unbelievable...

[aberdeenSHO]

I just got back from picking my car up with the new head gasket and timing belt + a few other things... I was told that my car was overheating because of the head gaskets. There was oil down in the plug wells he said but who knows what's true anymore from this guy??? first of all he told me he knew what he was doing... he had been trained on that engine(B.S.). So i trusted him when he said that he knew it was a blown gasket from feeling some hose on the radiator and saying it was way too tense. So i finally got it back today(after a month of being in the shop and being lied to everyday about when it was going to be done) and thought the wait would be well worth it. Well first off i drove off and the spedometer didnt work. So he had to plug some wire back in. Then i tried to turn on my stereo... nope!! no headunit. I checked the fuse and it's fine... the clock and the a/c work if that helps any?? could there have been anything that he couldve done while replacing a timing belt or head gasket or CMD sensor to cut the power to the headunit. btx it's a pioneer mosfett if that helps, and it's hooked up to the factory wiring through a wiring harness. i'm very upset by this and i don't know what i should do about it. I do think that my head gasket was ever blown (but i may be wrong on that). He also told me that he had to flush the radiator system because my previous owner must have used stop leak and he thinks it screwed up my radiator. Sorry i know this is a lot but bare with me if you can... the overheating problem that i am having is that the needle will go up to the N and then fluctuate back down to the middle without the a/c on. Now... when i do turn on the a/c it will overheat(mostly in really hot weather and only when the a/c is cold... sometimes if it sits or for some reason it will go hot and the car won't overheat. could that be the compressor i had replaced??). so i guess i'm asking if that is a symptom of a bad radiator? It seems to run a little better but i think that's due to the timing belt. heh i'm in a mess!! if anyone can help me on the stereo problem or the overheating it'd be much appriciated. I officially no longer trust any mechanics than those who respond to my questions on this forum. i payed 1600$$ to have my stereo not work. (although it's nice to have the timing belt done and water pump.) oh yeah also he had told me that my car was running in limp home mode(i posted earlier on this)... he said it had been for a while.. and i think you're right on what you said spdatt... i could sense a lot of guilt when telling me about that sensor that was "broke for a long time". mostly because of the fact that they didnt charge me anything for the labor to take apart the engine to replace it... but they made sure to charge me for the sensor... I know this is a lot and to anyone that made it this far through i really appriciate the time you took out... any help on any of this would be GREATLY appriciated! thanks a lot...
chris...
93 mtx

 

[luigisho]

That's alot of stuff chris. Sorry about your experience. Unfortunately it happens with these cars more often than it should. That's a ton of money. Did you think the head gasket was blown?

My general advise to you is to try to do the work yourself with support from the forum. The wost that can happen is you pay an extra $50 towing fee if things go awry. You will save huge amounts on labor if you pull it off.

Is there enough coolant in the system? Could need some "burping". Could be as simple a problem as new t-stat or engine coolant temp.sensor up to radiator replacement.
BTW where's aberdeen? Maybe someone within reasonable distance to help next time.

<small>[ August 08, 2002, 09:18 PM: Message edited by: luigisho ]</small>

 

[naval-avi8or]

Try having someone turn on the ac while your under the hood. Check to make sure that both cooling fans come on. When ac is selected the IRCM is told to turn on the cooling fans.

 

[Slo-Sho]

As far as your headunit goes, there is another fuse directly on/near the rear of the headunit. Usually a Ten amp.

 

[aberdeenSHO]

i had just replaced the big cooling fan in front of the headlights... where is the other one? also when the car gets hot i just found out that the compressor is still

 

[pete c]

abbie,

There's this key on yer keyboard. Kinda backwards L shaped on the right side. It's bigger than most so you can't miss it, It's called the enter key. Every coupla sentences or so, usually when you wanna change topics, you should give it a coupla whacks. Us old folks have bad enough eyes. Trying to read through a 2 page paragraph makes'em even worse.

There. I just did it. See how nice it makes things look.

Well, I'm done bein' a smartass now. On to your problem. Don't have too much to add. Take the advice given. The Yamahammer is an awesome motor. But it's kinda like a woman. You gotta show it some attention from time to time. As you have learned the hard way, many hacks, uhhh, I mean mechanics don't know one end of this motor from the other.

Do you have a garage or atleast a driveway. If you live in an apartment complex or condo, do you have a friend/relative with a garage who doesn't mind you using it from time to time? Do you have basic tools? Can you read english?

If so, there is no reason that you can't become, with a little bit of work, a better SHO mechanic than most local "real" mechanics. That 1600 bones woulda bought you a nice set of tools, a helms manual and all the stuff you need for a 60K.

If you are not willing/able to follow this advice, sell the SHO and buy a camry/accord.

Not tryin' to be a wiseass, well, yes I am, but, I still think this is the best advice that can be given to any SHO owner. sdpatt, probably the most respected poster here, said that he went through the same thing when he bought his first SHO.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Gen I SHO's have only one huge cooling fan. So if your's is a 89 - 91 that's why the second one is missing. frown

 

[DJ SHO]

I had similar concerns about my car when my gauge read that high. I changed the t-stat and coolant temperature SENDER. ALso I flushed it. My car runs cool as can be now and the guage, even during hot, humid, 90 degree days w/ the A/C on, only gets to a maximum of just under the half way mark. It's been like that for 3 years and never had a problem since. BTW, I still have the original radiator too at 128k.

 

[aberdeenSHO]

yeah sorry about my post pete c, i was in a hurry to write it all out before i left.

..for pete c

As for the symptoms you experienced dj sho, did yours overheat only with the a/c on? because i did replace the thermostat, and it still overheats to a point and then comes back down with the a/c off. and if it's hot enough outside(low 90's... i have no clue why??) it will overheat till i turn the a/c back off.

The thing that baffles me is the outside temperature really does take a toll on when the car overheats. This problem has been driving me crazy for a long time now. But if these symptoms sound like the temp sending unit, i might just try to replace that before i go replacing my radiator.

heh i just want this one problem fixed and i'll be happy as ****!! well there are actually a few but this is my main pain in the ass problem..
thanks a lot all... i don't know how much money i would waste without this forum...

 

[bigpappy]

Sir,
If you've ever read any of my pleas for help, you'll know I am by no means an expert. I've had similar problems with an 87 slo.
My first suggestion would be for you to try your darnedest not to run your SHO until you figure this little problem out.
I could be wrong, but given the circumstances that occur when your car runs hot, I'd be inclined to rule out a radiator problem. If my logic is sound, if your radiator needed to be rodded out because of some stop-leak, it would overheat whether the A/C was on or not.
It doesn't mean a darned thing, but I do sympathize with the troubles you're having. Down South, I've gotten the idea that only the Do-It-Yourselfers can drive and maintain a SHO.
I wish I could be more help.

John

 

[pete c]

bigpappy:
Sir,
If you've ever read any of my pleas for help, you'll know I am by no means an expert. I've had similar problems with an 87 slo.
My first suggestion would be for you to try your darnedest not to run your SHO until you figure this little problem out.
I could be wrong, but given the circumstances that occur when your car runs hot, I'd be inclined to rule out a radiator problem. If my logic is sound, if your radiator needed to be rodded out because of some stop-leak, it would overheat whether the A/C was on or not.
It doesn't mean a darned thing, but I do sympathize with the troubles you're having. Down South, I've gotten the idea that only the Do-It-Yourselfers can drive and maintain a SHO.
I wish I could be more help.

John

I think that he could have either a clogged rad or t-stat that won't open all the way. As a result his cooling system can only keep up if it is cool out. Whenb he runs the a/c, it makes the engine work harder without the benefit of faster air flow over the rad. And don't forget the a/c rad which helps out by preheating the radiators air supply. Any radiator will get rid of more btus if cooler air is running through, even clogged ones.

I would start by replacing the t-stat. Spend the 15 bucks and get the motorcrap one. I bought one and I must say it is the most expensive looking t-stat I have ever seen.

Oh, and pappy, you think we yankees got it any better? There may be a higher concentration of knowledgable sho owners up here, but, the mechanics are just as crooked/ignorant as they are in dixie. Maybe worse.

I would say that if you live anywhere other than next door to sdpatt, you best learn to wrench on it yourself.

 

[Dave Ladely]

If you live around Aberdeen, Washington, I know of a good SHO mechanic in Seattle, and is reasonable, he owns a SHO, is certified mechanic, has OBD1 Ford Star scanner too.

 

[aberdeenSHO]

Thanks a lot all. actually i live in aberdeen maryland though. I took it back to the guy and he fixed a loose conection to my compressor or somthing along those lines. I am still have a small problem with a fluctuating temp gauge but i'm think i just need to rot out my rad i guess. I don't know but thanks for all the help! I think there is a shoshop out in gathersburg right? Next time i get work done i'm driving out there for sure. No more crap mechanics. The most insulting thing that really upset me from this guy was when he said.. i quote "the SHO invention was fords biggest mistake" "all it is is a 3.0 with 24 valves thrown on it". I'm definately done with this *****. But oh yeah... I'm working on trying to get my headunit out. I see the 2 screws above the headunit.. where are the other 2?? thanks for all your help again..

 

[pete c]

Most ford head units pop out when you stick somethin' into the little holes on the front....I think.

 

[91 Plus]

Well I would take it back and have him fix it!!Then while its in there light the place on fire,and someone gets a new car thumbs_u

 

[aberdeenSHO]

Ok i found out what the problem was with my headunit and amp. Get this... the mechanic managed to blow both my amp fuse, and the fuse behind my headunit.

On top of all that i've already said, i've found 2 new things wrong tonight while driving it. my a/c was blowing smoke out of the vents today??? Now yesterday the mechanic cleaned the connection on the compressor (he said)... because my a/c wasn't working cold like it was supposed to. So today i was driving around with my a/c on for a while and it was blowing a dim mist or smoke of some kind out of the vents. There is some kind of smell but it's not like a clutch or anything, kind of like syrup?

i havn't seen any smoke from under the hood like the compressor is going out and i also just had it replaced so i don't think it's the compressor. so i'm wondering if a compressor will do that if it's breaking in or something or maybe something is wrong. Now it is running cold alright but my overheating problem is right where it was when i started, before the mechanic worked on it. as long as i keep the a/c off it won't overheat.

I have replaced the thermostat, but i was wondering if it could be the temp sending unit. I was thinking of rotting the radiator out but i don't know if that is neccesary. How much btw would it cost (just a general ballpark) to rot a radiator. Because there was a bunch of white crap in the radiator when the mechanic looked at it. He did flush it a few times to get the crap out but i don't know it this could be a radiator problem because i would think that the thing would be overheating a lot worse than it is if the radiator was dead. Also it's been like this now for like 6 months.

I'm thinking trying the temp sending unit but i wanted to get some insight on this before trying to replace something not needed. I'm going to take this step by step with you guys if that's ok with you all. I really don't want to give this car up and no one seems to believe anything i say about the symptoms. The car only will overheat if it's over 90 degrees out for some reason and it's been driven for a while. I don't know why. But everyone is telling me that temperature has no very little play in all senarios with a cooling problem.

Very small minded, hard headed people are not fun to explain things to. But you all always end up giving me the advice i need and have open minds. Thanks a lot as always and sorry this is taking so long to fix... Believe me i want to stop posting.. i just am not going to give up on this car. I've already put too much time and money into it and i'm wayyy too attached to it. Thanks again..

Oh btw.. is it possible to install a temp sending unit being mechanically inclined and not having a lift or anything? if so, if anyone thinks it could be an issue i'd really appriciate directions if anyone has them laying around somewhere. thanks again!

 

[Iamthebull]

haha. u are getting the smoky AC gas lookin stuff? i got that a long time ago when i had my 94' GL SLO, i didnt worry about it and after awhile it just went away. i dont know if it will on yours. as for what it is...i ahve no idea but my best guess is it is freon (do they use it in A/C units for cars too?)

i think im gonna get a student loan and have the full 60k done, along with the double core radiator cause it leaks a little at one of the hoses or somethin and i am plannin on some serious mods someday

 

[aberdeenSHO]

ok now my mind is somewhat at ease on that... thanks.. now my main issue is that overheating.. problem. heh this car will drive ya nuts but in the end the rewards are great. I have driven it when it was in perfect shape and that's what is keep my drive to fix it going. I am determined to have this thing fixed. heh my dad is trying to sell me his souped up Z28. I'll never trade an different car like the SHO for a dime a dozen gas guzzler. I just don't know what i need to do now and i'm not going ANYWHERE else and having them do more damage than good to my car. heh did i mention this guy didnt know what liter my engine was.. he thought it was a 3.2?? Yet he was trained on this engine as he said??? they will say anything for the work. with your help i hope i can fix this overheating problem. trial and error doesnt bother me as long as it's coming from people who know what they're talking about.

 

[Iamthebull]

Hey somethin to consider about that Z28. The dude i bought my SHO off of had a brother with a Z28 and raced it and all and his bro used to have a SHO for himself and he told me himself that he wishes he still had his SHO over his Z28. So be proud of your SHO and even though they can be troublesome. If you treat them right. They will make you a happy person.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Hey, I really feel for you man. A cooling problem can be difficult to diagnose. One of my biggest mistakes was assuming that a big problem is caused by big things. I know, I replaced and entire engine, exhaust system and radiator because of a stupid clutch on the fan!!!

There are two (2) things that are needed to keep a modern water pumper cool: Air flow and water flow.

Your problem sounds like water flow. A competent radiator shop can rod (called that because after they remove the top and bottom tank from your radiator, they push and wiggle a thin rod through all of the little water passages) your radiator for about 80.00, but you have to take it out.

Good luck and don't be afraid of doing it yourself. Once you know the basics of how an engine works, then it's just a matter of figuring out how the SHO does it, and with this Forum (stands up, raises arms straight up, bows from the waist while muttering something about not be worthy) you can do anything.

Tom