New SHO, help! maintenance/repair questions

[shelby987]

OK, here goes, just bought an awesome 1994 MTX with 63k on the clock for an awesome price. The car has been meticuliously maintained, after purchase, I was handed a packet of receipts along with a packet of paper that represented a dealership print out of all the maintance done to the car (during its one owner history).

First and most importantly, the car will not heat up while it is on the highway, the needle sits just above the blue, never gets into the normal range. The engine has plenty of coolant, and when the car is left sitting, it will begin to heat up (currently it is 8 degrees in michigan) Should I assume that the thermostat is stuck open? The car just had the 60k a couple of thousand ago, and a new radiator put in at the dealer a couple of years ago, is a thermostat something they would have replaced out of common sense or is it something that I should plan on having to do myself? Are there any tests to ensure its a bumb Thermostat?

Next, the transmission makes a grinding noise occasionally when it is shifted into reverse. I read the article on shotimes and heard that often synthetic fluid can undo this problem (new clutch a couple of thousand miles ago as well, so I think that this is not the problem, all other gears are fine, and it will bark the tires in second without any trouble). Also, has anyone tried to take some fluid out of the transmission and just ad the appropriate amount of lucas oil treatment for manual transmission? Can anyone recommend a specifiic syn. trans fluid? (please lets not make this a debate, just a suggestion).

Lastly, the car seems to make a lot of noise from the powersteering, when the wheel is turning, or at the max. I am used to the max, but the noise seems abnormally loud for when the wheel is just turning between the locks. The p.s. system was recently flushed, just a couple of months ago, is there a simple product out there that might help quite the system?

Thanks to everyone who replies, I have been a member of this forum for 4 years, just recently got back into it, and will greatly appreciate the help from the experts!
-Lee

 

[djsSHO]

Have to say T-stat sounds like your problem. Fairly easy to replace, just need to get to the nuts holding the housing on. It's easier to get to if you start removing items like the intake hose and have some swivel sockets.

Tranny in reverse grinding is normal as there is no reverse synchro. Put the shifter into first and then into reverse and your grinding should go away.

Power steering noise is very common on all ford products. Mine has made noise for a very long time and still is working fine. You can try flushing it to put new fluid in but it will probably continue to make some noise.

I'm sure other's can add more info that i forgot

Welcome back to the flock!

 

[shelby987]

any advice with regard to synthetic trans fluid? The fluid was just replaced a couple of 1,000 miles ago, but the guy we bought the car from, didn't seem like the type to ask for the synthetic upgrade, whatever the dealership would typically put in there, is most likely in there.

Anytake on the lucas oil products for transmissions? Has anyone used this product before? results?

Thanks
-Lee

 

[djsSHO]

Dealership probably put either Mercon 3 or Mercon 5 in the transmission. Either one is acceptable. If it shifts fine i don't know why you'd mess with it, but people on here use redline synthetic auto tranny fluid and have had good results from what i remember. I believe cost is about 8 bucks a quart.

 

[Huntervf]

Regular ford mercon tranny fluid isn't the best fluid for the SHO tranny. In short, you need a little bit of friction in the fluid to spin up the synchros and gears in the tranny, thus giving you smoother shifting. As for synthetics, to get the best shifting action you'll need to run a friction modifier, which IMO negates the purpose of running synthetic transmission fluid. I've run royal purple synthetic, redline and plain 'ol OEM "recommended" Ford tranny fluid. None of them has worked as well as GM synchromesh transmission fluid. This fluid is specifically designed for manual transmissions and I guarantee you'll notice a huge difference in shift quality with this fluid. You can only get it at GM dealerships and it's about $10 a quart, but it's money well spent as it will really increase the life of your synchros and gears.

Grinding in reverse is normal as there is no synchro for reverse. You can either push the clutch in and wait about 5 seconds before shifting, or you can throw it into 5th or 1st gear before you shift into reverse. That will take care of your reverse grind.

Your heat issue most definitely sounds like a stuck thermostat. It's not generally replaced with a radiator and it's not a 60k requirement, so it's probably the original ford unit. Swap in a new one and you should be enjoying heat right away.

 

[stevemainian]

Temperature Sending Unit?

Does the needle move at all?

EDIT: nm, yea, its stuck open.

 

[shelby987]

What are the torque specs. on the bolts that hold the thermostat housing on? I haven't pulled anything off to get to it yet (still being used as a driver....cardboard over the rad. helped a little). Should the bolts be torqued in a cris-cross method, or does it not matter?
Also, wanted to double check the procedure, please just let me know if I have missed anything.
-Drain the radiator to below the tstat housing
-remove air box and related parts to get to tstat
-install tstat WITHOUT sealant, just use the supplied gasket
-Torque bolts to ??? ft/lbs
-Fill cooling system back up
-Run engine for 15-30 mins. to allow the "jingle" valve to remove all bubbles from the system
-Take it out for a spin in the winter with heat!?
Thanks guys & gals
Lee

 

[Redline]

Sounds pretty good. I don't know what the torque specs are, I just snugged mine up good when I did it and had no problems. I didn't use any sealant, the o-ring gasket seals it fine. Also, you don't need to worry about draining coolant if you dont want to. I just put a garbage can lid under my car and let it drain into that when I pulled the t-stat housing apart. Good luck!

 

[shelby987]

I checked autozone for the part number given on this forum, and I can't seem to find any motorcraft thermostat that they sell, is it just something that the website doesnt list, or did they stop carrying this brand? Is there any other location that I can go to, to get the tstat, or am I stuck paying dealership prices?
Thanks,
-Lee

 

[Huntervf]

There's some debate on the quality of other t-stats versus an original motorcraft one. Personally I've used autozone t-stats in the past without incident. The main difference in t-stats is that the motorcraft will have a little "jiggle valve" on it to help release air trapped in the system. I've seen this valve on some autozone t-stats as well, but it's not vital. In fact my 91 currently has a plain 'ol parts master non-jiggle valve t-stat in it right now (installed by me a couple months ago) and it operates just fine. You'll just need to take a little extra care in getting air pockets out of your cooling system. As you top off the radiator air will work itself out, but I'll also squeeze the upper radiator hose to help push air along. Then leave the cap off & start the car; air will bubble out but once the car starts to heat up you'll need to recap it otherwise your coolant will run over. Incidently this is pretty much how you do it with a regular motorcraft t-stat with the jiggle valve, so you may as well go the least expensive route

 

[shelby987]

Thanks for the advice hunter, went to autozone friday night....they had the tstat with the "jiggle valve" but no gasket, and everyone has warned me not to use sealant (I had yet to remove the tstat....i was unaware of how difficult it would have been to get sealant to work anyway, I thought it would sit horizontally, not vertically in a recess). The gasket cost $8 and took a visit to 3 different stores, the thermostat cost $6 and took one visit to autozone....'jiggle valve' and all.....car works like a dream, heat in -6 degree weather is awesome....making more than 18 mpg is even better!

 

[platoribs]

I just did the same thing on my 95, stat, $5.00, Gasket, $0.62, ECT sensor, $20.00.

Loving my parts guy at NAPA for giving me his employee discount.

Can someone give me specific directions for where I will find the ECT, I suspect I'm looking right at the little plucker, but can't see it.

 

[SHOstoppin93]

did the 94/95s have a separate gasket? I went to the ford dealer and they gave me both t-stat and gasket but upon install, noticed the gasket was way too big and the t-stat had an o-ring on it and seemed like gasket was unnecessary, my car is a 93 ATX... that would be strange if there were a gasket... anyway, lemme know

 

[rangerj]

SHO thermostat installation.
1. Install seal ("O" ring) around the outer rim of the thermostat, and install thermostat into water outlet housing.

2. Install water outlet tube.

3. Install two retaining nuts. Tighten nuts to 5 to 8 foot lbs torque. Note: the gasket is used on the other Ford 3 liter engine, NOT on the SHO engine. The other engine uses both an "O" ring and a gasket. Make sure the Ford parts guy gave you the right T-stat and "O" ring. They may be the same, but I don't know that, so check. Any body know if the T-stat and "O" ring are the same for the SHO engine and the "other" engine?

Install air cleaner tube, fill engine cooling system, connect battery, start engine, and check for coolant leaks.

I like to let the engine warm up with the radiator cap off and watch the coolant flow after the thermostat has opened. This gives you a "sanity check" for the new T-stat, ie you know it works. I keep the coolant level down a few inches so I do not get over-flow when the T-stat opens. This also allows the air to be expelled easier. I watch the changing of the fluid, do to the opening of the T-stat, about 3 or 4 times and then put on the radiator cap.

The heater should be on Full when the above is done. Put the radiator cap on in its full tight position BEFORE you shut down a hot engine. After shut down check for leaks. Check for leaks periodically for the next few days. Correct any leaks. The overflow tank will be down once the engine cools down so check its level after the engine has cooled down completely. I normally do that the next morning, and a few mornings after that until it stabilizes.
Hope this helps, rangerj

 

[Oh_4sho]

Gosh its almost intimidating when a girl knows more than you do about your car.Or just very hott.Havent decieded yet.

 

[Bank of SHO]

For peace of mind, you should always note part numbers which can be found on the forum. Never trust the parts-counter people even at a Ford stealership.

 

[Yamaha V6]

One other thing, in case it's not been mentioned.

The coolant temp sender for the gauge typically fails progressively to the low side, meaning the temps will be higher than indicated. Replace the sender as well. Ford # F1SZ-10884-A IIRC, under $10.