It's all done (60K)

[Markus]

Today I finished the major maintenance and the SHO feels like new again. Car has 169,000 km (105,000 miles)

Here's what I did:
1) replaced plugs/wires (Motorcraft), valve cover seals, plug well seals

2) Dismantle, clean, and reassemble intake manifold with all new gaskets

3) Cleaned throttle body using dish washing detergent

4) Cleaned IAT sensor

5) Adjusted valve gaps/replaced shims. All gaps were in spec. About a third of the gaps were at the high end of the spec. Set gaps to low end of the spec.

6) Cleaned EGR tube between exhaust manifold and EGR valve. Cleaned EGR valve with carb. cleaner

7) Cleaned filter of EGR regulator solenoid with carb cleaner

8) Cleaned MAF sensor with electrical contact cleaner

9) Installed new air and fuel filters.

Took the car out for a drive and it ran notably smoother and quieter with more power than when I started the job. When idling in either Park or Drive, no engine vibration can be felt. Note that I cleaned the intake and replaced plugs/wires (Motorcraft) only 50,000km (30,000miles) ago. I was happy.

I drove the car to Josh T.'s house to return the rental shims and noticed that SLOWLY accelerating from 120km/h (75mph) in top gear caused a pulsing hesitation. I mentioned this to Josh and he suspected the MAF was bad. He said the MAFs on two of his '95's went bad the same way. I checked for codes and there were none.

Replaced the MAF today (with an OEM one) and all hesitation is gone and low end power is finally back.

After the engine cooled down I replaced the timing belt, water pump, and CPS. The original timing belt had not stretched at all. Changing the timing belt resulted in no noticable power change but at least I know the belt isn't going to break in the near future.

I replaced both O2 sensors with new Motorcraft sensors two years ago. I am debating replacing them now when everything else is new. Any thoughts?

It's simply amazing how much smoother, quieter, and more powerful the SHO now is. To anyone contemplating mods before doing the proper service work, don't.

 

[JoeHoe_SHO]

The Man Said:
"To anyone contemplating mods before doing the proper service work, don't."


I hear that...when I first started posting here, I was like "stage 2 power package all the way" and what not...but reading up on what is really important in these cars has changed my mind about all that mod stuff.

I'm gonna do my suspension first....I would like to have a Toxico/Eibach setup, but I don't know if I'm going to have the money to pay for both the labor and the parts. Then maybe end links if needed, SFB's etc...then the 60K by the end of the summer if time and cash flow permits.

Then...maybe 1 or 2 mods. One of them involves a mod that requires some engine support modifications and running a few hoses here and there...still have too much reading to do about the subject before I make any decisions(dreams)

Glad to hear you got through it okay!

<small>[ May 29, 2003, 03:25 AM: Message edited by: JoeHoe_SHO ]</small>