The Unofficial "Ask a Stupid Question" Thread

[Grog6]

Not me. My 63 had every problem you can have with them. Stuck points,bad gears,(shaft and cam),bad bushings, bad condenser,loose holddown, ,advance plate sticking,and the timing needing to be tweaked cold,vs hot.
Fuck distributors,give me a spreadsheet any day.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Not me. My 63 had every problem you can have with them. Stuck points,bad gears,(shaft and cam),bad bushings, bad condenser,loose holddown, ,advance plate sticking,and the timing needing to be tweaked cold,vs hot.
Fuck distributors,give me a spreadsheet any day.

Fuck math

 

[Grog6]

I've seen a 4.6 with a distributor where the cam sensor is; you could add that mod.

Carbureted with Distributor 4 valve

www.modularfords.com

There's every nightmrare of old school,rolled up like a blunt,lol.

 

[XR7-4.6]

I've seen a 4.6 with a distributor where the cam sensor is; you could add that mod

Carbureted with Distributor 4 valve

www.modularfords.com

There's every nightmrare of old school,rolled up like a blunt,lol.

A distributor and carb… yet an electric water pump

And no I don’t want that either, but on the fly timing adjustments would be so much better than the tweak-upload-flash-test-repeat for hours and hours you have to do with PRP.

 

[Grog6]

Carbs freeze up in the winter,and the bushings wear,making the timing vary 3-5 degrees, visible on a scope. The old school, circa 1965 analyzer tommy cooper had for engines used an oscilloscope display. The single coil spark systems had several disadvantages.
I'll never go back. the sludge in my bikes carbs every year is enough old school for me. It at least has electronic ignition, but still uses centrifugal advance, that I've had to disassemble and clean,just so it would pull out,lol.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Do I need to address this? Cable is exposed. It almost looks as if it was pulled out. It's been this way as long as I've owned the car. Gently tugging on it, it appears secure.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Do I need to address this? Cable is exposed. It almost looks as if it was pulled out. It's been this way as long as I've owned the car. Gently tugging on it, it appears secure.

View attachment 9437

More likely it’s just the insulation shrinking over time, pulling back, that even happens to the smaller wires if the insulation crimp isn’t tight.

It’s nothing to worry about really but the copper can corrode exposed to moisture so I’d just wrap it with electrical tape.

 

[KevinVarnes]

+1. You can also see if you can fit a piece of shrink tube onto it and seal it back a little further than the factory, but I'm guessing you'll have trouble getting it over the cable end.

 

[Zep5.0]

There is a liquid electrical tape. I've never used, or seen it used, so I can't testify to how well it works. Might be a good place to try it though.

 

[Generalee0527]

LS wheels are ET40 but they have a 63.3mm centerbore. The bearing caps on our front wheels protrude enough that they may knock the center caps out of some other wheels. Your mileage may vary.

S-Type wheels had an ET60 offset, so in this case the 20mm spacer would be perfect.

I recall checking the wife's '17 Jaguar XF wheels are a bolt on for bolt pattern 5 x 4.25" w/ offset of 37-41 mm. i like the twisted spoke look.

There is a liquid electrical tape. I've never used, or seen it used, so I can't testify to how well it works. Might be a good place to try it though.

I've used the liquid electic tape and I love it when working on a boat tailer that gets wet frequently. I use it on lawn tractor when working on wiring as a water hose is used underhood frequently.

 

[Vicinity]

Do I need to address this? Cable is exposed. It almost looks as if it was pulled out. It's been this way as long as I've owned the car. Gently tugging on it, it appears secure.

View attachment 9437

Though the color of the stranding looks odd, it doesn't look like an issue. My problem is the terminal is corroded. I don't know what to do about it without rewiring

 

[Grog6]

Whoever stripped it did a crappy job, and cut ~10awg of wires off stripping off the insulation. I'd redo it, on general principles,I can just imagine what the connection looks like. amazon or az sell gold plated brass battery terminals,that are reworkable,and hold the wire with a setscrew. white lithium grease keeps green rot from eating cables.

 

[KevinVarnes]

I mean, if you really want to, you can replace the cable entirely. I replaced both cables on the '97 a few years ago when I did the power steering lines. The positive is a bit of a pain on the V8. I personally wouldn't go to that extreme with this unless you started experiencing trouble. I'd just keep an eye on it and watch for corrosion.

 

[XR7-4.6]

I mean, if you really want to, you can replace the cable entirely. I replaced both cables on the '97 a few years ago when I did the power steering lines. The positive is a bit of a pain on the V8. I personally wouldn't go to that extreme with this unless you started experiencing trouble. I'd just keep an eye on it and watch for corrosion.

+1 and I don’t see cut strands, I think that’s just the inner layer of shielding. The copper still looks very copper so I’d say it would be nuts to replace the entire cables over this.

That said replacing them entirely isn’t too bad, I started partially redoing mine since I can’t pass track tech with the battery in the trunk and using marine terminals and parts store eyelet connections is pretty easy. One cable to the starter, one to the junction box.

 

[Grog6]

I've never traced it out, but is the megafuse in-line with the starter?

 

[XR7-4.6]

I've never traced it out, but is the megafuse in-line with the starter?

No, the megafuse is inline with the alternator/junction block.

 

[Grog6]

Thanks,Matt; I'm still working on the battery relocation. I have a plate to go under the sheet metal of the trunk,but the beefy hold down I bought has j-hooks, so I'm going to substitute bolts for the hooks, so that part is good. I bought a large crimp tool for up to 0000 ga wire, but I'm still considering using the 350 mcm cable I have, just for the wtf factor. It's even shielded,lol.
That wire was spec-ed for a 3.3v120A power connection in a PETscanner, for use in an MRscanner,The first PET/MR for brain scans. I got the cables on their way to the trash. It didn't work; the spacing was wrong, and the scan couldn't be reconstructed. I only do electronics; turning it into a picture of cancer is beyond me.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Thanks,Matt; I'm still working on the battery relocation. I have a plate to go under the sheet metal of the trunk,but the beefy hold down I bought has j-hooks, so I'm going to substitute bolts for the hooks, so that part is good. I bought a large crimp tool for up to 0000 ga wire, but I'm still considering using the 350 mcm cable I have, just for the wtf factor. It's even shielded,lol.
That wire was spec-ed for a 3.3v120A power connection in a PETscanner, for use in an MRscanner,The first PET/MR for brain scans. I got the cables on their way to the trash. It didn't work; the spacing was wrong, and the scan couldn't be reconstructed. I only do electronics; turning it into a picture of cancer is beyond me.

FYI If you ever take your car to a track the J hooks will fail tech.

 

[Grog6]

Thus the switch to 8mm 12.9 bolts. Idk about the jhooks until I saw your post. J hooks would tear thru the sheetmetal, so I added a 1/4" plate I had. That fucker won't move when I get done.

A distributor and carb… yet an electric water pump

And no I don’t want that either, but on the fly timing adjustments would be so much better than the tweak-upload-flash-test-repeat for hours and hours you have to do with PRP.

During my getting the shift schedule right, I ran the battery down in the walmart parking lot. You get limp mode if you fail a flash. After I got a jump start I had to drive home 20 miles in 2nd, with no advance. Charged the battery, reflashed it and all was good, but I was worried.

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

Does anyone happen to know the sizes of the 2 hoses going into the power steering fluid reservoir?

 

[KevinVarnes]

The return hose should be 3/8". I don't know what size the actual hardline is for the high pressure side, but the threads should be 16mm.

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

The return hose should be 3/8". I don't know what size the actual hardline is for the high pressure side, but the threads should be 16mm.

Those aren’t it, one goes from the resivor to the pump, and the other goes from the resivor to the cooler. This is on a 94 4.6

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Is the support of the power steering (V6) adjustable in any way? For example by replacing some sort of valve?

My '06 Crown Vic had such light power steering, which I much preferred in city driving.

On the other hand, I enjoy the Thunderbird's steering on country roads where it feels very natural and perfectly weighted.

 

[KevinVarnes]

Those aren’t it, one goes from the resivor to the pump, and the other goes from the resivor to the cooler. This is on a 94 4.6

The two lines off of the reservoir?


I think the small is 3/8". The large I believe is 3/4", but don't quote me. It looks like Crown Vic, T-Bird, Mustang, etc. all use the same reservoir.

Is the support of the power steering (V6) adjustable in any way? For example by replacing some sort of valve?

My '06 Crown Vic had such light power steering, which I much preferred in city driving.

On the other hand, I enjoy the Thunderbird's steering on country roads where it feels very natural and perfectly weighted.

I don't think there is any way to adjust the assist. In the fox body world, guys would use the V6 pulley in lieu of the V8 because it was larger and it would reduce output from the pump. Are you looking for more or less assist?

 

[theterminator93]

Didn't the SCs get EVO like the 4.6s? Could that be retrofitted over by adding the EVO orifice and module?

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Are you looking for more or less assist?

I'm looking for more assist (=lighter steering), especially at parking lot speeds.

Didn't the SCs get EVO like the 4.6s? Could that be retrofitted over by adding the EVO orifice and module?

I was thinking along those same lines, but for simplicity I was thinking about a permanent change.

I mean if the power steering assist is dependent upon the size of an "orifice", regardless whether or not such orifice is adjustable, it should be replaceable (?).

Meaning I could simply replace whatever is there now with a larger orifice, et voilà, lighter steering.

Is this possible?

 

[XR7-4.6]

I'm looking for more assist (=lighter steering), especially at parking lot speeds.



I was thinking along those same lines, but for simplicity I was thinking about a permanent change.

I mean if the power steering assist is dependent upon the size of an "orifice", regardless whether or not such orifice is adjustable, it should be replaceable (?).

Meaning I could simply replace whatever is there now with a larger orifice, et voilà, lighter steering.

Is this possible?

No, because without EVO the orifice is the largest it can be already. The EVO solenoid reduces the orifice size as speed increases which reduces assist. Parking lot speeds EVO is no different in steering effort than a car without it, in fact if you unplug the module it defaults to full assist all the time

I think the difference you’re observing between models isn’t the power steering assist but the caster angle specs. MN12s have a pretty considerable amount of caster in their spec, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a few degrees more than the panther cars. You can have your alignment place take off a few degrees of caster and that will lighten up the steering.

 

[Grog6]

to get full assist, unplug the evo connector on the pump, or swap the pump for one without the evo solenoid. the evo is why we have a cooler on the pump circuit. (it's the u shaped cooler in front of the radiator.)

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

The two lines off of the reservoir?
View attachment 9564

I think the small is 3/8". The large I believe is 3/4", but don't quote me. It looks like Crown Vic, T-Bird, Mustang, etc. all use the same reservoir.


I don't think there is any way to adjust the assist. In the fox body world, guys would use the V6 pulley in lieu of the V8 because it was larger and it would reduce output from the pump. Are you looking for more or less assist?

Yep, those ones!

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

You can have your alignment place take off a few degrees of caster and that will lighten up the steering.

My alignment place?! Ok, now I'm embarrassed... I don't have an alignment place. Or an accountant. Or general physician.

And honestly, I don't think I want to compromise caster (straight line stability?) for a potential incremental gain in low-speed steering comfort. I love how the car handles and steers at speed.

Ergo, I think I'll just live with it as is.