I apologize in advance if this is a simplistic question, but I don't know of any respectable shops in the area to analyze it for me.
My 95 ATX w/160k has a problem that popped up IMMEDIATELY after taking it to a Ford dealer to fix a problem before a long road trip. As the weather was warming up this past spring, I noticed my outside temperature was reading about 20-30 degrees low. The same day this happened, I could not get the cruise to work at all. Thinking these may be related, I assumed it might be a faulty processor somewhere. Since I was about to drive about 2800 miles round trip--and not ABOUT to do this sans cruise--I took it to the shop. They replaced a switch for the cruise, and a sensor for the thermometer, to the tune of about 300 bucks. Since I am in the AF, cash is not very easy to come by, and this took a bite out of my discretionary change. This seemed to cure the problem, so I let it go. A few days later I prepped the car for the trip, and checked fluids. Where the **** is the tranny dipstick? After a brief search, I discovered it laying across the engine (it was hard to see the black dipstick in the ambient light). Three questions:
1. Why was it removed in the first place?
2. Can I trust any work performed by someone so careless?
3. Did they sabotage my car to hope for repeat business?
While I was on the road, more problems arose. Cruise, tranny, engine management, and steering. These probs are intermittent, but they happen all at once, as if you flipped a switch on the dash to activate them in unison:
Steering: At low speeds (turning left from a stop sign, etc) I get low boost/highway-speed assist, and high boost/parking-lot-speed assist at 75 mph--most unnerving. I felt like I was driving my dad's '64 Country Squire again.
Cruise: If it does actually engage, it would sometimes abruptly disengage, like I stepped on the brake. It will not re-engage.
Tranny: Strange. For example, I could take my home offramp at 70, and take my foot off the gas. As the car slows (coasts--no braking used) for the stop sign at the end, the car abruptly downshifts through the gears, like I was using a Porsche Tiptronic or the like. This sometimes happens while approaching stoplights on surface streets as well; usually from around 40-45 is when it is most noticeable and obtrusive. Another condition is when I am accelerating, which brings me to...
Engine: One thing I LOVE about the SHO is the Saturn V force of stomping the pedal...that glorious noise...the wheelchirp when it shifts to 2 at 60 mph...the inability to control the widening grin...
This is what I don't love. Sometimes, that footstomp rewards me with half-arsed acceleration, shifting at 3000 rpm--juuuust before reaching the powerband. As I am a mediocre driveway mechanic with moderate ability and mild understanding of computer-controlled cars (I'm MUCH better with an old MG!), I will put it in carb terms. It is like a 4 bbl carb--my normal driving opens both primary and secondaries, while this condition is only using the primaries, THEN SHORT SHIFTING!! It is very frustrating.
Many times the problems will stop if I pull over and reboot the car (switch off for a few seconds, then restart). It usually will go away after about 5 minutes of driving as well (if I'm feeling patient). I have also noticed that these conditions arise much more frequently in humid/rainy conditions. I had considered that it may be tied to the auto-headlights being on, grasping at straws in a frantic search for answers.
I am sorry I went on so long, but I wanted anyone with the knowledge to have all the information before judging
I have recently read about the VSS, and many of the symptoms seem to point to that, but do all of them? I got "Insufficient input from vehicle speed sensor (VSS)", as well as "MAF out of self-test range" and "DPFE sensor voltage higher or lower than expected" when I ran the codes.
Andy
My 95 ATX w/160k has a problem that popped up IMMEDIATELY after taking it to a Ford dealer to fix a problem before a long road trip. As the weather was warming up this past spring, I noticed my outside temperature was reading about 20-30 degrees low. The same day this happened, I could not get the cruise to work at all. Thinking these may be related, I assumed it might be a faulty processor somewhere. Since I was about to drive about 2800 miles round trip--and not ABOUT to do this sans cruise--I took it to the shop. They replaced a switch for the cruise, and a sensor for the thermometer, to the tune of about 300 bucks. Since I am in the AF, cash is not very easy to come by, and this took a bite out of my discretionary change. This seemed to cure the problem, so I let it go. A few days later I prepped the car for the trip, and checked fluids. Where the **** is the tranny dipstick? After a brief search, I discovered it laying across the engine (it was hard to see the black dipstick in the ambient light). Three questions:
1. Why was it removed in the first place?
2. Can I trust any work performed by someone so careless?
3. Did they sabotage my car to hope for repeat business?
While I was on the road, more problems arose. Cruise, tranny, engine management, and steering. These probs are intermittent, but they happen all at once, as if you flipped a switch on the dash to activate them in unison:
Steering: At low speeds (turning left from a stop sign, etc) I get low boost/highway-speed assist, and high boost/parking-lot-speed assist at 75 mph--most unnerving. I felt like I was driving my dad's '64 Country Squire again.
Cruise: If it does actually engage, it would sometimes abruptly disengage, like I stepped on the brake. It will not re-engage.
Tranny: Strange. For example, I could take my home offramp at 70, and take my foot off the gas. As the car slows (coasts--no braking used) for the stop sign at the end, the car abruptly downshifts through the gears, like I was using a Porsche Tiptronic or the like. This sometimes happens while approaching stoplights on surface streets as well; usually from around 40-45 is when it is most noticeable and obtrusive. Another condition is when I am accelerating, which brings me to...
Engine: One thing I LOVE about the SHO is the Saturn V force of stomping the pedal...that glorious noise...the wheelchirp when it shifts to 2 at 60 mph...the inability to control the widening grin...
This is what I don't love. Sometimes, that footstomp rewards me with half-arsed acceleration, shifting at 3000 rpm--juuuust before reaching the powerband. As I am a mediocre driveway mechanic with moderate ability and mild understanding of computer-controlled cars (I'm MUCH better with an old MG!), I will put it in carb terms. It is like a 4 bbl carb--my normal driving opens both primary and secondaries, while this condition is only using the primaries, THEN SHORT SHIFTING!! It is very frustrating.
Many times the problems will stop if I pull over and reboot the car (switch off for a few seconds, then restart). It usually will go away after about 5 minutes of driving as well (if I'm feeling patient). I have also noticed that these conditions arise much more frequently in humid/rainy conditions. I had considered that it may be tied to the auto-headlights being on, grasping at straws in a frantic search for answers.
I am sorry I went on so long, but I wanted anyone with the knowledge to have all the information before judging
I have recently read about the VSS, and many of the symptoms seem to point to that, but do all of them? I got "Insufficient input from vehicle speed sensor (VSS)", as well as "MAF out of self-test range" and "DPFE sensor voltage higher or lower than expected" when I ran the codes.Andy
