dynamic run test. I replaced the fuel filter and checked the fuel pressure at the rails and that was fine. Replaced O2 sensors (Bosch) as well. I also replaced the IAC with a new one from Ford. I have 2 stock MAFS (they are clean and makes no difference if I change them). New autolite double platinums, new Ford spark plug wires.
I know the SC belt is very old and cracked. I want to replace that (I'm sure thats not the cause of the problems though), but I am not sure if autozone sells them, and what the size is (even if I could get a slightly smaller belt due to the smaller OD pulley - the less slippage the better). Any part or belt #'s here would be helpful...
How can you tell if the fuel injectors are properly seated? Also, how do you test the intercooler to see if it leaks? I always hear people say "you might have a VAC leak", but I can't find one, and that is the only thing I didn't test.
The car seems the have poor acceleration, along with stuttering at low rpm's (even at half gas). IF there is an aftermarket cam in the car, does that require a tune? I have like 4 tps sensors, but can that be creating these problems? I had a friend tweak it so it read the correct voltage so the computer can read it.
Lastly, IF THIS WAS YOUR CAR, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!?!? (and don't say scrap it! lol) All I know is my 89 basically stock SC ran perfectly with no problems, and that had over 200k on it! ARRGH I could just scream!
Anyone in the YORK, PA area who would have time to take a look at it, I am a 26 year old veteran (82nd Airborne) with 2 kids (1+ year and 1+ month boys - ugh!). I may not be by any means wealthy, but I can give you some $ for your time... Maybe nothing like $60/hr, but would gladly try to make it worth your time... my e-mail is happy_taco@juno.com if you have any other questions. Thanks to all of you who have read all of this! I know I posted a few threads before, but I gave ALL the imformation I have and can think of.
Regards,
Mark Gleeson
When I bought my 2nd SC, there was a good amount already done to it (air bags in the rear, a rusted out flowmaster exhaust, lowered 1-1/2" (some baby blue springs I dunno what they are?) 3.55 gears, rtv on the tranny, engine bored .030 over, 10% (I think) OD pulley, I think underdrive pulleys (they look stock but were all bigger then my 89 SC - even the main engine one) and a "super chip", which I took right out). The car is a 1991 and has ~70k (original) on it. There was an engine knock, so my dad, grandfather, and I rebuilt the engine. We took WAY too long (over 2 years) to do this, but my grandfather was VERY thorough in the process (practically plasti-guaged everything). Upon taking the engine out and everything apart, I found a piece (side skirt) of a piston in the oil pan (YAY!). But, you could see the hone marks still in the cylinder walls.
I then found out the problem was with the bearings on the crankshaft. There were lower bearings put on the bottom AND top. The lower bearings had no hole in them to allow the oil to flow through the rods. I took the crank, and rods to a machine shop to make sure they were not stretched or cracked, etc. The guy before me (not sure why) also had the IAC totally blocked with a cardboard "gasket" (but the IAC was plugged in). I noticed on the camshaft there were NO marks whatsoever. Do the stock ford cams at least have a "Ford" stamp on them?
After I got the engine together, I put mustang v6 headers on it, no cats or resonator, and just took off the back mufflers, trying to do some type of exhaust (any suggestions?). Even the way it is, I still get a rattle in the exhaust. Can this be from the heat shield? Would it be a bad idea to take the whole thing off?
Anyways, the car threw "running lean" codes on the left and right bank after doing the dynamic run test. I replaced the fuel filter and checked the fuel pressure at the rails and that was fine. Replaced O2 sensors (Bosch) as well. I also replaced the IAC with a new one from Ford. I have 2 stock MAFS (they are clean and makes no difference if I change them). New autolite double platinums, new Ford spark plug wires.
I know the SC belt is very old and cracked. I want to replace that (I'm sure thats not the cause of the problems though), but I am not sure if autozone sells them, and what the size is (even if I could get a slightly smaller belt due to the smaller OD pulley - the less slippage the better). Any part or belt #'s here would be helpful...
How can you tell if the fuel injectors are properly seated? Also, how do you test the intercooler to see if it leaks? I always hear people say "you might have a VAC leak", but I can't find one, and that is the only thing I didn't test.
The car seems the have poor acceleration, along with stuttering at low rpm's (even at half gas). IF there is an aftermarket cam in the car, does that require a tune? I have like 4 tps sensors, but can that be creating these problems? I had a friend tweak it so it read the correct voltage so the computer can read it.
Lastly, IF THIS WAS YOUR CAR, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!?!? (and don't say scrap it! lol) All I know is my 89 basically stock SC ran perfectly with no problems, and that had over 200k on it! ARRGH I could just scream!
Anyone in the YORK, PA area who would have time to take a look at it, I am a 26 year old veteran (82nd Airborne) with 2 kids (1+ year and 1+ month boys - ugh!). I may not be by any means wealthy, but I can give you some $ for your time... Maybe nothing like $60/hr, but would gladly try to make it worth your time... my e-mail is happy_taco@juno.com if you have any other questions. Thanks to all of you who have read all of this! I know I posted a few threads before, but I gave ALL the imformation I have and can think of.
Regards,
Mark Gleeson