Engine knocks, overheats.. no heater? and more..

[JTM]

i just put in a new thermostat, a new radiator new belts, and a new battery. the fuel guage doesnt work.. and the thermo guage has only worked once since i got it, the fuel guage didnt work when the temp guage worked. i changed the oil it looked clean, a LITTLE cloudy but i think there may have been an additive in it. so heres my problem

first i cant find the fuse box (havent taken anything apart but i looked under the dash and on the sides of it and in the glove box.. no go)

second the engine knock, dont know why but it does.. what r some common issues with this.. and it may have been due to overheating as the previous owner jacked the car up using the radiator support (it was all bent up and smooshed the bottom 1/4th of the rad) i cant see any other reason for the car to be damaged in this manner.

third the car overheats, when the temp guage worked (for WHOLE DAY) it would slowly make its way up to N the fan turned on and the needle KEPT climbing... the the heater would not blow hot air.

fourth the gas guage doesnt move.. i filled the tank with gas.. the light is on (orange gas pump light) but the needle sits on E.. ive read that the gas guage and the temp guage share a ground where is it?

fifth the door code for my car is on the trunk lid, so i got it (after having to figure out how to open it with no key, i finally popped that button up on the side of the drivers seat and was able to pull the ltach up) its "77206" so i have my wife sit in the car and lock the doors.. the dome light turns off and i begin entering the code.. the dome light comes on when i press the first button but the code doesnt seem to work.. after i enter in the code... what am i supposed to do?

and help would be greatly appreciated.. thanks so much.

hey an dif anyone lives near Fresno, CA i would sure accept any help i could get.. even if we just hang out scratching our heads @ this car.. thx again

 

[SHOtimer]

Ok, first did you install a thermostat with a the proper "jiggle valves" on top of it so the system can properly relieve itself of air? First make sure that you have a cooling system that is full of coolant not air. That could very well by why you have no heat coming from your heater, because their is no coolant flowing.

Second the fuse box is located by the parking brake. If you look near the release handle their is a seperate handle that says, "pull to release fuse box" or something of that nature. Pull it, and the fuse box will drop down.

Third, these engines do not like to be overheated at all. The cloudy oil could be due to a blown head-gasket, even though in these motors that is rare.

Fourth, does the motor overheat now, or before you replaced all the cooling parts? Again that could also be due to air in the system. I would also replace the sending unit to the gauge and the ECT (Engine coolant temp sensor) which supplies the computer with the coolant temp for fan control, mixture..and the such.

Fifth, the engine knock is probably a rod bearing. They are fairly simple to remove and replace if you are mechanically inclined, it basically all depends on how much damage is done to the crank. Some motors can be fuly repaired, however others are a lost cause.

Sixth, once you punch in the door code the drivers side door should open, then if you hit the '5-6' button the trunk should open, and if you hit the '3-4' button all the doors should open. Other than that it sounds like you don't have the right code.


Lastly, what year is your SHO, and is it a manual or an automatic, and last of all how many miles are on it? Do you know any of it's previous maintainence history, or the way it has been handled in the past. Also, your SHO would probably benefit greatly from a full 60k, but I would solve that knock problem before addressing anything else because that will be the deciding factor in if the car is worth it.

Doug

<small>[ December 12, 2003, 10:10 PM: Message edited by: SHOtimer ]</small>

 

[shobikes]

Welcome aboard! You'll find so many knowledgeable enthusiasts here you'll wonder why you didn't get your SHO sooner!

I can help you with your overheating/heater problem, but will defer the elec. stuff to one of these other rocket scientist-types. It do sound like a bad ground problem, tho.

You have an air pocket in your cooling system. Did the new thermostat have "jiggler" valves? If not, there's probably a bubble trapped there, and the thermostat needs to be immersed in fluid to work - it's probably not opening, hence the no heat and improper cooling. You'll need to take it back out, and if it has the jigglers, make sure they are oriented to the top. If it doesn't have them, drill a tiny hole (mine's 5/64") about 1/4" in from the edge, reinstall the t-stat with the new hole at 12 o'clock, and refill the cooling system. I do this with the radiator cap off, adding coolant as the system sucks it down until expansion starts it overflowing. Then make sure your overflow bottle is at the proper level, as the system will suck in needed fluid as the engine cools.

The knocking don't sound so good. You probably need rod bearings, and SOON. They are known to go south on these engines around 120-150K if driven aggressively.

Check SHOtimes.com for a bunch of good info, and look around here (particularly the SEARCH function) for answers and experience.

Good luck!

 

[JTM]

thanks for the quick responces.. i should have mentioned ive been trolling these forums for about a week searching through hundreds of posts.. my thermostat has a jiggler.. and i did read to install it on top (so i took it apart and did that) righ tnow there is just water in my system (didnt want to waste all that coolant if i didnt have to) yes it did overheat before but the radiator was really messed up (previous owner bent the radiator support up and into it.) i dont know what type of care this car has recived.. tho it looks really clean, no oil in the engine bay or even down inside the spark plug wells. the car has 205k miles, an di also thought of this bearing.. how hard is it to replace and what part #'s can i use.. is it something that can be done in one afternoon?

the top radiator hose pressurises hard (cant even squish it down and its hot!) and the thermo lets the water flow through about 40 seconds before the fan kicks on.. now heres my idea (let me know if its plausible) the radiator support was smashed up into the radiator also into the fan shourd causing the fan to be siezed.. if they drove this car like this (and i know they did) could it have made the electric motor so weak that it wont pull enough air through it? i can buy a new motor for 45 bux @ kragen (shucks checkers same thing) i am pondering to replace the plastic thing that plugs into the block (on the backside of the thermo) that tells the fan to turn on.. should i also replace the temp sender sensor? i drove the car down the block.. and all i can say is... zooom its pretty quick, if i get this car going good.. im going to need a shorter shifter tho.
oh yeah and when its runninghot, i see little bubbles seeping out of the top radiator hose (like theres too much pressure) where i clamped it onto the radiator.. i got the radiator form radiators.com.. is there maybe a plug i forgot to remove? i took out 3 plastic white caps... one on lower one on upper and one for the spout.. it also had screws that look like they r for an auto tranny cooler.. but mines a manual tranny. would that have any effect? kuz my previous radiator just had the holes.. no threaded *******. sorry i have to many questions, this car is just so cool and im excited about having another project to work on. thanks
on a side note, someone told me they use the same trannies as the ******, is that true?

 

[JTM]

also, now my temp guage aint workin no more.. dang this thing i suppose ill be going down to buy that temp sender sensor thingy.. cant run it w/o that guage esp since i know it already has ehating problems.. how many gallons of water will this thing take? since i pretty much drained all water from it.. also now with the new radiator.. i left the cap off while it ran.. water was commin outthe top (slowly evenly) and alot of little stuff was in it.. not sure what it was.. didnt look like metal... rust maybe? after only one week of straight water (not being ran hardly ever)

 

[SHOtimer]

Ok, first off, I understand you don't wanna waste coolant..but the insides will begin to corrode and rust without the coolant combo. The new fan at Krangens..is not for a SHO it is for a regular Taurus...it may say SHO but it isn't that is way too cheap and way to avaliable to be for a SHO. They use similar trannies from a Tempo I think. But the SHO tranny is a lot more heavy duty. I would replace both temp senors..the one with one wire coming out is the sender for the gauge and is probably your problem with not having a gauge, either that or the connection is corroded, either way I would replace it.

The rod bearings can be done in a weekend, I doubt an afternoon. A search will reveal a lot of recent info giving you everything you will need to know about those....

Your gas gauge problem could possibly be the sensor in the tank, a assembly from Ford would most likely fix that. But there are some electrical gurus here who could help you narrow down the culprit...instead of just replacing parts.


Doug

<small>[ December 12, 2003, 11:29 PM: Message edited by: SHOtimer ]</small>

 

[JTM]

yeah i know i need to eventually put coolant in there, just wanted to make sure its not overheating before i do that (only going to be for another week max...)
ad the fan was JUST the motor.. not the whole fan assembly..
i will look into the rod bearings, will i need any special tools? i have like a ratchet set and screwdirvers.. the basic stuff.. oh.. and a 2 foot cheater pipe (for brake jobs) no torque wrench...

BTW i grew up in salinas.. my brother and father still live there.

 

[JTM]

i wired the fan directly to the batt to see if it would keep it cool.. didnt work.. slowed the rising heat down but didnt work.. now my top radiator hose is colapsed.. whats that mean? also its super pressurised whiel engine is running.. i replaced the temp sender unit.. the guage didnt work so i hit the dash and it started to work.. i think i have a short somewhere in the cluster..

 

[JTM]

i toko it down to get the brake an dlamp inspection (becuase it snot regged) and the lower radiator hose popped off.. not it runs rough.. and has a hard time starting.. and i put it back on filled it with water.. but it still leaks from somewhere.. im thinking i just made a mistake buying the car and would be better off getting rid of it ASAP.

 

[AutoSHO]

Sounds like that motor is toast... IMO.

 

[JTM]

i may need a new engine, shoul di put in a 3.0 89-91 or a 3.2 92-95?

 

[SHOtimer]

I'm sorry you grew up in Salinas..lol. I'm gonna be leaving myself in about 6 months (whopee!). A 3.2 swap in possible but a lot more work than it is worth. For the problems that car is exhibiting a 3.0 swap would be too much work. I would suspect even the motor wouldn't be for a SHO fan, prolly a normal Taurus motor, but I could be wrong. My honest opinon for you would be to ditch the car ASAP, too much work for not enough in return and you will end up sinking a lot of $ into it, from the sounds of it at least. IMO sell it and run far far away.
Doug

 

[JTM]

well i can get an engine with a 6 month warrenty with 88k miles on it.. for ~500 bux.. so i dunno what i am gunna do yet.. may try just resurfacing the heads..

 

[SHOtimer]

Well, from what I have heard these heads can't be resurfaced very well because their is only a fine amount that can be shaved off. I personally wouldn't invest in a new used motor because it sounds like the car is falling apart around the motor, along with the motor falling apart. But, to each his own and I'm sure if you want to take on that project you will find much help here.
Doug

 

[JTM]

actually.. the ONLY thing wrong with it.. is the motor.. but thats the ONLY thing that is special about a SHO isnt it?

it would make a great parts car for anyone who doesnt need a motor.. lol..

 

[SHOtimer]

JTM:
the motor.. but thats the ONLY thing that is special about a SHO isnt it?

Uhm..in short no, but there are many similar parts. It is your choice, but I personally wouldn't put any money into that car. But, people tell me I'm crazy for puttin money into mine so to each his own. You just need to evaluate the situation and decide what your priorities are..and of course it depends how much $ u got.

Doug