The Unofficial "Ask a Stupid Question" Thread

XR7-4.6 said:
SCP solid ones are simply the same rubber (non fluid filled) ones you can buy from a parts store or Rockauto
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Ah, that's good news. I can get the pioneer solid ones on RA and even with shipping its drastically cheaper than SCP. If I am ordering the motor mounts is it a good idea to also get the solid rear transmission mount while I am there? I figure replacing all three is good to prevent any from failing prematurely.
 
LukesCougar said:
that "flag" is still there, but someone has installed shim/ washers on the other side. Ive had a couple of these cars and aside from the flag ive never seen washers added to that location until now. Im not gonna say its the source of my pop or anything, but i did find it unusual

Would of been the last shop that put these washers in the setup I think. Unless they are meant to be there but my cougar didn't have them


View attachment 18293
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Ah I see, those won’t help or hurt anything, the washer is unnecessary (the factory comes without one) but having one there is fine too,
 
Jae 'Bird said:
Ah, that's good news. I can get the pioneer solid ones on RA and even with shipping its drastically cheaper than SCP. If I am ordering the motor mounts is it a good idea to also get the solid rear transmission mount while I am there? I figure replacing all three is good to prevent any from failing prematurely.
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Yes as it tends to be the first of the three to fail and it’s also the easiest and cheapest to replace
 
I was tracing the brake lines. I found out that the lines for the rear brakes have connectors just behind the (driver's side) front wheel, where the lines descend from the engine bay. Are these connector as per factory install, or did someone cut & connect the lines there?
 
MadMikeyL said:
Those are factory. I believe they are actually residual pressure check valves.
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Thx!! Do you know if I can connect a regular brake line fitting to it, if I replace the brake lines from that point onwards?
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Yes as it tends to be the first of the three to fail and it’s also the easiest and cheapest to replace
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If the trans mount fails, check the driveshaft, it may be failing, and the only real symptom is vibration at 70-80 on the freeway.
 
I suppose my residual pressure check valves are either gone, or they didn't exist with 4.6 non-ABS models at all. I took a better look under the driver's side splash guard only to discover yet another rusty line and connector (which isn't clearly the F6SC-2B091-CA i.e. the residual pressure check valves)
20260511_142507.jpg

The service manual has conflicting information on this matter. On the other hand it states that all 4.6 engines should have the "Brake Pressure Control Valves" here (the F6SC-2B091-CA I suppose), yet the diagram of a non-ABS system doesn't depict any connectors or so in this location. I'm confused.
 
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I can confirm that '97 non-ABS 4.6L with four-wheel disc brakes have the 'Brake Proportioning Valve' that you're describing. It's between the driver's-side headlight and battery. I have a Sport and these photos are of my BPV, which was replaced while trying to troubleshoot why my brakes are spongy after I rebuilt the factory original brake system a couple years ago.

I know you have rear drums on your '94, but I don't know if this applies to your car. My posting is more of a clarification.

Valve - From Junkyard 2.jpg

Original Valve 5.jpg
 
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Thanks for all the advice; I now feel more confident on replacing the lines.

When I started replacing my brake hoses, I was naive enough to think that it wouldn't escalate into much more than just them: now it appears most of the lines need to be replaced too. Because of the encountered troubles, I've yet again filled this thread with many questions regarding that matter. Sorry for that.

Mods, feel free to move my troubles into thread of its own, if applicable..
 
To the panther owners here: is the oil filter just as difficult to change as in our T-birds & Cougars? Or is there more room?
 
NEURO said:
I know you have rear drums on your '97, but I don't know if this applies to your car. My posting is more of a clarification.
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SnowyOwl has a 94, and 97s were rear disk only. ;)

Joe
 
Here is a new question.

I read in the tech articles that one should NEVER adjust the screw on the EPC solenoid. So far, so good; I have no intention to adjust anything.

My question though: how does this relate to the manufacture of replacement parts? If one purchases a new EPC solenoid, is the screw calibrated to a specific spec? And how can one verify that it is?

[This is not related to any current need of mine; I'm just being geeky.]
 
Kidd-7 said:
To the panther owners here: is the oil filter just as difficult to change as in our T-birds & Cougars? Or is there more room?
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I used to have an '06 P71 Crown Vic...the filter was easier to get to and change.
In general, servicing that car was easier due to the roomier engine bay and the fact that Panthers were designed from the ground up to be constant-duty service vehicles that were easy & inexpensive to maintain and damn near indestructible, because they were aimed at the police & taxi fleets. Their durability is legendary.

I had a friend who worked for Yellow Cab (or Checker Cab...I don't recall) in Vegas about a decade ago. I visited him one time at the depot off Decatur and he showed me the service bays for the cabs. Those guys were amazing to watch because whatever problem cabs had, they had to crank out those cars fast to get them back on the road. They could pretty much do any repairs, engine & tranny repair/replacements, body work, suspension work, etc. This was back when most of their fleet were Panthers...but they were phasing in small & economical little Nissan Cubes and others to replace the Panthers.

I never should have sold that P71. I had her all sorted out and perfect...and she was a fast car with low miles. And she was the version (forgot the trim name) that had a normal interior, instead of the jacked-up & trashed police interceptor interior. But I was offered 3x what I bought her for and didn't really need her.
(sigh...was still a mistake to sell her and I want her back)
 
Kidd-7 said:
Dually noted; don’t sell the Lincoln. Got it…
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Sounds like you have a Town Car, which you probably already know is a Panther with different skin & trim.
And yes, never sell her if you've got her sorted out and she's doing good.
They're probably one of the most trouble-free, inexpensive, and easy platforms to own & work on.

Our Birds are also mostly trouble-free and inexpensive to work on for the most part, though they have their quirks.
Our biggest problem is finding many parts & interior/exterior body and trim pieces.

NOTE: The early generation of the new Town Car design around 1990 had an issue with the new 4.6L that burned oil...if I recall correctly, oil was getting past the rings(?). They're infamous for blowing smoke out the tailpipe. I forget the details and when Ford fixed the issue, but it's easy to look up.
 
NEURO said:
NOTE: The early generation of the new Town Car design around 1990 had an issue with the new 4.6L that burned oil...if I recall correctly, oil was getting past the rings(?). They're infamous for blowing smoke out the tailpipe. I forget the details and when Ford fixed the issue, but it's easy to look up.
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Same problem on the 94-95 Tbirds and Cougars. The 4.6 SOHC was basically the same 91-95 across the board(minus the 91s blocks that used the Windsor bolt pattern for the AOD). 96pretty much fixed every conceivable issue of the 4.6 and introduced one notorious one with the plastic intakes
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Same problem on the 94-95 Tbirds and Cougars. The 4.6 SOHC was basically the same 91-95 across the board(minus the 91s blocks that used the Windsor bolt pattern for the AOD). 96pretty much fixed every conceivable issue of the 4.6 and introduced one notorious one with the plastic intakes
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Really? I didn't know that the same issues affected the MN-12 4.6's. I thought Ford had that sorted out by the time they got that engine.
Thanks for the info.

And LOL about the plastic intakes...yeah, that's true. I wish someone made a high-quality replacement non-NPI intake. I wouldn't mind replacing mine with one, although it was replaced under warranty at the dealer way back when they had the recall on them. Now, she's almost 30 y/o with 70K miles...no issues, but I still don't trust that intake and expect it to pop or leak someday.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Here is a new question.

I read in the tech articles that one should NEVER adjust the screw on the EPC solenoid. So far, so good; I have no intention to adjust anything.

My question though: how does this relate to the manufacture of replacement parts? If one purchases a new EPC solenoid, is the screw calibrated to a specific spec? And how can one verify that it is?

[This is not related to any current need of mine; I'm just being geeky.]
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Leave that alone; it IS the calibration.
The epc is set bu the eec by duty cycle.
 
Grog6 said:
Leave that alone; it IS the calibration.
The epc is set bu the eec by duty cycle.
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I get that. I have no intention to ever touch it!

What I am trying to understand is: how did the screw which I won't ever adjust get into its current position in the first place? And when a supplier sells replacement EPC solenoids, how do they calibrate that screw?


I know the question may not have practical merit; I just like to know stuff.
 
NEURO said:
Really? I didn't know that the same issues affected the MN-12 4.6's. I thought Ford had that sorted out by the time they got that engine.
Thanks for the info.

And LOL about the plastic intakes...yeah, that's true. I wish someone made a high-quality replacement non-NPI intake. I wouldn't mind replacing mine with one, although it was replaced under warranty at the dealer way back when they had the recall on them. Now, she's almost 30 y/o with 70K miles...no issues, but I still don't trust that intake and expect it to pop or leak someday.
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Yeah it’s a combination of both the rings/pistons as well as heads (valve stem seals). My 94consumed oil and puffed blue smoke at 70,000 miles and only got worse as miles went by. I eventually swapped the heads to PI with fresh stem seals which helped for a while but it still had poor oil control from the rings and eventually did the engine in after a long road trip and not checking the oil level before goosing it back home.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
How was the DOHC on oil? My 2000 Continental consumed one quart every 1,500 miles or so.
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In general better, I’m not entirely sure why SOHCs consumed oil through the rings (piston groove machining or the rings themselves) but DOHCs never seemed to be that bad, but keep in mind while they were related as Modular 4.6s they were built at different plants(Romeo and Windsor) using different suppliers for some things.

My DOHC is maybe half that, if that. But I replaced all 32 valve seals and every gasket besides the head gaskets before I put it in so it’s pretty fresh
 
Kidd-7 said:
To the panther owners here: is the oil filter just as difficult to change as in our T-birds & Cougars? Or is there more room?
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On the 03+ cars, there is more room. On the 92-02 cars the trick is to turn the wheel all the way to the left, which moves the pitman arm and steering linkage out of the way, and then the filter can drop right out.
 
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