COliveira95
SHO Member
Hey everyone. I've got the 3.2 swap together finally on my 95 MTX and am having some issues with it not running properly. I'm going to try and describe all of the details to the best of my knowlege and the steps I've taken to try and troubleshoot it.
I had a 3.2 motor stripped down to the block and sent to the machine shop. It was honed, new piston rings, main bearings, thrust bearings, and polished crank. They assembled the motor and painted the outside of the block.
We finished assembly with new 3.2 head gaskets and the 3.0 heads (still with the untouched 3.0 cams in them). We put the timing belt on and such, new spark plugs, and new plug wires. The intake manifold was powdercoated along with the valve covers. ...and for the record, the Taylor plug wires were tossed and I used factory motorcraft wires instead.
I buttoned up the motor mated with the quaifed tranny. I dropped the tank and installed a 190 lph fuel pump. While under there, I replaced the fuel filter. When reinstalling the fuel pump, I reused this piece here:
...per the instructions to do so. When installing the 190 lph fuel pump on my old 93 SHO, I did NOT use this, but instead I used the supplied rubber hose it came with. (side note, good feeling this may be my problem)
So it goes on, I start the car and prime the motor... it doesn't want to run... finally it runs and idles fairly smooth. I go through the first break in stage and then change the oil as you should with a new motor. After idling for a long time and running through quite a few fan cycles, the car begins to run extremely rough where we can't even put any stress on the motor. A touch of the throttle and it bogs down and wants to stall. Playing with the throttle can get it to rev up. If I punch it, the car revs to the secondaries and does not pass the 4k RPM mark, it gets bogged there and stays there. If I slowly ease into the throttle, I can get it into the secondaries (which are opening and closing as they should) and all the way to redline fairly smooth. (meaning, no misfiring or bucking). This tells me I may have a fuel issue rather than a timing issue.
I'm not getting a CE light (and I verified that it is working). Although, tomorrow I will run the codes for any hidden codes and I will also run a fuel pressure gauge on it.
I guess my question is if these symptoms sound familiar to anyone, and maybe that can help narrow down what to look for. I have come to the conclusion thus far that if it were a timing issue, it would be running much rougher than it is.
FWIW, troubleshooting I have already done:
-I've checked the routing of the plug wires to confirm they are correct and they are
-I've looked and listened for vaccum leaks with none to be found, including all the runner donut seals on the manifold
-I've checked for leaking injectors or such, but cannot seem to see any fuel around them or smell any for the matter
I hope I clearified my situation enough to be understood. Tomorrow I will run the codes and check the fuel pressure. I will add my results to this thread. Thanks in advance people.
I had a 3.2 motor stripped down to the block and sent to the machine shop. It was honed, new piston rings, main bearings, thrust bearings, and polished crank. They assembled the motor and painted the outside of the block.
We finished assembly with new 3.2 head gaskets and the 3.0 heads (still with the untouched 3.0 cams in them). We put the timing belt on and such, new spark plugs, and new plug wires. The intake manifold was powdercoated along with the valve covers. ...and for the record, the Taylor plug wires were tossed and I used factory motorcraft wires instead.
I buttoned up the motor mated with the quaifed tranny. I dropped the tank and installed a 190 lph fuel pump. While under there, I replaced the fuel filter. When reinstalling the fuel pump, I reused this piece here:
...per the instructions to do so. When installing the 190 lph fuel pump on my old 93 SHO, I did NOT use this, but instead I used the supplied rubber hose it came with. (side note, good feeling this may be my problem)
So it goes on, I start the car and prime the motor... it doesn't want to run... finally it runs and idles fairly smooth. I go through the first break in stage and then change the oil as you should with a new motor. After idling for a long time and running through quite a few fan cycles, the car begins to run extremely rough where we can't even put any stress on the motor. A touch of the throttle and it bogs down and wants to stall. Playing with the throttle can get it to rev up. If I punch it, the car revs to the secondaries and does not pass the 4k RPM mark, it gets bogged there and stays there. If I slowly ease into the throttle, I can get it into the secondaries (which are opening and closing as they should) and all the way to redline fairly smooth. (meaning, no misfiring or bucking). This tells me I may have a fuel issue rather than a timing issue.
I'm not getting a CE light (and I verified that it is working). Although, tomorrow I will run the codes for any hidden codes and I will also run a fuel pressure gauge on it.
I guess my question is if these symptoms sound familiar to anyone, and maybe that can help narrow down what to look for. I have come to the conclusion thus far that if it were a timing issue, it would be running much rougher than it is.
FWIW, troubleshooting I have already done:
-I've checked the routing of the plug wires to confirm they are correct and they are
-I've looked and listened for vaccum leaks with none to be found, including all the runner donut seals on the manifold
-I've checked for leaking injectors or such, but cannot seem to see any fuel around them or smell any for the matter
I hope I clearified my situation enough to be understood. Tomorrow I will run the codes and check the fuel pressure. I will add my results to this thread. Thanks in advance people.
and for all your hard work. It will pay off in the end 
when the bugs are worked out.
