95 MTX SHO Help

[SHOtime-95]

So Ive had this absolutely beautiful royal blue 95 SHO from Canada. It is pretty much stock engine wise. All mods I know of are suspension, slotted/ drilled rotors, MSR wheels, BF goodrich G force sport tires, pillar gauges, block heater, All fluids topped of with Royal Purple, fully re upolstered interior with dark brown leather, and dark brown carpet. Just about everything on this car i can see is like brand new and I want to keep it that way forever!
Now the car does have a few problems. But I'll start off with the main problem. It's slow. Really slow. I know it has to be faster . A couple weeks ago i raced a crown vic TAXI CAB at a stop light, and beat it by like a car length! It was like 2 slow cars racing, and i had 2 others in the car. Didn't even feel like the car was pulling. How embarrassing! My mom's Dodge journey feels like it could beat it. I'm not too worried about modifying the car and making it fast right now, I just want to get it perfect first. So it being THAT slow, I know it has problems. This is my first SHO I've ever owned so I'm not sure how it's supposed to feel. I could 0-60 this car in like 8 seconds, maybe 7.5 at best when cold.
So I had the car looked at, at the dealership due to a very noticeable ticking sound under the hood at idle. And apparently it has a rear exhaust manifold leak. Sometimes I'll smell exhaust while driving. Also the clutch will slip if I bring the rpms above like 2500 when taking off from a stop. If i were to try to do a burnout, or dump the clutch, the car will harldy move and smoke the clutch. It's does not seem to slip at all when already moving and shifting gears at WOT. Also when I accelerate from a stop, I feel like the car boggs out and falls on its face. Then starts to pick up around 3k rpm. I pulled the codes recently (no check engine light) and got: 211, Profile ignition pickup (PIP) circuit fault, and 542, Fuel pump secondary circuit fault. Sometimes when I start the car it will randomly run rough for 20 or 30 seconds, then run normal. Could thsee problems be affecting the power like this? The car was already having low power problems before these codes came up just to point out.
Thanks for reading this long post, I just really want to get this fixed! Let me know what you guys think.

 

[zoomlater]

Blue SHO's are my favorite color, but hard to find. How many miles are on the engine and do you know if it has had any major services done yet (upper or front 60K). Do you know if the clutch has ever been changed before? Burnouts are not a good thing for the tranny and can lead to diff pins ejecting and cracking your tranny case.

Code 211 is related to the Crank Position Sensor . Did the car ever die on you after the engine has warmed up?
Code 542 pops up if you stalled the engine and usually can be ignored

For the ticking sound, did the dealership find out where the sound was coming from?

I previously had 95 MTX that bogged below 2500 RPM, had no codes, and then ran fine at higher RPM. Turns out the fuel pressure regulator failed and was allowing twice the normal pressure. After replacing that and plug wires, the car ran fine. Do you have access to a fuel pressure gage, you can measure it from the Schrader valve on top of the engine, next to the IAB.

 

[SHOtime-95]

Blue SHO's are my favorite color, but hard to find. How many miles are on the engine and do you know if it has had any major services done yet (upper or front 60K). Do you know if the clutch has ever been changed before? Burnouts are not a good thing for the tranny and can lead to diff pins ejecting and cracking your tranny case.

Code 211 is related to the Crank Position Sensor . Did the car ever die on you after the engine has warmed up?
Code 542 pops up if you stalled the engine and usually can be ignored

For the ticking sound, did the dealership find out where the sound was coming from?

I previously had 95 MTX that bogged below 2500 RPM, had no codes, and then ran fine at higher RPM. Turns out the fuel pressure regulator failed and was allowing twice the normal pressure. After replacing that and plug wires, the car ran fine. Do you have access to a fuel pressure gage, you can measure it from the Schrader valve on top of the engine, next to the IAB.

Thanks for your reply! The car has 222k KM which is about 140k miles on it. When I got the car, I checked the carfax which was mostly oil changes, so I don't know what was done to it. I did notice that the fluids in the car looked brand new. But when I got it I put all new fluids in anyway, oil and fuel filters, new MAF sensor, new plugs, plug wires (but didn't install since the others look like new), and I got a code reader for it. Other than that I do not know what has been done. I am wondering when to change the timing belt though, since I have now idea how many miles on it. But judging by the carfax, and the condition of this car, it has been garaged, maintained, and very cared for its whole life. I feel a little bad though since it's not garaged right now but I plan to change that asap.
The car has never died on me before (I've had it since last fall), and the ticking, I was told by the dealership that it was from the exhaust leak. I do not have a pressure tester for the fuel, but I believe I can get ahold of one

 

[zoomlater]

Sounds like you found a well maintained car. Hopefully the previous owner did the maintenance as well. The timing belt, water pump, CPS sensor, etc should have been changed at 60 thousand miles. You can read up on it here, look towards the bottom of the page:

http://web.archive.org/web/20110505224000/http://www.shophoenixproject.com/maint.htm

Maybe the 211 code is an old code that the previous owner fixed. I would clear the codes and then check if that code (or any code) come up again after you encounter that occasional stumbling problem). See below. Your code reader may have instructions on how to clear codes as well.

http://web.archive.org/web/20090917070939/http://www.shophoenixproject.com/eec/eec.htm

Have you looked under the car to see if the water pump looks new or is still original. Is it leaking at all?

When you changed the plugs, was there oil in any of the plug wells? What brand of plugs did you install?

How did the car run when you first got it, was it down on power before you replaced some of the parts?

 

[SHOtime-95]

Sounds like you found a well maintained car. Hopefully the previous owner did the maintenance as well. The timing belt, water pump, CPS sensor, etc should have been changed at 60 thousand miles. You can read up on it here, look towards the bottom of the page:

http://web.archive.org/web/20110505224000/http://www.shophoenixproject.com/maint.htm

Maybe the 211 code is an old code that the previous owner fixed. I would clear the codes and then check if that code (or any code) come up again after you encounter that occasional stumbling problem). See below. Your code reader may have instructions on how to clear codes as well.

http://web.archive.org/web/20090917070939/http://www.shophoenixproject.com/eec/eec.htm

Have you looked under the car to see if the water pump looks new or is still original. Is it leaking at all?

When you changed the plugs, was there oil in any of the plug wells? What brand of plugs did you install?

How did the car run when you first got it, was it down on power before you replaced some of the parts?

As far as the codes I currently have, they were not there before, since I check the codes every 2 weeks or so. I checked the codes when it first ran rough for a few seconds and that's when I had those codes first come up.
As far as any leaks, the car does have some leaks. Although I could not see any leaks from the water pump, and the pump looked very clean and newer. I do have some oil leaks though. One leak I can see is coming from underneath the Crank pulley. It doesn't seem to be coming from the main seal, but from the oil pan, right under the pully. It's a desenst sized leaked that I should assess as soon as I can. Another leak I see is under the power steering pully. So I believe its power steering fluid. And another leak is from the front valve cover. Over time the valve cover in front has a thin film of oil mixed with dust, that I usually wipe clean. And finally the passenger side rack and pinion boot is torn and leaking some sort of oil that gets all on the subframe on the passenger side. I try to clean that up and keep the bushings clean so they don't go bad. Although things seem to be leaking I do keep all fluids topped off with good fluids.
When I changed the plugs, I do not recall oil being in the holes, but I did vacuum them out before I removed the spark plugs though. The plugs I used were Motorcraft.
The car ran really well when I first got it, but stuttered during hard acceleration. I cleaned the MAF sensor with MAF cleaner, which helped the issue but didn't fix it. So I put a new one on which ended that issue. When I got the car, the clutch hardly slipped, but it still seemed to lack in power. Even after the new MAF. The MAF I got was a fairly cheap one since I plan to get a Tweecer RT and get a larger MAF sensor & housing. But I need to deal with all issues first.
I took some Automotive classes at my local college and printed out information each day I went from ALLDATA, until I had pretty much every bit of info on ALLDATA for my SHO lol. So I have every little spec and diagram of every part for my SHO, all in a binder that I put all receipts, notes, etc.. in.

 

[zoomlater]

If the water pump looks clean and newer, the previous owner may have done the front 60K at one time. It depends how long ago it was. I had a 92 that had the front 60K done before I got it, but the crank position sensor failed 50K after it was installed. Code 211 doesn't necessarily mean you CPS is bad. Read the following threads.

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/crank-sensor-maybe.102252/#post-1082151

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/cid-sensor-question.71670/#post-697489

If you have a leak under the power steering pulley, it could be coming from behind the camshaft position sensor. If the cam seal failed and is leaking oil into the camshaft sensor, you could have a failure there. Pull the camshaft position sensor and see if there is any oil in there. If there is, you should replace the seal and install a new camshaft sensor.

Do you have access to another DIS module that is known to be good? Make sure the screws on the bottom of the DIS is tight as that is one of the ground paths.

Does your car start on the first try

I read you can rent a fuel pressure tester at auto stores unless you know someone that has one. You can do a quick check to see you have enough fuel pressure by depressing the Schrader valve to see if fuel shoots out or not. Try it first after turning the key on, but not starting the car (just with the fuel pump turning on).

 

[SHOtime-95]

If the water pump looks clean and newer, the previous owner may have done the front 60K at one time. It depends how long ago it was. I had a 92 that had the front 60K done before I got it, but the crank position sensor failed 50K after it was installed. Code 211 doesn't necessarily mean you CPS is bad. Read the following threads.

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/crank-sensor-maybe.102252/#post-1082151

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/cid-sensor-question.71670/#post-697489

If you have a leak under the power steering pulley, it could be coming from behind the camshaft position sensor. If the cam seal failed and is leaking oil into the camshaft sensor, you could have a failure there. Pull the camshaft position sensor and see if there is any oil in there. If there is, you should replace the seal and install a new camshaft sensor.

Do you have access to another DIS module that is known to be good? Make sure the screws on the bottom of the DIS is tight as that is one of the ground paths.

Does your car start on the first try

I read you can rent a fuel pressure tester at auto stores unless you know someone that has one. You can do a quick check to see you have enough fuel pressure by depressing the Schrader valve to see if fuel shoots out or not. Try it first after turning the key on, but not starting the car (just with the fuel pump turning on).

I did forget to mention that sometimes when I start the engine, it will just keep turning over and over and not start. Or start after 2 or 3 seconds of turning over it will finally start up. But after I stop, then turn the key again, it starts right up. When the car is running rough for a few seconds, it's usually right after the car struggled to start.

I've read everything you showed me which is very helpful. So it's sounds like a cam sensor is the starting/rough running problem. I'll see if I can remove it tomorrow and see if it got oil in it, or seems defective. I'll also test the fuel pressure like you mentioned. I can borrow one from a friend, or rent or buy one. Which it seem like alot of the tools I go to rent, I end up buying because it costs the same to buy it as it does to rent it lol.

I do not have another DIS module but I'll be sure to check it as well. I'll probably remove the screws and clean them, and where the screw into.

 

[rubydist]

the slow-to-start and running rough just after that start is often due to fuel pressure leaking down when the engine is off - there is a check valve in the fuel pump to retain the pressure, if that check valve leaks, the pressure drops and makes the engine hard to start.

you can test that by cycling the key to "on" for 3 seconds, then "off" and repeating that 3-4 times. if that takes care of the hard-to-start condition, then you know the fuel pressure is leaking down when off. it is only a nuisance on startup, no other issue with that - when you cannot stand it any longer, just replace the pump.

 

[SHOtime-95]

the slow-to-start and running rough just after that start is often due to fuel pressure leaking down when the engine is off - there is a check valve in the fuel pump to retain the pressure, if that check valve leaks, the pressure drops and makes the engine hard to start.

you can test that by cycling the key to "on" for 3 seconds, then "off" and repeating that 3-4 times. if that takes care of the hard-to-start condition, then you know the fuel pressure is leaking down when off. it is only a nuisance on startup, no other issue with that - when you cannot stand it any longer, just replace the pump.

So I didn't get a fuel pressure tester BUT I grabbed a bicycle tire pump with a gauge Lol. After the car had been sitting for half an hour since I drove it, I put the pump on the valve as fast as I could (some fuel shot out as I was doing this) and I got it locked on there. Then the gauge was reading 20 PSI and not dropping at all. I'm not sure how acurate the reading was, but I do know that the fuel line is holding pressure.