help! oil light/electrical/brakes

[echoes]

well, I bought a well used 1993 SHO with 153K miles a few days ago. But its got a few problems, currently at idle and normal operating temp. the oil pressure light flickers. I was wondering if it would be ok to use a different weight oil (ie 10W-40) to thicken it up and up the oil pressure? I also managed to blow out both rear brake lines at the same time (on a hill with a stop sign at the bottom no less) which rendered that dual safety system pretty worthless. Do I really need that stupid Rotunda brake bleeder? Any ideas on the price of CV joints too? and finally, any of you ever experienced 5 dying panic pings while unhooking part of the harness near the master cylinder (note..now the temp and fuel needle are pointed straight up) I hope I didnt fry it :-(

anything helps! Thanks!
Regards,
Tim

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

Tim:

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have several different problems all at once. Let me be of encouragement here and say that the SHO can be a very rewarding car with a little work.

Now for the bad news.

Your oil flickering light at idle is a sign that your rod bearings are bad and are in dire and immediate need of attention. READ: Dont drive the car till you fix them. If you ignore this warning, you will have a boat anchor for a motor in no time at all. It isnt a tough procedure if you are pretty good with a wrench.

No you dont need the brake bleeder to replace the rear brake lines. You can bleed the lines in the normal manner. But, considering you shouldnt drive or start the car till you get those bearings fixed, the brakes will wait.

As to the pinging when disconnecting the harness, you have learned a lesson on why you need to disconnect the battery WHENEVER you start removing electrical harnesses. One arc and you could trash alot of stuff.

CV joints: A complete half axle is about 60 bucks with lifetime warranty.

 

[echoes]

Thanks for the welcome. From what I did drive it for (all of a day) it was rewarding enough to make me go out and go through all of this. I was going to do the bleeding tonight...but time doesn't permit. Also...that oil light rod bering thing...please tell me its less than $75??...and how do I do it?/what do I need?

also...nice scripture

Thanks for your help (especially because its only a 12 foot boat..and I think that anchor would be overkill)

-Tim

 

[greenbeanmtx]

The rodbearing kit can be purchased from RCM for about 60 bucks.http://home.earthlink.net/~rcm_automotive/id16.html
It comes with the stuff to replace the oil pan gasket and the rodbearings. If youve already got a good choice of tools specifically a torque wrench then you should be good to go. You will need some assembly **** and oil to put in the motor once your done. There is a write on how to do it here: http://www.shophoenixproject.com/rodbearings/rodbearings.htm

This is very informative on what to do and also gives a list of what you will need. I am going to pursue this on my car this week. Its kind of intimidating and im nervous but ive never done it before on these cars. Everyone says its not that big of a deal as long as your patient and take your time. I agree with the above, dont drive it anymore till you fix this or your going to spin a bearing and be in a world of hurt. My car is running great oil pressure and not making any knocking noises, but at 151k im going to do it for ease of mind.

Oh and welcome to the forum

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

rod bearings are about 50 bucks....but you will need a new oil pan gasket set (16 bucks), some paper gasket making set from AZ (6.00), some plastiguage (3.00), some engine rebuild grease, a change of oil and a good set of tools. Its not a complicated job, just not for the faint of heart or mechanically challenged.

Search the forum for rod bearing procedure details, but basically you will remove the y-pipe (this can be the worse part as those bolts could snap off), then remove the oil pan, oil pick up tube, splash shield till you can get the rods.

Do all the research first and you will be ok.

 

[NoSlo]

The Rotunda brake bleeder connects to the ABS module and turns it on when bleeding the brakes. If you want to bleed out the ABS module, after you fix all your problems and after you bleed your brakes the first time, go for a drive on a gravel road and stomp the brakes several times to trigger the ABS. This will cycle the fluid in the ABS module back to the brake reservoir. You can then suck the fluid out of the brake reservoir and fill it up with fresh fluid, and do another bleed to get fresh clear fluid through all the lines.

The car was probably sold to you because of impending sho BOOM. Rod Bearings are a must. The kit from RCM automotive is $60 and includes all you need, except a couple metric studs you are sure to bung up or pull out.