New guy reviving 95 SHO

[3.SHO]

Hey everyone thanks for having me!

Got a 1995 SHO mtx with just under 125,000 miles that I've owned since roughly 2016. Drove it a few years and then basically parked it in the shed for five years since I was spending most of my time on my fox body. Well guilt has finally got me and I'm sick of letting the car just sit in the shed and deteriorate. Time to get it back on the road!

One of the reasons I parked it was because the rear calipers always hung up after hitting the brakes. I've got it narrowed down to the bias valve as fluid will not flow through it anymore. I'm going to try the bias plugs and see how I like that.

The car is pretty much stock except for catless y pipe and magna flow mufflers which I'll eventually put new cats in because I can't stand the hideous rasp it has.

Anyways thanks again for having me and I look forward to do some more reading!

The car really isn't as clean as it looks in the pictures as it was still wet from washing it but its still solid and in good shape for its age!

 

[rubydist]

Make sure that the hard lines are not crushed at the anchor points by rust, and make sure that the rubber hoses actually flow fluid. Those two are more common issues than the valve you mentioned.

 

[3.SHO]

Make sure that the hard lines are not crushed at the anchor points by rust, and make sure that the rubber hoses actually flow fluid. Those two are more common issues than the valve you mentioned.

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely do that especially since it's been sitting a long time. IIRC before I stopped driving it, I was trying to figure out the issue and I had brake fluid to the valve but couldn't push fluid past the valve. I'm hoping to get it on the lift Monday night and see whats going on.

 

[luigisho]

The rubber hoses from teh hard lines to teh caliper are a known failure point as mentioned in rubydist post. They are also cheap. $10-25 each depending where you buy them

 

[zoomlater]

Welcome!

 

[3.SHO]

Have you guys heard of the valve completely failing? I can't seem to find much info on people confirming that they have actually quit working or failed.

I'm pretty sure I removed the linkage for the valve the last time I was under there before I parked it since it was deteriorated from rust. Bias plugs should be here Monday so I'll probably put them in regardless and see if I like them or not and also make sure fluid can flow through all lines/hoses. Im also planning on replacing all the old brake fluid from the car once I get proper flow to the rear. Rear calipers were replaced before I parked it so hopefully they still function properly.

 

[Tbird6]

As posted above change both rear brake rubber hoses. They are collapsed at this point.
Very common problem.

What I did was go to SS flex brake lines and I really liked the improved brake pedal feel and was surprised how much of a difference the SS lines made.
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[Greg Corcoran]

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely do that especially since it's been sitting a long time. IIRC before I stopped driving it, I was trying to figure out the issue and I had brake fluid to the valve but couldn't push fluid past the valve. I'm hoping to get it on the lift Monday night and see whats going on.

if you were on a frame lift (tires dangling) no fluid should get past the bias valve. It senses there is no load on the rear and reduces/stops fluid flow to prevent lock up. I think this part is totally unneeded with ABS but Ford had "a better idea".
If you were on a 4 post lift with the car sitting on it's wheels/suspension fully loaded and no fluid gets past, then it is the bias valve, but that would be pretty unusual.
However with the little link rod removed as you have, I don't recall whether that sets the bias valve to full open or full closed. Either way the bias plugs area good start, but my money would be on the 30 year old flex hose.

 

[3.SHO]

if you were on a frame lift (tires dangling) no fluid should get past the bias valve. It senses there is no load on the rear and reduces/stops fluid flow to prevent lock up. I think this part is totally unneeded with ABS but Ford had "a better idea".
If you were on a 4 post lift with the car sitting on it's wheels/suspension fully loaded and no fluid gets past, then it is the bias valve, but that would be pretty unusual.
However with the little link rod removed as you have, I don't recall whether that sets the bias valve to full open or full closed. Either way the bias plugs area good start, but my money would be on the 30 year old flex hose.

I have 2 post lifts so that could explain how fluid would not get past the valve but I was assuming even with suspension drooped that it would still allow some fluid through but I could very well be wrong.

The car does have abs so I'm hoping I'll be fine with the bias plugs as far as braking.

You're all probably right about the rubber lines. I can't for the life of me remember if I replaced those or not, it's been too long since I've worked on the car. But I should have time to get the car in the air tonight and find out if I replaced the rubber lines or not. I'll see if fluid comes through them freely but I'm guessing I'll just replace them regardless.

After the brakes are working properly I suppose I'll start thinking about if I wanna do rod bearings or not lol.

 

[3.SHO]

Well.. I put the bias plugs in anyways since I don't have the linkage for the valve anymore. Went to bleed the brakes and quickly found out you guys were right lol. Got great flow to the rubber lines but virtually none after. I wanted to do the bias plugs anyways, I was just hoping that was the only problem. Gonna order rubber lines in the morning. I appreciate everyone's help!

 

[Toolman]

Welcome!

 

[MichiMike]

Welcome
I just installed a new rear proportional valve assembly and during bleeding when the tires are dangling off the 2 post lift there is little flow. But when i zip tied the lever up tight it does indeed have full flow. I left it tied up during a test run and the rear brakes were very aggressive.

 

[kryptto]

Welcome!

 

[Sho-N-Go]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[3.SHO]

Got the new rubber lines installed and bled all the brakes until I had fresh fluid. They all grab and release right away on the lift. Just waiting on a fuel filter to show up and I'll take it for a cruise and see how the car performs!

 

[Tbird6]

This was years ago but I loved the brakes on my 93 ATX SHO. This was with the 96 front brake upgrade, Installing the rear bias plugs and installing all 4 SS flex brake lines.

Great pedal feel and head and shoulders above the stock system.

It's interesting to me to see the vastly improved stock brake system on our 2013 MKS. I have not upgraded it and don't feel it needs any improvement.
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[3.SHO]

I've put about 100 miles on the car so far. The first couple miles I new I had a front caliper hanging up. Pulled over to see which one and yup, front left is stupid hot. I put a reman on and so far the car has been doing great! I forgot how nice of a cruiser this car is! I actually have another caliper for the front right, front rubber lines and front rotors and pads on order from rock auto too as they have a lot of wholesaler clear out prices so I got everything really cheap.

I have some high flow cats laying around the shop that I might try to weld in tonight if they'll fit. I can't stand the terrible rasp it has without the cats.

Check engine light comes on sometimes within the first 5 minutes of driving and is always gone a few minutes later. Pulled codes and I have codes 137 and 173 indicating a rich condition on both banks. Not sure if o2's are bad or could this be from not having cats?

 

[kryptto]

I've put about 100 miles on the car so far. The first couple miles I new I had a front caliper hanging up. Pulled over to see which one and yup, front left is stupid hot. I put a reman on and so far the car has been doing great! I forgot how nice of a cruiser this car is! I actually have another caliper for the front right, front rubber lines and front rotors and pads on order from rock auto too as they have a lot of wholesaler clear out prices so I got everything really cheap.

I have some high flow cats laying around the shop that I might try to weld in tonight if they'll fit. I can't stand the terrible rasp it has without the cats.

Check engine light comes on sometimes within the first 5 minutes of driving and is always gone a few minutes later. Pulled codes and I have codes 137 and 173 indicating a rich condition on both banks. Not sure if o2's are bad or could this be from not having cats?

Not having cats the rear O2's are picking up the rich mixture

 

[3.SHO]

Not having cats the rear O2's are picking up the rich mixture

Thanks for the reply! So hopefully I can fix the rasp and the codes at the same time by putting cats back in.

 

[Texas Marauder]

Not having cats the rear O2's are picking up the rich mixture

95 is not OBD2. Only has O2 sensors precat. Maybe, probably, just old O2 sensors.