New here and first Thunder Bird 91 sc

[dDUBb]

What gear have you had or heard give the best results with an auto ?

3.73 seems to be the best overall for off the line improvement without sacrificing too much top end / mpg if you do frequent freeway speed driving.

 

[Fastymz]

Got the car back from the shop , they said it’s needs new plugs and wires. It has an intermittent short ?
Making it run very rich and they won’t do the plugs not worth it to them.
They said they didn’t find an issue with any of the sensors ?

Did you say something about these cars had a faulty ignition system ? Maybe that’s it ?
Heck I don’t know what I’m going to do now ?

 

[supergordo]

What kind of shop wouldn't change plugs and wires???

They are a little annoying on a SC, but I've done worst on other cars.

 

[dDUBb]

Plugs and wires are a pain in these cars - I remember when a lot of mechanics would refuse to do the work or charge upwards of $800 for the job ( in the early 2000s, California prices ).

What kind of shop wouldn't change plugs and wires??

From earlier in the thread - a lot of them will refuse to work on the SC. Yeah it's not bad when you do them from the bottom .. maybe a 2-3 hour job.

 

[dDUBb]

Got the car back from the shop , they said it’s needs new plugs and wires. It has an intermittent short ?
Making it run very rich and they won’t do the plugs not worth it to them.
They said they didn’t find an issue with any of the sensors ?

Did you say something about these cars had a faulty ignition system ? Maybe that’s it ?
Heck I don’t know what I’m going to do now ?

How did they come to the conclusion that it needs new plugs and wires ? Pulling at least one plug isn't difficult and would give a good indication of the rest ( condition / gap ) .. these are waste spark systems that require double platinum plugs - usually good for 60k-100k .. I mean; they could have put an inductive clamp on a plug wire with a graphing multimeter to determine spark characteristics on all cylinders- but I'm doubtful.

Making it run rich is more of a condition the computer determines - it applies fuel based on the amount of air it thinks is coming in. The o2 sensors should adjust for the rich condition to a point where it sets a code ..how did they test the "sensors" .. wire probe / graphing multimeter ??

Still don't know what the check engine light code is ? If its easily to replicate, it should be retrievable even if it pops up for a second.

I use an older snap on vantage scan tool with the KV module - something like this is helpful for working on cars like the SC .. same with my OBD2 code reader - with the OBD1 adapter, you can access a couple of internal tests on the OBD1 system .. KOEO, KOER ( Key On Engine Off / Running ) .. Wiggle test and Cylinder Balance test.

 

[theterminator93]

You can also run those OBD self-tests without a plug adapter if you ground the test input lead on the OBD connector (it's the single contact connector by itself, next to the main plug). It's more crude, but it gets the job done.

1. Start and run engine at 2,000 rpm for two minutes to bring the engine up to normal temps and warm up the Oxygen sensors. The engine must be at least 180F (82C) to pass.
2. Turn off engine, and wait 10 seconds. Make sure the vehicle is safe:

a. Transmission in PARK or NEUTRAL.​

b. Apply parking brake.​

c. Block the wheels, whatever it takes!​

d. Turn off electrical loads (A/C, heater, etc.)​

3. Check the Base Timing and make sure the computer is controlling the timing before continuing with test.
4. Ground the STI, just like the KOEO test.
5. Start the vehicle.
6. The first set of flashes you will see is the Engine ID code. For gasoline engines, the engine ID code equals half the number of cylinders (4 pulses = 8 cylinders). These codes are used to verify the proper PCM is installed and that the KOER Test has begun.
7. After the engine ID code you need to test a few items for the computer. Your vehicle might not have any or all of these items to test.

a. Brake On/Off (BOO) circuit, the brake pedal MUST be depressed for 1 second and released.
b. Power Steering Pressure (PSP) switch, quickly jerk the steering wheel one-half turn and released.
c. Transmission Control Switch (TCS) for the E4OD or 4R70W auto transmission, press the O/D off button 2 times, turning it ON and OFF.​

8. The computer will begin to test many components; you will hear the idle change watch the check engine light closely.
9. After many tests the computer will flash once, indicating a Dynamic Response test. This single flash is prompting you briefly push the gas pedal all the way down (do not over rev the engine).
10. After a little while the check engine light will start flashing codes at you.
11. After you've gotten all the codes turn the engine off, and remove the ground wire from the STI.

 

[Fastymz]

Thanks guys , I really appreciate it . But it’s more than I can do and I’ve used this prior and never had an issue with them .
I’m not sure how they came up with their conclusions?
I asked he said he knows it’s a miss because all sensors are good and it loads up more at higher rpms
He said change the plugs and wires and he is sure it’ll smog and run better .
They do a lot of older cars ?
Anyways I got a few friends who might buy it.
It’s really painful for me to work on cars now

 

[Fastymz]

I sold it today. I was asking $2k this guy comes along who loves t-birds he had his moms who passed t bird for 10 years and some drunk driver totaled it last year.
He always wanted an sc and he is ford mechanic.
So I had to reduce the price for him.
Us car guys need to stick together, he was so excited he was shaking .
He’s done the plugs on them before and has a shop at home .
He couldn’t how well the car runs and drives .
So so happy it’s going to someone who will enjoy it

Thanks for the help and effort on here !

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I sold it today. I was asking $2k this guy comes along who loves t-birds he had his moms who passed t bird for 10 years and some drunk driver totaled it last year.
He always wanted an sc and he is ford mechanic.
So I had to reduce the price for him.
Us car guys need to stick together, he was so excited he was shaking .
He’s done the plugs on them before and has a shop at home .
He couldn’t how well the car runs and drives .
So so happy it’s going to someone who will enjoy it

Thanks for the help and effort on here !

Awesome! Hope you told him about us here. Now that you don't have a Tbird anymore doesn't mean you have to be a stranger either. Always welcome to hang with us here.

 

[Fastymz]

Thank you !
I did tell him but he loves the birds and works on them a lot.
Btw he also agreed it’s a spark issue causing it to fail smog and rough idle .
He said he has spare coils in his shop and isn’t worried at all as it runs so damn well !

 

[KevinVarnes]

Pretty sure SuperGordo bought it. This was the giveaway.

he was so excited he was shaking .