so many problems, which one to do first?

[Spin]

alright, so my sho has been having some clutch issues for a month or so, so i'm finally able to get it into the shop on friday. they call me back today (monday) and just list off a whole bunch of things, some of them i agree, and some other ones i'm not too sure about. so for me having very limited money i turn to all the experts here at the sho forum for what you guys (and gals) think should be done first. to me the clutch/tranny is the most important seeing as it is a pain in the @$$ to shift every single shift, etc. but here are some other things they listed...

Power Steering Belt (i'm not too sure what it is, i thought there was only one belt that went around everything else too...)

Right motor mount - nearest the firewall

brakes in front and back are at 50% (i have new brakes for the front but don't know if i want to put them on because of all the other stuff)

left sway bar bushing

left front valve cover is leaking real slow

EGR from CEL (i really don't care about this, i can probably fix this myself)

So I'm pretty sure there is the list so far, any help or comments would be really appreciated. Thanks

 

[morpho18]

You can fix the EGR problem and valve cover problem by yourself...if you are a DIY'er. EGR is easy, take off the intake, take off the throttle body, clear out bottom set of nostrils inside the throat of the intake manifold. remove the 2 hex bolts that block the EGR passageway and clean thoroughly. there are how-to write ups on this procedure on ShoTimes.com and if you browse about hear, you'll find plenty of info.

 

[sideSHO]

The most I'd have them do while they're in there is clutch,sway bar bushings,and the motor mounts.
Buy your own parts as alot of places will stiff you on the part price as well as labor.
It a must to know how to do repairs your self (or have deep pockets) when you own an SHO.
This forum is the best for troubleshooting,finding parts,and getting help with repairs.
Good luck

 

[E.Buzz]

Power steering belt? SHO's have serpentine systems.

 

[Spin]

thanks for all the info everyone. i'll try to keep everyone up to date as it unfolds a little more.

 

[rlw001]

My MTX has 2 belts.

 

[CheckerSHO]

My MTX has 2 belts.

yup...MTX- 2 belts, one alternator and A/C, one PS and water pump. ATX-one big auto-tensioning belt

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

strange that you take it in for clutch and tranny peek and next thing you know he has the rear wheels off looking at the brakes....did you tell them to give the car a check up or is this guy a tad to aggressive? Take it to a reputable clutch and tranny joint and have them look at the main problem.

 

[Hack]

Right motor mount - nearest the firewall
left sway bar bushing

Those two items are much easier to replace in the middle of a clutch job as the subframe is dropped. (I am assuming the sway bar bushing is the front sway bar.) Depending on whether the shop that the car is at will install carry in parts, I would pick the parts up yourself so you know what you are getting.
It would also depend heavily on what the shop will charge for labor. If they tack on the full book time to do each item individually, tell 'em to **** up a rope. Doing both of those would take maybe 15-20 mins once the subframe is down. Sadly plenty of shops will take advantage whenever they can.

The rest of it is pretty easy stuff as far as working on SHOs is concerned, and unless the belt is on the verge of snapping, none of it sounds like an emergency. I would look into doing them at your earliest convenience. If you are unsure on the procedures, I am sure you can find all the info you need between here and SHOTimes.

 

[E.Buzz]

Really? Is it just the MTX that has two belts, or do they all?

 

[autobahnsho]

As someone pointed out above, the mtx has 2 belts that you tension manually.

The ATX has an auto-tensioner and only one belt (serpentine because it snakes around a bunch of stuff).

I would do the EGR and valve cover yourself. It takes me about 20 minutes to get the intake on or off, took a little longer the first time. The front valve cover is especially easy, since it's staring you right in the face.

Get some RTV, a new seal, and get a good socket set, 19mm and 15mm endwrench, along with a 5mm (i think) allen wrench for the valve cover bolts.

***Be careful putting the valve cover bolts back on- they really don't get tightened much. ***

www.shophoenixproject.com has some excellent pics of all the work you'd be doing.

 

[MilTownSHO]

If you have 50% brakes, your fine for awhile, especially with the rears

 

[SonicRiot]

Spin: problems with your SHO? Join the club and get in line at the door. You own a Ford... a SPECIALTY Ford!!!! Here... here's a spot right behind me and my constantly broken SHO!

Always fix what is safety-related first. Make sure the car will be reliable if it is your everyday driver. Then, as you get money, fix what is most annoying. Like CEL stuff. Man, those idiot lights are BRIGHT at night!!

 

[autobahnsho]

Man, those idiot lights are BRIGHT at night!!

I have electrical tape on the dash over the ABS light. I couldn't get the ABS sensors out of the knuckles without breaking them when I did a wheel bearing job a while back..

Thanks RangerJ for the tip!

Too bad you can't electrical tape the rest of the car's problems.....

 

[Spin]

thanks for all the input. they faxed me the estimates today and i must say that i'm not very happy with what i see. yellosho, they did exactly what u said... "It would also depend heavily on what the shop will charge for labor. If they tack on the full book time to do each item individually, tell 'em to **** up a rope. Doing both of those would take maybe 15-20 mins once the subframe is down. Sadly plenty of shops will take advantage whenever they can" they tacked on the full book time for everything and when i called them on it they were just like "yea that's just how it is, we have a flate rate" anyways i'll get into the prices for what they gave me. most important to me is the clutch... they want 1,099.56 to do the whole job, i'm thinking they're crazy. i can drive it up to the SHO Shop and have them do it for that much ;p anyways parts for the job comes to $490.50 ($425.00 for the clutch kit and 65.50 for a new flywheel) then a nice substantial 571.05 for labor. they said the book calls for 8 hours to do the job. i was like what if you guys finish in 6 or so, they were all, we still charge for 8 hours. so i'm not too happy about that. the price for the egr i'm not even going to get in to, i can do that myself. for motor mounts and new left sway bar bushing (front) they want 321.36 for the whole job. for the sway bar bushing they want 55.92 and the motor mount they want 72.21 and 183.30 for labor. woopty doo again, full book price and last but not least, they want to replace the intake gasket for 66.82 and the valve cover gasket for 156.46 and labor for that they have down as 190.35 so total price for that is 430.93. I was able to find the clutch kit and the flywheel at Autozone for pretty cheap. 259.99 for the clutch kit and 102 for the flywheel ($50 core exchange) so it would only run me about 337 for the parts from autozone but the place where my car is at now would still stiff me on labor and charge me the whole 8 hours worth for 571.05. can the autozone parts be trusted usually? or should i save a little more money and run it up to the SHO Shop for ~1200? (also tomorrow morning i'm going to look for other places to see how much they would charge for labor if i supplied the parts, so i'll keep everyone updated as it goes on)

-spin

 

[Rogue10186]

Too bad you can't electrical tape the rest of the car's problems.....

I'd sugest duct tape. Tends hold longer than electrical

 

[91taurisho]

Watch out spin! A lot of these shops get their parts from autozone/napa and the like. Just to let you know, the motor mount that they said was 72.21, IIRC is only available through ford or a dealer of ford parts. I say get some SHOnut mounts and don't waste your money on the autozone crap clutch! I went that way(napa instead, which was supposed to be better than Autozones...) and if you look in my sig, it lasted 10,000 miles... The disc literally shattered! I now have a Southbend DXD. I recommend the Southbend Rally or TZ series if you do not want to mod the crap out of your car. Better than stock, will last a lot longer and same pedal feel. Another thing is the cvalve cover gasket... I got a whole upper gasket set(including head gaskets and almost everything above) for less than they want to charge you for just one valve cover gasket (got it at napa for $146 IIRC)! I'd also like to know why you need to replace your flywheel. Did they tell you it had to be replaced when doing a clutch job or what? You can have your old flywheel resurfaced you know. It's a lot cheaper than a new one. You already have the 9 3/4 inch flywheel so you don't need to change it unless you are upgrading or it is badly damaged/cracked. the last thing is the sway bar bushing. You can get oem rubber ones for around $10-$15 IIRC. I also don't recommend replacing just one. Do both at the same time.

Good luck!

 

[Spin]

thanks 91taurisho. the flywheel thing they just had it on the estimate. i didn't ask them yet if it needed to actually be replaced yet or not. i was just looking around for comparisons to what they had told me. also do you know of a good place to get the clutches u recommended? i'm really a broke college student so i can't afford a lot, i just need my car to work well enough for a little while longer until i have enough saved up to get everything done that i want. peace

 

[91taurisho]

www.dxdracingclutches.com is the site for the clutch that I was talking about. I got the DXD. I would take my car and push it away before I let them work on it if they said I needed a new flywheel(as long as it didn't explode on me or something). There is no physical way to check it without either taking out the tranny or the starter and dust shield. If you only do the starter and dust shield, you can't see the front to actually check it anyway. I understand the broke thing I'm the same way but I'm no longer cheaping out on something to have to do it again after 10,000 miles! It's just not worth the time, effort, money or mental anguish. I'd just get the clutch and be done with it. tell the next place you go you will be bringing your own parts but you want your flywheel resurfaced. Also make sure they don't do anything without your approval either! They like to tak advantage sometimes. Make sure you tell them in the beginning, If they do anything without your approval, you are not paying for it! Get it in writing too. Just my $.02

 

[Spin]

thanks for the link man, those clutches look bad ***