New here; son w/SHO 300 mi. away with trouble....

[DennisT]

trouble

One thing about all the stuff you fellows are saying that is not good. If this keeps up, and his car problems get resolved, I am beginning to be concerned that even MY interest in these Fords might grow.

As if I need to become fascinated with yet another automobile. (Grin)

(are these SHO's really this good when running right?)

Dennis, now worried......

 

[egroce11]

I went thru this last year, we spent 2 1/2 days trying to figure it out because of no codes due to the way the car is. Turned out it was the DIS module. It showed bad coil, bad wires, bad plugs. We changed out the DIS and it cleared up.

Ernie

 

[93rev2sev]

LOL dennis...

It's 220 HP.
FWD.
Ford.
Mazda.
Yamaha.

To a kid...it's sweet. To a Dad, it's either cheap transportation or expensive project...

 

[FREAK_SHO]

One thing about all the stuff you fellows are saying that is not good. If this keeps up, and his car problems get resolved, I am beginning to be concerned that even MY interest in these Fords might grow.

As if I need to become fascinated with yet another automobile. (Grin)

(are these SHO's really this good when running right?)

Dennis, now worried......

Be careful, these cars can suck you in, and then suck your wallet dry.

 

[DennisT]

trouble

Son called back. Car is back to running bad again. Intermittant loss of power and CEL comes on. He also spray cleaned the MAF a few minutes ago which did not fix anything.

He called while he was looking under the hood and I used the NICE photo of the DIS and described where the cam sensor was under the one end of the DIS. He's going to look around a little further and report back.

He did say his mechanic, (not long ago), pulled the DIS, worked/cleaned something and decided it was, "OK." Mechanic then re-attached the DIS and put electrical **** on connectors.

That's it for now. More soon.....I hope.

Dennis

 

[firstgen89sho]

The DIS will intermittently fail, and when it is running fine, it will test as a good module.

I have run across this once or twice before.

 

[bottonic]

One thing about all the stuff you fellows are saying that is not good. If this keeps up, and his car problems get resolved, I am beginning to be concerned that even MY interest in these Fords might grow.

As if I need to become fascinated with yet another automobile. (Grin)

(are these SHO's really this good when running right?)

Dennis, now worried......

.......and another one gets sucked in...Welcome! :wave:

 

[93rev2sev]

If cleaning the MAF didn't work, next step would be to swap DIS.

Now...here's the bad news.

There's only one thing that can be "BAD" if you are looking at an intermittant DIS problem.

Broken subframe.

When my subframe rusted at the passenger rear mounting point, the engine dropped far enough that the DIS was hitting the strut tower. Take another look at the photo. That black bracket with the 2 silver bolt heads, directly below the plug for the dis...that's where it will hit. There should be about an inch of clearance between the DIS "aft" plug and the bracket. If the subframe has dropped, the plug may be hitting that bracket when he lets the clutch out...causing an intermittand loss of connection...

You should be anxious to rule this out...big safety hazzard.

 

[firstgen89sho]

but, that would cause your engine to completely die, not cut off a set of cylinders.

 

[93rev2sev]

No. The intermittant connection caused my car to sputter/run like dookie. It didn't completely knock the connector out until my subframe was nearly a roadside ornament...it had been running poorly(intermittently) for a while...

Anyway...it's worth ruling out...if just for safety reasons.

 

[DennisT]

trouble

Report: Son, (Jason, better beginning using his name !!), said the clearance between the DIS and strut tower is almost an inch. He examined that area and he also said he could see some lower point where things mounted. He said all appears to be square and properly mounted. I questioned rust, and he said he sees absolutely no rust, and, in fact, remarked that he has never found any rust in his car whatsoever.

He has a friend looking at things with him for a little while, and the friend observed that when the CEL is on, (which is now most of the time), the exhaust emits a really, really rich mixture smell. THAT might be a tip-off on things.

From my current position in this now, swapping a different DIS and/or cam sensor, seems to be the two items on the table. Unless, the rich mixture smell switches out ideas.

Dennis

 

[DennisT]

trouble

Last report today from Jason: I think he's run out of ideas short of, as he says, buying fresh components and beginning swapping out things. I suggested trying to find a local Auto Zone, etc., that might pull the codes again for him. Not sure if he'll make that yet today or not.

Unless something turns up by the end of tomorrow, he'll have to get an alternate vehicle to drive over here during the weekend....sort-of a, "running out of time," deal here. If that happens we'll try to do as much research together here as we can, make a plan, and attempt to go rescue the car the first part of the month.

The lastest running rich when the CEL is on may be a good clue, but right now I think it's iffy knowing what to change first.

Dennis

 

[Lightning]

He did say his mechanic, (not long ago), pulled the DIS, worked/cleaned something and decided it was, "OK." Mechanic then re-attached the DIS and put electrical **** on connectors.

mechanic had it off the car did he? probably be wise to double-check the installation then. the DIS needs to be mounted with electrical grease/heat sink paste on the back of it, and properly grounded to the intake.

read here for a more detailed discussion of the subject: http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=77690 or here: http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=70163&highlight=dis+grease+ground

 

[egroce11]

if the mechanic took the DIS off and cleaned everything put it back on with elect **** on the connections, check and see if he put the di-elect grease between the manifold and the DIS, it needs to be there. The pig rich and intermitten bad running is a very good sign it is the DIS. The cam senser will just cause it to be hard to start and not run intermittant or rich.
Swap out the DIS, clean the plugs and I've got $5.00 that says it will run better.

 

[projectSHO89]

Okay, I'm losing my patience.....

Bluntly: Quit dickin' around and get the DIS replaced!

Steve

 

[SuperHO]

Auto Zone won't be able to read the codes for this car. It's easier for him just to do it himself. But he's better off just swapping the DIS module and calling it a day. When he goes to the part store, tell him that he wants one from a taurus with a 3.2 dual overhead cam. that way he's certain to get a SHO part.


The only cam sensor failures I've seen involved severe bucking of the whole car, so I personally would rule this out.

 

[shocar]

Make sure have your son check the 2 bolts on the intake manifold that the DIS is mounted to. If those are loose, it may be causing the problem. It could be just that simple

 

[shocar]

You might want to go to yahoo groups and look up northwest sho club. Join it and and then see if any members are near you. It may take a day or so to get accepted but it might be a great asset to your son.

 

[DennisT]

trouble

Thanks Shocar, I've already subscribed to the NW Yahoo group. Just posted my first 2 questions.

We're chasing a new DIS, (or whatever we can find on short notice)

I called NAPA on the cam sensor and they quoted $104 on one for his dual OHV. Still trying to figure how to find a price on a new DIS.

Dennis

 

[0V3RC10CK3D]

I'm in Everett, WA and I have an extra DIS. Not sure how far away he is.