grinding and jerking SHO

[MEK]

Hi All,

I have a 91 which has tranny issues(probably serious ones too ), but not sure. When I was buying it two weeks ago, i was told that it needs a new tranny, and it wasnt even running.

Well, i was able to test drive it, and drive it home the next day, with no major side effects. Towards the end of the 50 mile journey, the car started jerking pretty badly. Higher RPMs subsided the jerking, but i was prety worried. I made the final 2-mile drive home at high RPM to avoid the jerking. I shut the car off, the next day, it was running fine, for about 5 minutes, after which it started to **** again. I shut the car down, started it back up, and the jerking was gone. The tach was not working but it came back after about 5 minutes. The funny thing about the jerking is that, it happens each time I start the car cold (i think ) and shutting it off and starting it makes it go away, until next time. So when I ever it starts jerking, i just pull over, turn it off/on and it is gone for the rest of the trip, with the tach catching up after about five minutes. I plan for this part of the journey . Any ideas what this may be caused by?

Now, a recently occurring problem is, grinding. Not when shifting, but when driving. I can shift fine, but sometimes, when releasing the clutch, it makes a loud grinding sound, which goes away when the clutch is pressed. It happens while driving too, or just sitting in neutral, with the clutch out. It is random, but it is starting to happen more and more often. Do i need a whole new tranny/clutch?

The other issue is that darn sticky brake caliper...I am gonna show who is boss one day and club it to death Pumping the brakes makes it go away, but when the disks/calipers are hot, they just love to stick together, even if not applied.

The sweet deal was that it is black/black and the inside can be considered mint condition for a 91 with 85K on it . Something that came to my attention after the fact was that it also has Tokico struts and is lowered a little .Now, can anybody tell me an easy way of checking whether you have quafe or not? I can swear i do...this car just doesnt peel out, corners or not...4 brand new tires helps too!

Its good to be back in a SHO once again. I had a 89 which i drove 6 years...now a 91 after about 2 years...

Sorry about the long post...

 

[TYSHO]

When looking in with an axle removed:

Quaife: o
Stock: -l-


First things first, when buying a used car, give it a basic tune up: spark plugs, spark plug wires, air filter, and fuel filter. After that, or before, run your codes, if you have the check engine light on, and see what kind of codes you have.


For the grinding, it can be a worn clutch disc with the rivets grinding on the flywheel surface. Or else, and worse, transmission bearings and/or a blown differential that has been grinding away at the transmission casing. If you have a blown differential, usually you will not have enough transmission fluid to reach the full mark. Take out the 3/8" pipe plug, or whatever, and check if there's fluid. My bet is on the differential from the symptoms you mentioned, plus the guy told you it needed a transmission already.

Best bet is to get a Quaife or reinforced differential, as the stock differentials are prone to failure.

 

[MEK]

Thanks for the suggestions...it just got all worse on the way home today it was screeching/grinding really loud at take off...getting into gear was also alot harder. Once fully stopped, i was able to get into gears, while moving, it was easier to get into higher gears and impossible to the lower gears. Once in gear, it would grind/screech at the initial take off, but as the speed increased, the going got a lot easier...does any of this point to any particular culprit? Currently, the car is smoking itself out... I am hoping/thinking it is the clutch...

 

[NKPlus]

When the car is smoking... what does it smell like? and oil burn or a clutch burn... the clutch shoudnt be smoking badly but you never know... You also have a engine oil leak right? and usually the engine oil leak spills on the converter and just smokes up... Coming to your trans problem, I am thinking since after you get it into gear and you take off if it stops grinding I am thinking and hoping its your clutch... If I am thinking wrong please correct me people...

 

[Lorenr]

The Used Car

Whenever I buy a used car I nearly always do the following:

1. Never pay too much
2. On a Ford SHO read this forum and bring ALL of the maintenance up to date. Very few people sell their cars because they are perfect. Most people who sell these cars don't know anything about them and so will tell you anything you want to hear. Check it all out for yourself or take it to a shop.
3. Do the 60 K, it will at least give you a base to start from.
4. Change ALL of the fluids. Motor, power steering, brake, radiator and install a transmission drain plug so you can change that fluid too.Changing the trans fluid will tell a lot about the condition of the transmission. Reinstall a good synthetic ATF. (It is hard to believe that at 85 K this trans is bad, I vote for the clutch and fresh trans fluid)
5. Do a complete tune-up. Plugs, wires and if the plug wells have oil in them, install new seals. Run the codes with a good code reader.
6. Check the clutch and if it is bad replace it before more damage is done.
7. Do the above before you do the suspension