CAR DIEING OUT

[94 SHO]

I just bought my first sho.

I recently replaced leaky valve cover gaskets. I put motor back together. Motor keeps dieing out. I took the car out and drove it and it runs fine while driving. If I let off of the gas totally it will die out. It won't idle at all. I checked all connections and everything looks ok. I checked the intake and didn't find any vacumn leaks. Any suggestions would be appreciated?? I'm new to this motor. I don't know much about it.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Start with reading the codes. There are instructions on how to do this at the three sites in my signature. You can do it yourself with something as simple as a paperclip or short piece of wire. Let us know what codes you find and we might have better luck pointing you towards the source of the problem.

You might also want to double-check your plug wire routing to this picture if you disconnected them when removing the valve covers:

Did you reconnect your IAC (Idle Air Control) valve? (It's inside the intake manifold opposite the throttle body. You might also want to reset the idle speed program -- search the forum for 'idle speed reset'.

 

[sdpatt]

Did you reconnect the idle air control (IAC) valve electrical connector? If you disconnected the battery (should have), you will also need to reset the idle (look here for instructions).

 

[projectSHO89]

Plug wiring order is probably correct. The issue is most likely related only to idle control.

Did the car have dificulty idling BEFORE your service work or was it already encountering this difficulty?

Try the IAC/ISC focused items as already posted.

Steve

 

[94 SHO]

Plug wires are correct.
Everything is plug back in. I went and bought the car in virgina (I live in Illinois) I drove it back 850 miles without a problem. I pressure washed the engine and noticed the valve covers leaking.

The battery was not disconnected durning the repairs.

I also repalced the spark plugs with new OE plugs from ford.

I cleaned the throttle body and intake while the intake was off. Would this affect anythin??

I have no check engine light also.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

94 SHO:
I pressure washed the engine and noticed the valve covers leaking.

I think you may have identified the source of your problem... Chances are there's water somewhere effecting an electrical connection.

Would you pressure-wash your PC? That's basically what you did. frown

 

[94 SHO]

I wouldn't wash my PC.

I have washed many engines without a problem. I don't spray directly at the electronics. I try to cover up the the electrical stuff. Motor ran fine right after the cleaning. I did start to missfire because the plugs did get some water in them.

 

[Huntervf]

A person skilled in pressure washing can wash an engine ok without doing damage. The key is keeping the high pressure water from the sensitive areas. FWIW I pressure washed my 95 & 89 when I got them with no problems at all, and I've likely powerwashed hundreds of engine at work. I'm not suggesting people just pop the hood & go nuts, but if you're going to do it be careful!

It sounds to me like a problem with the IAC valve; perhaps it's not plugged in completely, it has a blockage in it etc. A water issue would usually result in a misfire, not a no-idle condition.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

94 SHO:
I wouldn't wash my PC.

I have washed many engines without a problem. I don't spray directly at the electronics. I try to cover up the the electrical stuff. Motor ran fine right after the cleaning. I did start to missfire because the plugs did get some water in them.

Have you actually looked at the SHO motor? You'd be hard pressed to find any areas greater than about a few square inches where there is no electronic component, wire, or connector.

The debate over washing SHO motors has been beaten to death repeatedly here so I'll leave it with my favorite analogy: Just because a person has gotten away with driving drunk once, a dozen, or a hundred times doesn't mean he's never going to get caught, or worse **** someone -- it's simply not a safe (or smart) thing to do. The same can be said for washing the SHO motor; just because you haven't had problems doing it once, a dozen, or a hundred times doesn't mean that it's a safe thing to do.

 

[94 SHO]

I'm assuming the IAC is the sensor on the throttle body??

What is the sensor on the intake behind the throttle body.

 

[94 SHO]

Would spark plug gap have anything to due with this problem. I installed OE plugs. I was told by ford that they were pre gapped.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

94 SHO:
I'm assuming the IAC is the sensor on the throttle body??

What is the sensor on the intake behind the throttle body.

SHOooo:
Did you reconnect your IAC (Idle Air Control) valve? (It's inside the intake manifold opposite the throttle body. You might also want to reset the idle speed program -- search the forum for 'idle speed reset'.

94 SHO:
Would spark plug gap have anything to due with this problem. I installed OE plugs. I was told by ford that they were pre gapped.

The plugs DO NOT come pre-gapped. They should be gapped to .042-.046. While they're not pre-gapped, I doubt any of them would have had such a dramatically small or large gap that it would prevent the car from idling. Again, the IAC valve is responsible for metering air at idle, so if it's clogged or the motor shorted out you won't idle properly (if at all). When you cleaned the intake, did you clean the 'nostrils' from the IAC valve?

<small>[ April 09, 2003, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: SHOooo ]</small>

 

[94 SHO]

When I cleaned the throttle body and intake... I just sprayed a little carb clean and used a tooth brush to scrub it around. It really wasn't that dirty. I didn't intentional clean the nostrils.

I'm new to this motor. I've only had the car for a 10 days.

 

[Huntervf]

The IAC valve is the cylindrical object mounted on the intake behind the throttle body...it's right on top of the intake. It has a single plug on the back side towards the firewall...did you remove this item from the intake when you did your cleaning?

 

[94 SHO]

I did not remove it when I cleaned the intake.

 

[94 SHO]

Car is fixed. It took about 15 minutes to fix. I don't know how it happened but the throttle body gasket was on backwards. It Was covering the passage for the IAC motor. I feel really dumb about it, But at least I can drive the car.

I'm getting some oil burning smell. I think that it is the residue from the old oil.

 

[sdpatt]

Welcome to the SHOw and one simple lesson learned. There will be the opportunity for many more lessons. We can probably help there too.

 

[Huntervf]

Many more lessons indeed thumb The very first 60k I ever did was on my 95 MTX...put it all back together and it wouldn't idle at all, just like the problem you had. Only my ******** figured "well, I guess it needs to relearn the idle since the batt. was disconnected." 45 minutes later I was still in the driver's seat, holding the RPM's at about 1000 when I decided something else was wrong. Popped the hood, promptly found I'd forgotton to plug the IAC back in. Plugged it in and wouldn't you know, the damn thing idled perfectly headbang