Eric VerValin
PiMPSKiLLET
Ok... so the SHO has been a little rough sounding at idle when I fire her up... this has been a gradual thing over the past 200 miles or so...
My mechanic friend was driving around with me the other day and was thinking it was my plugs. So then I got to thinking... why? I've only got 20,000 miles on the plugs / wires since I built this motor. But maybe with my 10-15 trips to the redline a day... maybe it could be the problem.
Then I started thinking... maybe its the coil end.... has anyone here used one of those spark plug tester / gapper / checker... (don't know what you call it) Glass tube, has a screw in it... open screw to see how far the spark jumps.... I was thinking of using that little guy to see if all the "outputs" of the coil were jumping the same distance. I have 3 coil packs here, running the oldest of the 3 now... but I don't want to swap it if its not necessary.
At any rate... the only code I ever get is 225, and the one for my LPM. Haven't ran them today but I will on my way back home.
Now let me ask you all this about timing and that 225 code. I have an LPM, and I don't know how this affects initial startup, but I was thinking.... when the car first starts.... doesn't the computer advance the timing to 10 TDC or whatever... then when it settles down, doesn't it try to pull it back as far as possible (within reason) until she pings, then bumps it up a degree or two and calls it "set". Or is this a constant thing that is always changing.
I know it can change while driving, but I guess what I'm wondering is does the computer figure out a 'base timing solution' when she first fires up. Or does it adjust to what it sees all the time.
Only reason I wonder is because once the car warms up, it idles a lot better.. or closer to what it should be. Maybe it is the KS or a short in the wiring... if it never seen a signal, wouldn't it retard the timing all the way... making me idle rough....
Just sounds like / reminds me of how my old truck sounded when the distributor needed a bump in the right direction. Had to do that every major season change.. lol each 20 degree difference would kinda force me to re time it. Funny thing there is.. the timing marks never lined up ... had to time it by ear...
Yay Fords....
My mechanic friend was driving around with me the other day and was thinking it was my plugs. So then I got to thinking... why? I've only got 20,000 miles on the plugs / wires since I built this motor. But maybe with my 10-15 trips to the redline a day... maybe it could be the problem.
Then I started thinking... maybe its the coil end.... has anyone here used one of those spark plug tester / gapper / checker... (don't know what you call it) Glass tube, has a screw in it... open screw to see how far the spark jumps.... I was thinking of using that little guy to see if all the "outputs" of the coil were jumping the same distance. I have 3 coil packs here, running the oldest of the 3 now... but I don't want to swap it if its not necessary.
At any rate... the only code I ever get is 225, and the one for my LPM. Haven't ran them today but I will on my way back home.
Now let me ask you all this about timing and that 225 code. I have an LPM, and I don't know how this affects initial startup, but I was thinking.... when the car first starts.... doesn't the computer advance the timing to 10 TDC or whatever... then when it settles down, doesn't it try to pull it back as far as possible (within reason) until she pings, then bumps it up a degree or two and calls it "set". Or is this a constant thing that is always changing.
I know it can change while driving, but I guess what I'm wondering is does the computer figure out a 'base timing solution' when she first fires up. Or does it adjust to what it sees all the time.
Only reason I wonder is because once the car warms up, it idles a lot better.. or closer to what it should be. Maybe it is the KS or a short in the wiring... if it never seen a signal, wouldn't it retard the timing all the way... making me idle rough....
Just sounds like / reminds me of how my old truck sounded when the distributor needed a bump in the right direction. Had to do that every major season change.. lol each 20 degree difference would kinda force me to re time it. Funny thing there is.. the timing marks never lined up ... had to time it by ear...
Yay Fords....
