Help!??

[Craig]

Hello,

I have an 89' SHO, no EGR, 5 speed. I have a problem that only happens sometimes. The engine light does not come on. I've had the problem for over 2 years. It does not stop the car. Two Ford dealers and a 3rd Ford certified shop have looked at it. Two oxygen sensors, a crank sensor, and a timing belt and tensioner later, I still have the problem. The suggested work had no effect on the problem, only my billfold.

If the problem occurs when the car is idling, the tach will feather around 9 and the feather will drop even lower from time to time while its doing this. The accelerator is very unresponsive while this is happening, like its running on only half the cylinders. It can be violent if it happens at the low end of the RPM range of any gear. I have to quickly clutch or down shift or the car will lurch more or less violently.

Also, when it is happening, if I turn the car off and then try to restart it right away, it can be hard to start. It may turn over once on each of a half dozen starting tries and then on number 7 start. And many times, when I have done this, when it starts, the tach stays down, and then in a couple of minutes it engages again. But if I wait awhile after turning the engine off, say 10 minutes, it starts right up. Of course, it may start agin.

Sometimes, when it does it, it may last for 5 seconds and sometimes it may last until I stop the car. It happens sometimes when I barely change my foot pressure on the accelerator and sometimes I can get it to stop that way. When this is not happening, the car runs strong.

I'm going to say thank you now for any feedback. I really want to keep the car. I've had it for over 15 years. And I'm not a mechanic.

Craig

89' SHO,
5 speed,
Titanium,
pretty much stock,
pretty well maintained,
just enjoy driving it

 

[gbizzle27]

Has the car ever had a 60k done? How many miles on the car? this might help us all. And run the codes, this procedure can be found at Shotimes.com

 

[SHOtimer]

Sounds like a grumpy CID sensor to me.....

Doug

 

[sdpatt]

Sounds like a grumpy CID sensor to me.....

Doug

Ditto. But have you run the KOEO test to retrieve any stored fault codes? I'll bet you'll find a code 19.

 

[Redskull]

maybe the coil pack is going south.....the plugs/wires aren't 15 years old, are they?

 

[projectSHO89]

Sounds like a grumpy CID sensor to me.....

Doug

Agreed.

Coil packs don't have much of a history of failure.

Steve

 

[dpsutphin]

It could also be fuel related as in a cylinder or cylinders getting no fuel. Check your fuel pump and filter. If they are ok, then you have an electrical problem keeping one or more of the injectors from firing.

Replacing the fuel filter is cheap and easy, so try that first even if it has been done lately. It's under the passenger rear door and only costs about $10 at Autozone. I had to change mine 3 times once to get a similar problem to go away. You can check the fuel pressure with a cheap guage attached to the top of the fuel rail. Just search for fuel pressure check here and you will see how easy it is.

After that, start looking for bare wires that are shorting out against something metal, especially the small wires coming from the injectors.

And of course, as others have said, the codes will always help us help you figure out what else could be wrong.

Good luck.

 

[Craig]

Thanks for responding everyone.

The car/engine has about 82000 on it. I have not had a dealer 60K done. I live in a small town and don't really trust the Ford dealer. But I have asked the mechanic I work with to help me maintain it right. He is Ford certified but I don't know enough to know if its being done right. He does seem to be absent from his business quite alot. There are not many choices here.

All the fluids are maintained. Hoses and belts are about 5000 miles old or less. The fuel filter has about 5000 on it. The plugs/wires are about 1500/5000 miles old. The fuel pump has about 500 on it and the module that controls the pump was replaced at the same time. It turned out that the problem that caused the mechanic to replace these 2 items was actually a bad battery ground wire.

I'll try to learn more about the KOEO diagnostic. I don't even really know if these shops I've worked with here have the right equipment or know proper diagnostics for this car. For me, its pays your money and takes your chances.

Thanks again everyone.
Craig

 

[SHOtimer]

I would repace your CID sensor (camshaft identification sensor). You have the classic symptoms of a bad one. They run about $35-40 at the autoparts store, and it takes about 15-20 mintues to change. It is right above the PS pump, and is held in by two (5.5m) bolts.

Doug