The Unofficial "Ask a Stupid Question" Thread

Rodeo Joe said:
Can't be good. Check engine light then it died?! :unsure:
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Yes and no. The Light did come on. This was a very short drive. But drivability was completely normal.

Kidd-7 said:
very low fuel trims. In the data the amount of intake air would be next to nothing. The ECU probably began yelling at you from the passenger side floorboard. Hope you had the music up.
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Actually there were two codes, both of them were running rich codes. But again, no apparent drivability issues at all.
 
Probably nothing. My old 94 4.6L never even threw a code after drilling the sampling tube and cutting the center post down ( 1998 MAF Mod .. 🙄 )
 
For the Facebook regs is there a 83-88 fox body Tbird/cougar equivalent to the MN12/FN10 trading post? I’ve got a box of parts for them I have no use for
 
  • An answer to a question nobody asked.
  • Already covered by the sole functional purpose of the 1996-97 body cladding and its trailing edge on the door.
  • If it deploys when you open your door, that means you're giving yourself an excuse to recklessly hit other people's doors.
 
Reminds me of the active air dams on the newer F150s. Something as simple as a tow truck's winch cable can destroy it.
 
Guys, every once in awhile I run across surplus stuff we can use, like those led strips years ago. Anyway, here's a good substitute for the ground strap, on the pass side body to engine mount.

www.mpja.com

Copper Braided Ground Strap with Ring Terminals

Soft, flat, flexable copper braided jumper buss strip. Use for jumpering buss bars, batteries and grounding. Ring Terminal on both ends: 14mm OD/8mm Hole.
www.mpja.com
 
To replace the coolant, for the initial drain I understand there's a valve at the bottom passenger side of the radiator.

What size hose do I need to connect between that valve and my waste container?

Also, does everyone just run the "classic" green coolant?
 
Use a bucket that can hold about 3 gallons. I buy a jug of the green stuff, an 3 gallons of distilled water at krogers. I flush the system with the hose, after I drain it. Move the bucket, stick the hose in the top hose,or coolant reservoir, with the drain plug in the block out, and the valve on the radiator open. let it run until it's clear, then refill, coolant first, then the distilled water. I usually pull the bottom radiator hose, but that's me. You are trying to remove any sediment in the system. Prestone makes a radiator flush, if theres a lot of crap in there. Follow their directions, if you need it.
 
After installing my new Homelink mirror, I'm a bit concerned about the blind spot it creates in my forward line of sight to the right.

Now the mirror's dimensions aren't significantly different from my previous mirror (which was an auto-dimming unit from a '15 Taurus) nor from the stock mirror. I suppose this installation just brought the issue to my attention.

I'm also not particularly tall at 5'8, though I tend to sit very upright. My driver seat is not height adjustable.

I blame the mirror base on the windshield being awfully low (?).

Anyone else making this observation?
 
It never bothered me, though I'm used to mirrors of that size. IMO the compass attachment causes more obstruction than the slightly enlarged mirror. Perspectives are also different though since I've got the power seat and I'm 6'2".
 
Try pushing the mirror all the way up to the roof so that the stem is pointing straight up from the glass. Then tilt the mirror down without moving the stem to align it. That usually helps your problem a ton.
 
I have used this procedure since I began driving, against most advice of instructors and parents. i could never get used to seeing the side of my car in the side view mirrors.
 
I adjust the driver side mirror to SAE spec but not the passenger side, seeing just a little bit of the side of the car I find helpful with that mirror for perspective, plus seeing the car makes street parking less risky for curb rash
 
I avoid street parking; in cases where I need that perspective I lean. Lol
 
I have always aligned them the SAE recommended way without realizing it until I read articles advocating for aligning your mirrors that way. It confused me at first because I knew I could still see my doors in the side mirrors, but that was only if I moved my head far to the left or right of the driver's seat centerline.

Either way, the MN12's pretty forgiving with outward visibility because its blind spots are minimal due to a very generous DLO (daylight opening).
 
XR7-4.6 said:
I adjust the driver side mirror to SAE spec but not the passenger side, seeing just a little bit of the side of the car I find helpful with that mirror for perspective, plus seeing the car makes street parking less risky for curb rash
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The car I bought came with those little stick-on fish-eye mirrors in the upper corners of both side view mirrors (can see the whole side of the car) so I have the actual mirrors aligned to cover the blind spots. For me that covers the inbetween of what the rear view mirror can't see and what I can't see when I turn my head to look at the side view mirrors. Works great, I basically don't have to ever look back when changing lanes, just the rear view and then the side view, if there's nothing in those mirrors, there's nothing there. My paranoia will still get me to look back anyways most times, just to be sure, but if I have to panic switch lanes, the side view mirror is enough.
 
New stupid question. My Thunderbird has that keypad on the driver's door, I never use it (just the key). But I noticed that it seems a bit loose, I feel like it could yank it out of the slot it's in if I pulled hard enough. I assume it's supposed to be locked down tight, yes? So are there bolts back there and the nuts are loose, is there a bracket that's maybe cracked, should there be a gasket there filling in the space between the door and the keypad? Or maybe they're just always a bit loose. I just wonder about water getting into the door.
 
rampagingsloth said:
New stupid question. My Thunderbird has that keypad on the driver's door, I never use it (just the key). But I noticed that it seems a bit loose, I feel like it could yank it out of the slot it's in if I pulled hard enough. I assume it's supposed to be locked down tight, yes? So are there bolts back there and the nuts are loose, is there a bracket that's maybe cracked, should there be a gasket there filling in the space between the door and the keypad? Or maybe they're just always a bit loose. I just wonder about water getting into the door.
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It’s held in place with a clip from inside the door, it shouldn’t be loose and yes there’s supposed to be a gasket behind it. If it’s loose it’s likely that the outer bezel has cracked away from the main keypad assembly unfortunately, you’ll need a new one to fix it
 
rampagingsloth said:
New stupid question. My Thunderbird has that keypad on the driver's door, I never use it (just the key). But I noticed that it seems a bit loose, I feel like it could yank it out of the slot it's in if I pulled hard enough. I assume it's supposed to be locked down tight, yes? So are there bolts back there and the nuts are loose, is there a bracket that's maybe cracked, should there be a gasket there filling in the space between the door and the keypad? Or maybe they're just always a bit loose. I just wonder about water getting into the door.
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See below. I highly recommend doing this retrofit. The MN12 keypad is actually smaller than the opening and held in place by the brittle plastic frame. When the frame breaks, you get the looseness you're describing.

The Taurus keypad is metal instead of plastic. It doesn't move and it won't break.

SecuriCode Keypad Retrofit

When I bought my car, the original SecuriCode keypad was fairly damaged. The trim piece that fit it to the door was shattered and the retaining clip had fallen down inside the door. The buttons were also heavily worn. Thanks to the busted trim, water was getting inside the door and leaking into...
forum.birdcats.com forum.birdcats.com
 
Derphound01 said:
See below. I highly recommend doing this retrofit. The MN12 keypad is actually smaller than the opening and held in place by the brittle plastic frame. When the frame breaks, you get the looseness you're describing.

The Taurus keypad is metal instead of plastic. It doesn't move and it won't break.

SecuriCode Keypad Retrofit

When I bought my car, the original SecuriCode keypad was fairly damaged. The trim piece that fit it to the door was shattered and the retaining clip had fallen down inside the door. The buttons were also heavily worn. Thanks to the busted trim, water was getting inside the door and leaking into...
forum.birdcats.com forum.birdcats.com
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Thanks for that, I think I remember reading that a while ago (in a faraway land...). From the how-to, you mentioned either 1st or 2nd gen Taurus SHOs have this keypad option. So that means the 2nd gen as in '91-'85, yes? You wouldn't happen to have the part number or the official name for it (looking on RockAuto, can't find it there) like from a service manual, yes? Step 3, the plastic retaining clip is a separate part, I assume, would you know it's name or number? Step 6, why do you say to untape and remove the plastic shield on the back of the new keypad?
 
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