bought '91 SHO 2days ago

[h1h0silver]

ok, here is the deal.......just bought the SHO. im a ford guy, but more of an older V8 type. so i don't know much here. '91 SHO i picked up has prestine interior, and good exterior. rides great. engine makes a lil noise....some ticking and knocking but not real bad. does pick up w/ rpms. what do you think? also 2nite, lost all my coolant, overheated, died. had a friend bring me water and i let it cool and drove to his house. i have the hesitation at low rpms until secondaries kick in too. i appreciate any help you guys can give. thanks

 

[h1h0silver]

oh yeah. its a 5speed and has 141k miles, if that helps any.

 

[Rockledge]

Congrats on the "new" SHO.

The overheating part is a real concern. These engines have aluminum heads which can warp/crack when overheated. Hopefully this did not occur.

You have to narrow down the location of the sounds. Is the ticking coming from the top of the engine? Driver or passenger side? Ticking could be related to valve shims that need adjustment. How about the knocking? If it's a lower end knock then you may have a rod bearing issue.

But these are just shots in the dark ...you really need to investigate a little more and isolate the location of the noises.

 

[MyFirstSHO]

So what do you wanna know? I know I hate it when I get told things I already know....

Heres the obvious, you got a coolant leak, come on when i was 15 I could find a coolant leak....But here goes: start out by the radiator, follow the lower radiator hose to the water pump (on passenger side of car) Check to see if there is coolant running down on or near the water pump. See any thing yet? If not check the upper radiator hose (drivers side), and the thermostat housing (just follow the upper radiator hose to the motor). Still nothing? Get down on your back right in front of the cars front bumper and stick your head under till you see the oil filter. Do you see a rubber hose that looks like a big U? Coolant runs there, too. Still nothing? Might as well Check the heater core hoses on the firewall. Only other way to lose coolant, is an internal leak. But the car would have to overheat FIRST. I think you know what happens when you overheat your ride, slap

As far as engine noise, if its only a little bit of chatter, you probably are due for a 60k mile valve shim adjustment. If its a definte defined knock, you could have more serious issues such as worn rod bearings, which we have recently seen a rash of cases of.

Hesitation problems could be a # of things, is your CE (Check Engine) light on while running? Try checking the codes. If you don't know how just ask.

Good luck with your new SHO, keep it running!

 

[h1h0silver]

yeah, i know i got the coolant leak. it was just too dark to find it. happened at 1am this morning. i will check tomorrow for that. all the ticking and knocking sounds like upper driver side, but will investigate further.

i was thinking the timing belt needs replacement and valvetrain needs some care. how much does that run or is it easy do it yourself kinda thing? doesn't look too easy.

no check engine light, but sometimes hard to start and will sometimes die at idle. but yeah, i will investigate more today, just trying to get some ideas. thanks

 

[autobahnsho]

After taking the intake off (twice) and the valve covers, it's actually not all that hard to do the top-end work. You'll need a clean place to work, good socket and endwrench sets, a torque wrench for putting it back together (rent one at AutoZone if you can't buy) and the special tools for the valve job.

Took me 2 hours today to take the intake off, inspect the plugs/ plug wells, mess around with the intake sensors, and get it all back together. I go slow to make sure I didn't screw things up...
--------------------------------------------

On the other hand maybe you can find a fellow SHOer who would like to help out. The $$ would be less than letting some tool at a garage who's clueless touch it.....

 

[DavidT]

Hello,
the timing belt is $33 from Rockauto.com. It is not "easy" if you've never done it before, but the info from this BB (and sdpatt has a step by step procedure for it) makes the job doable by even a novice.
While everything is off (for the timing belt), might as well change the CPS ($30 from Autozone) It is popular for kicking the bucket (car won't start if it does)... could be your hard start up problem shrug
Also, the water pump is right there, as well as the front main seal. Oh yeah, the accessory belts have to come off as well (again, might as well get new ones)
All this would pretty much complete a 60K FRONT end service... leaving the valve lash and gasket replacements at the top end.
The ticking noise COULD be a timing chain tensioner. My 90 sho had it (even after a FULL 60K). The noise came from under the "rear" valve cover and at the right side (where one of the tensioners is located)
I would definitely get new spark plugs and wires! (Motorcraft).

 

[TYSHO]

DavidT:
might as well change the CPS ($30 from Autozone).

What kind of discount are you getting?

Autozone has matched prices with O'Reilly's Borg-Warner brands on the Crank and Cam sensors. They, AutoZone, have the Wells brand with only a 3 month warranty compared to Borg-Warner with Lifetime warranty from O'Reilly's. Stupid price adjustment if you ask me!

 

[DHMag]

another option on the engine ticking is cam chain tensioners. and have yall noticed the guy is in Hawaii !?! eek!

 

[DavidT]

TYSHO,
oops. I was looking at the price of the CID. The CPS (Wells) is $43. wink
Yeah, DHMAG, is correct. There has been a lot of talk on this board of noisy cam/timing chain tensioners.
As for mine, the noise was NOT consistent. Sometimes it would go weeks without making that horrific sound. When it did, it was most noticeable when I was slowing to a stop/or at idle. It sounded like I was sitting in the cab of an 18 wheeler eek! Also kinda sounded like baseball cards in the spokes of a bicycle.


Boy I miss my 90 sho frown

 

[h1h0silver]

found the coolant leak. small u-shaped hose on front of block. one side popped off. no biggie. also found, what looks like, my oil pressure sending unit is leaking. would explain the oil light coming on occasionally. how much and how hard is that?

is there any SHOers in hawaii? i haven't seen any out here, just all civics and stuff. need to find someone that knows what they are doing and could teach me. this is nothing like the 302ci and 351ci that im used to.

 

[DavidT]

if you can't find anyone, there is a 60K mile service video available for $20. It is a great investment. It covers top end and front end work. It is sometimes on ebay. Mark Nunnally is the man responsible.
Also, this forum is FULL of valuable info.
Ask questions and/or use the SEARCH feature.
Hey, prior to the 2 sources I just mentioned, an oil change was the limit of my mechanical inclinations. WITH the video, and this forum, I have changed my timing belt, water pump gaskets and O rings... and I have had the intake plenum removed TWICE as well as the valve covers... ALL BY MYSELF.
This is nothing short of a miracle.
Anyway... good luck.

 

[Trojan Man]

A severely bad waterpump can sound a lot like an engine ticking too. Best advice is just to get a mechanics stethoscope and probe around till you can tell where it's coming from. **** you can just use a screwdriver.

 

[h1h0silver]

i am mechanically inclined. i can do some mad wrench turning. but everything is so packed in there i can't tell. i tried listening with a screwdriver, needed a longer one.....but sounds like its coming from....the asterik areas(rough sketch of engine, sorry)
____________
| |
|_4*__5___6_|
|*_*________| driver
|*1* 2 3 | side
|___________|
radiator

but my screwdriver wasn't long enough to reach between the middle of the valve covers. its so hard to tell exactly where. if it was the waterpump, would the performance of the pump be affected? my temperature is fine now that i fixed the leak.
thanks

 

[h1h0silver]

well the sketch didn't turn out as anticipated. i hope you get the idea though.

 

[masho95]

h1h0silver:
well the sketch didn't turn out as anticipated. i hope you get the idea though.

Just so you know, the cylinders aren't labeled like that. It's:

123
456
---
rad

Get a mechanic's stethoscope, it'll be a lot easier to find the noise location and they are usually pretty cheap.

 

[h1h0silver]

i was close on the cyl numbering oh
it was a guess, thanks though.
i won't get a chance to check things out more thoroughly cuz i have to go out to sea tomorrow. just when i get working on a new project or fixing an old, the U.S. navy expects me to do what we do best........not be at home. owell, will have more questions in about 6 weeks. headbang

 

[Trojan Man]

Coming from that area, it could definity be the water pump. I've replaced two of them so far, and both sounded like rod bearings slapping around to me, but as soon as you touch the snout with a screwdriver, you can clearly hear it. Neither one leaked either.