I actually did it, 120 K Service

[Sounnder]

Well i've been working on completing the 120K service on my 95 SHO. Started last July and finished it Saturday, 4-16-23. I have to say that was an interesting challenge. Pretty much everything that could happen to delay getting it done happened including trying to improvise a couple hoses and having one of the heater hose pressure fittings put on the wrong end of the assembly. Thanks a million to the people who answered a couple questions I had along the way. You got me pointed back in the right direction. Also props to SHO Source. i was able to get a replacement center timing cover from them. Everything looking great now and it started on the first try.

Anyone who takes on that job better be ready for something way more involved that you would think. My main challenge; this was the first front wheel drive car I have worked on other than doing tune-ups. Now I have to finish bringing it completely back to life.

Good luck to those who take this task on in the future.

Rick

 

[Irish Pride]

It gets easier the more you do. After a dozen water pump / timing belts on these cars it's really just a Saturday type job. Things will always pop up but knowing what to do when they do it key. Glad you got it up and running again.

-Chad

 

[Bryan]

My car is coming to 120k. Is it really necessary to do this? My car has very detained maintenance logs going all the back to 1994. Oil changes done ever 3000 miles. Car was always garage kept for most of its life (its not now). I was looking into this.

 

[luigisho]

Manual or auto? I would consider timing belt if it's been too long. Waterpump if it wasn't done yet. Examine rubber everywhere (hoses, bushings) and determine if it can wait or not. You don't have to do anything. There are guideposts to check your stuff and hit it before anything happens.

 

[Irish Pride]

My car is coming to 120k. Is it really necessary to do this? My car has very detained maintenance logs going all the back to 1994. Oil changes done ever 3000 miles. Car was always garage kept for most of its life (its not now). I was looking into this.

If you don't have any records of the water pump being replaced in the past couple of years then I would definitely consider doing that. I would replace the timing belt while in there at the same time. The water pump starts to weep and this weeping is primarily what kills the crank sensor. I've never had a crank sensor fail that wasn't on a car with a leaking WP. Take care of it before it becomes an issue and leaves you stranded one day. Everything else associated with the 60ks you can do as needed in my opinion. If the camshaft seals aren't leaking then I don't mess with them. Same for the crank seal. I've never done a valve lash on one of these cars unless I was doing a head or cam swap.

-Chad

 

[luigisho]

If the camshaft seals aren't leaking then I don't mess with them. Same for the crank seal. I've never done a valve lash on one of these cars unless I was doing a head or cam swap.

-Chad

same

 

[Bryan]

If you don't have any records of the water pump being replaced in the past couple of years then I would definitely consider doing that. I would replace the timing belt while in there at the same time. The water pump starts to weep and this weeping is primarily what kills the crank sensor. I've never had a crank sensor fail that wasn't on a car with a leaking WP. Take care of it before it becomes an issue and leaves you stranded one day. Everything else associated with the 60ks you can do as needed in my opinion. If the camshaft seals aren't leaking then I don't mess with them. Same for the crank seal. I've never done a valve lash on one of these cars unless I was doing a head or cam swap.

-Chad

Yes I have already replaced the water pump, timing belt, crank sensor, cam sensor, came seals and front main seal. I did it when the crank sensor died on me The cam seals and front main rubber was pretty hard and crumbled when I pulled them out. And yes, my original water pump was leaking. What of the stuff at the bottom like the rod bearings? I had though part of the 120k preventive maintenance was replacing them.

 

[luigisho]

Depends. The manual trans cars seem to get more wear. I would look at 125-150 as the range where I would consider changing them out. Can they go longer? yes. We have also seen bearing failure before 100k. Auto cars can go a little longer on average before bearing replacement is an issue. I would guesstimate 150-175k. This is just observation with fuzzy memory over the last 20+ years. If you have an itch to do it all, then go ahead. Better before a failure than after and maybe having extensive damage.

 

[SHOMON]

same

Third

 

[SHOmont]

I worked at a local Ford dealer in the mid-1990s when these cars were daily drivers racking up miles. The parts manager had a Gen 1 as a company car for the dealer, and we had many many customers with SHOs…..including the one I have today, was a former customer’s car with 212k miles. The parts manager was very particular with his cars, so much he would balance his tires every oil change, and strictly used Ford parts. (He was the “Parts guy” after all). He personally did the 60K maintenances, did all the valve lash adjustments throughout the life of his car. He was also front and center when a customer SHO would come in for maintenance ensuring these cars received the correct care. His conclusion? Do the timing belt and oil changes, but don’t bother with the valve adjustment. There was never any wear to speak of and 60K was waaaaay too soon. He mentioned to me once that Ford was worried about these high-revving engines and bumped up the service interval to cover themselves during the extended warranty if it were purchased. Basically after years and years of experience with his SHO and all our customer SHOs he said…. “Unless you hear something coming from the engine, don’t bother”. Wait until 300K to check. Now keep in mind this was when these cars were driven daily. I don’t know about you, but I maybe put 200 miles a year on my SHO since it’s not my daily driver, so it sits, and sits. Sitting is not good for an engine. The dynamic has changed where there are many more dry starts, so that may effect wear on the cups. But then again, oil is much better today.

 

[Bryan]

I worked at a local Ford dealer in the mid-1990s when these cars were daily drivers racking up miles. The parts manager had a Gen 1 as a company car for the dealer, and we had many many customers with SHOs…..including the one I have today, was a former customer’s car with 212k miles. The parts manager was very particular with his cars, so much he would balance his tires every oil change, and strictly used Ford parts. (He was the “Parts guy” after all). He personally did the 60K maintenances, did all the valve lash adjustments throughout the life of his car. He was also front and center when a customer SHO would come in for maintenance ensuring these cars received the correct care. His conclusion? Do the timing belt and oil changes, but don’t bother with the valve adjustment. There was never any wear to speak of and 60K was waaaaay too soon. He mentioned to me once that Ford was worried about these high-revving engines and bumped up the service interval to cover themselves during the extended warranty if it were purchased. Basically after years and years of experience with his SHO and all our customer SHOs he said…. “Unless you hear something coming from the engine, don’t bother”. Wait until 300K to check. Now keep in mind this was when these cars were driven daily. I don’t know about you, but I maybe put 200 miles a year on my SHO since it’s not my daily driver, so it sits, and sits. Sitting is not good for an engine. The dynamic has changed where there are many more dry starts, so that may effect wear on the cups. But then again, oil is much better today.

I put maybe 1000 or so miles a year on my 92SHO. I have very detailed maintenance log going all the way back to 1994 when the second owner purchased the car with 24k miles on it. The previous owner even kept a log of every time they put fuel in the car along with the price of fuel at said fill up. Car now has 119k (I bought it at 106k after previous owner hit a deer with it). Only real noise I get is the transmission which obviously needs to come out at some point due to what is sounding like either a bad throw out bearing or input shaft bearing. Not sure, and in all honesty its a minor issue at this point. But I was figuring I would do the bottom end at the same time because it seems like the oil pan gasket is leaking anyway. Thank you for the detailed input. I will just gather the parts just to have them on hand.

 

[FastCAD]

while available add to the list gaskets; intake, valve cover gaskets & bolt bushings,
spark plug well gaskets also a set of 'clevite' rod end caps.

when possible add backups; ccrm & ecm, iab, maf. these items can save a lot of headaches & down time.

best to ya!

 

[Bryan]

while available add to the list gaskets; intake, valve cover gaskets & bolt bushings,
spark plug well gaskets also a set of 'clevite' rod end caps.

when possible add backups; ccrm & ecm, iab, maf. these items can save a lot of headaches & down time.

best to ya!

Hey thanks! I will get them as well. I do have a spare Crank senor on hand due to the rarity of those parts. I also have a spare DIS module, and a spare set of the CV half shafts. I had the original ones rebuilt after I replaced them.