Wanting to purchase a 97 SHO... have questions

[jruppert]

I am looking at a 97 SHO to purchase. It has 108,000. I plan on driving to go look at it Saturday. They want $2990 for it. As far as over all condition this car looks mint. I called on it and was told that it needed a rear strut and had a miss in the engine. Now I am aware that these cars have no plug wires and that the coil connects to the plug. So I am thinking at a minimum that it will need plugs. Is there anything I should look for? The dealer said they offer a warrenty also. I have no idea what the cost is for this though. I am also aware of the cam issue. I have no idea if its even been modified. Any thoughts would be helpful...

 

[nothingtoseehere]

If it has a miss, it is likely a coil pack. In which case you would need to replace all four on whatever side to be safe. The weldng would need to be done on the cam most likely, if they did not mention it, it has not been done. Take a drive over to see it, drive it and if there are any SES lights, go to autozone with it and have the codes pulled. 108,000 miles, you may be looking at a transmission in the future as well.

 

[jruppert]

Sounds like a plan. It seems like a good deal to me. This is why I decided to go take a look.

 

[KILLA]

If it has a miss, it is likely a coil pack. In which case you would need to replace all four on whatever side to be safe.QUOTE]

I replaced all the plugs when my 98 started misfiring. ended up changing four of my coils packs also. some will tell you you can get them for as low as 40 or 50 bucks a peice with lifetime warr, but those coils are sh*t. there made to fit dozens of other cars. that doesnt mean they dont work, it just means they dont work well and you will likely have issues in the future.
I got motorcraft coils. there about 90 bucks each, and you need to buy four.
i suggest putting all of them on the backside of the engine, cause when your other coils go, your not going to want to pull the surge tank off again.
If your going to buy the car, and you plan on doing the welding first thing. address all of your issues at once. most welding comes with new plugs, so see if you can get a deal on having them throw some coils on while there in there. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[SHOZ123]

I got the Wells coils from Murray's for $50 each. They are v8 SHO specific and have the lifetime warranty.

Personally seeing how the Motorcraft coils hold up I wouldn't buy them if they were $50. No warranty either.