V8 maintenance

[Jan Fiuczek]

Hello everyone! I used to own a second gen SHO, now I'm wondering if a third gen is a good shot to go...
I live in Poland and believe this SHO that I want to buy is the only one running here. They're ultra rare. No parts here, no mechanics with knowledge about these cars, but that is not a problem for me. The only thing I'm afraid of is the lack of parts generally.
I had some problems with my 2nd gen, a crankshaft position sensor specifically. I don't know what it's like today, but few years ago brand new sensors were unavailable even in US, which meant that if a sensor dies, a car dies too...
I'd really like to avoid that kind of problems this time, so please tell me about a third gen parts situation. Is everything possible to get? Rockauto, Ebay etc. or waiting in a mile-long queue for a used sensors?
Thanks!

 

[Devin]

Oddly enough, the CKS has been reproduced. Not sure how, but someone got it done. I can't comment specifically on how rare V8 parts are, but my guess would be even more rare than V6 parts!

 

[98SF19]

I think Eric told me years ago that the CKS and CPS are interchangeable.

 

[E1]

I think Eric told me years ago that the CKS and CPS are interchangeable.

WOW.

You are OLD.

Yup. Had a situation with a no start condition and no parts for miles. Took the CPS OUT and I think filed off one stem of a plug identifier to get it to match the CKS plug. Look at it, figure it out, it is obvious once one thinks like this.
Plugged into CKS slot and used old CKS sensor to plug the hole in the front head.

Crank was longer than 'normal' but once the car figured out where it was it started and ran fine.

Got. Me. Home.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Hi Jan,

I'm in Canada and I feel like you here, I'm feeling like the last owner of a Gen 3 here. The good side of this is when you're on the road, heads are turning at you wondering what is this car... (his look stay futuristic as the years pass).

It's a little harder to find parts here but with good knowledge in mechanic, contacts (the community here mostly) and SHO lore, you can still do a lot of repairs (if you're not afraid to put jobbers parts rather than Ford parts). If you have some scrapyard with normal taurus of the same years, they could provide you some parts. The engine itself (rarest parts), if the cams are welded, is a beast of reliability (mine have 250 000 km and it still turning like a swiss clock). And when you read rewiews from 1996, Ford wanted to design a reliable engine with a low maintenance work.

And you're not so alone, some years ago, a guy in Ukraine spoke about one in his country wondering to buy it. It had a natural gas conversion. But now, I'm truly not sure what happen to this car...

There was another in Great Britain around 2011, the owner was selling it at the moment.