The Unofficial "Ask a Stupid Question" Thread

MadMikeyL said:
Actually the transmissions in those foci don’t ever fully fail. The problem is clutch engagement, so they will shudder and jerk at slow speeds like someone who doesn’t know how to drive a manual (which is technically what is actually happening), but they won’t leave you stranded. Also, it’s counter intuitive, but the best bet when it starts doing that is to lay into the gas. At lower throttle inputs, the computer is trying to slip the clutch to make for a smooth engagement, which once the clutch has worn down enough the computer can’t compensate properly, and the result is jerky engagement. However if you floor it, the computer will in essence side-step the clutch, and it won’t have a chance to slip.
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My MIL was one of the first people to sue Ford over this transmission and won. Ford paid off her car and that was that. It took like 3 years or something like that, but she did it. She opted to stay with the car instead of moving on to a Honda or Toyota because she didn't have a car payment.

And the last month or two, she's been contemplating a new car, but the monthly car payment of $500+/mo has been making her stop. She can afford it, but it'd really stretch her budget, and she refuses to get a used car, even a CPO used car. But now that her car is fixed and no longer making weird noises, she's like, "My car is running like new again! I can keep it and not have to worry about it.....besides the transmission....". So yeah, she's going to keep it for longer.

And for those CV axels. I've hard them click before on other cars, but I've never heard them sound like a severe exhaust leak. Like no joke. I thought her car had a massive exhaust leak due to a cracked exhaust manifold or failed exhaust manifold gasket. These CV axles weren't clicking, they were grinding!
 
MadMikeyL said:
Actually the transmissions in those foci don’t ever fully fail. The problem is clutch engagement, so they will shudder and jerk at slow speeds like someone who doesn’t know how to drive a manual (which is technically what is actually happening), but they won’t leave you stranded. Also, it’s counter intuitive, but the best bet when it starts doing that is to lay into the gas. At lower throttle inputs, the computer is trying to slip the clutch to make for a smooth engagement, which once the clutch has worn down enough the computer can’t compensate properly, and the result is jerky engagement. However if you floor it, the computer will in essence side-step the clutch, and it won’t have a chance to slip.
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All of my Volkswagen DSGs did the same. 2007 and earlier had faulty valve bodies that were ultimately recalled, but the rest of them were fine. You could even have the clutches re-adapted to compensate for wear which fixed that.
 
Grog6 said:
If it won't thread into the hole it came out of, loosen the other bolts, yank the bitch around, and try again. Repeat until it lines up.
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Or 4 lb.hammer it in like a nail.may need a jack underneath as it may be sagging until bolted up?
 
How bad is it to run old gas, lie 4 years old? Can I dilute it with fresh gas? If so, what ratio? Or just dump the old stuff?
 
Kidd-7 said:
How bad is it to run old gas, lie 4 years old? Can I dilute it with fresh gas? If so, what ratio? Or just dump the old stuff?
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I had two gallons of old 2 cycle mixed gas I needed to get rid of. I put it in my riding mower and it was fine. Maybe a bit smokey on startup but didn't notice a difference. I also usually dump my trucks oil catch can into my riding mowers gas tank without issue.
 
Custom tune or not?

I have a 96 parts car that I bought a few weeks ago. It has a CAI tube and a larger MAF. As far as I know, it's useless unless the car has a custom tune?

How can I tell if it HAS a custom tune?
 
Kidd-7 said:
How bad is it to run old gas, lie 4 years old? Can I dilute it with fresh gas? If so, what ratio? Or just dump the old stuff?
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There's no ratio, the more fresh gas on top the better, so dump it in something (like a commuter car or something) and top it up with as much fresh gas as possible, if it would fill your tank with old gas only, put in some of it and then add fresh, then repeat till the old gas is gone
 
Is the power steering pump with variable assist the same as one without, with the exception of the fitting where the electrical connection is? Fired the car up again today and it got so hot ps fluid boiled. I've never seen that happen in my life. And it smells worse than gear oil.
 
That definitely shouldn’t happen! The pump itself is the same, but I’m not sure on the fittings. Regardless, if you unplug a variable assist solenoid on a pump, it defaults full assist. Does the car have stock lines on it, or custom made ones? If they are custom, I would suspect the lines are reversed. If you are putting full pressure from the pump into the return side of the rack, that is the only thing I could see causing the fluid to overheat just sitting there.
 
MadMikeyL said:
That definitely shouldn’t happen! The pump itself is the same, but I’m not sure on the fittings. Regardless, if you unplug a variable assist solenoid on a pump, it defaults full assist. Does the car have stock lines on it, or custom made ones? If they are custom, I would suspect the lines are reversed. If you are putting full pressure from the pump into the return side of the rack, that is the only thing I could see causing the fluid to overheat just sitting there.
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Stock lines so I didn't think I could have had them backwards. The shaft froze so hard the pulley started to shift forward.
 
Has anyone here recently placed an order with S&S Engineering?

What was that experience like?
 
I can't find any recent activity from them. I sent them an email on Friday (maybe Saturday, I forget) and was hoping to hear back this morning. I may have to wait a little longer on that.

But even their FB page doesn't have anything newer than January from either themselves or customers.

I'm wanting to make this purchase right now, but without that confidence, I'm holding back.
 
Zep5.0 said:
Stock lines so I didn't think I could have had them backwards. The shaft froze so hard the pulley started to shift forward.
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Any reason to suspect blockage in the lines / rack ? Were they fully drained and not primed before the pump was ran ?
 
dDUBb said:
Any reason to suspect blockage in the lines / rack ? Were they fully drained and not primed before the pump was ran ?
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They were fully drained, but then refilled and the car had been started before. The only other things I can think of is the wheels were turned ask the way left, so maybe it was deadheading? But I wasn't in the car holding it that way, just happened to be turned there.
 
MadMikeyL said:
Actually the transmissions in those foci don’t ever fully fail. The problem is clutch engagement, so they will shudder and jerk at slow speeds like someone who doesn’t know how to drive a manual (which is technically what is actually happening), but they won’t leave you stranded. Also, it’s counter intuitive, but the best bet when it starts doing that is to lay into the gas. At lower throttle inputs, the computer is trying to slip the clutch to make for a smooth engagement, which once the clutch has worn down enough the computer can’t compensate properly, and the result is jerky engagement. However if you floor it, the computer will in essence side-step the clutch, and it won’t have a chance to slip.
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Yep. I put 126k on my '16 model and for a computer controlled clutch I can say it NEVER stalled out. I think they had the computer programmed to never let rpm get below say 500 and at that speed the clutch gets grabby. Having driven a stick for a while I just stabbed it and went on. I think the pre '16 models had trouble w/ seal that weeded which was disaster for Ford. My focus met a deer one night and totaled it. I think Ford and Ins was removing them from the market on purpose. Mine averaged 38mpg over it's whole life albeit they were almost exclusively highway.
 
Someone remind me again, why can we not (easily) replace our rear calipers with anything else? Is it simply because of the parking brake?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Someone remind me again, why can we not (easily) replace our rear calipers with anything else? Is it simply because of the parking brake?
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In a word, yes. Technically any SN95/New Edge rear caliper will bolt up directly, but the parking brake lever is backwards…. And this can actually be remedied, swapping the lever from the MN12 caliper to the Mustang ones (it’s a direct fit as they’re both Varga calipers)… but it requires fully dissembling both calipers to do it, and they’re not totally straight forward to rebuild due to their internal design.

Otherwise you could theoretically use about any rear caliper you want using custom relocation brackets made for them, but the parking brake will be lost.
 
Pretty much; it's a mechanical actuator. Get the relocate brackets from Dafe dalke, and the cobra disks.
Requires hubswap or redrilled cobra disks.
 
So, if we're OK with losing the parking brake for whatever reason, what are some of the better caliper (best braking or "best bang for your buck") options we could use for our cars?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
So, if we're OK with losing the parking brake for whatever reason, what are some of the better caliper (best braking or "best bang for your buck") options we could use for our cars?
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Within those parameters relocated stock calipers and Cobra rotors 😝

I mean you can put 4 piston brembos back there if you wanted but you’d probably need an adjustable proportioning valve to dial them in so they don’t instantly lock up,effectively limiting their effectiveness to that of the stock calipers abilities.

A lot of modern cars with huge rear calipers are mid/rear engined where they actually need them due to the weight balance or they’re just there because they match the front and look cool(pretty much any front engine car)
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Within those parameters relocated stock calipers and Cobra rotors 😝

I mean you can put 4 piston brembos back there if you wanted but you’d probably need an adjustable proportioning valve to dial them in so they don’t instantly lock up,effectively limiting their effectiveness to that of the stock calipers abilities.

A lot of modern cars with huge rear calipers are mid/rear engined where they actually need them due to the weight balance or they’re just there because they match the front and look cool(pretty much any front engine car)
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I was thinking something along the lines of larger single piston or dual piston calipers.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
I was thinking something along the lines of larger single piston or dual piston calipers.
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I was taking scenarios to the extreme but the same thing applies. The stock rear caliper piston size is adequate at achieving balance with just about whatever front combo you pair with them.

Going bigger. Whether that’s a larger single piston, dual pistons, 4 pistons or beyond might/will exert more clamping force onto the rotors but is that a desirable scenario? Weight shifts forward under braking, which means the rear end gets lighter, and V8/SC MN12s already have nearly 60% of the weight on the nose statically, so going to more powerful brakes in the rear increases the dangerous prospect of them locking up under heavy braking. Not good.

There’s a reason drums stuck around so long in the rear of many models including MN12s in base form because in just regular day to day operation they perform fine. Under heavy use however as they’re notorious for they will fade, which is where 4 wheel disc excels. But really unless you’re experiencing severe brake dive there’s almost never a reason to upgrade them beyond. I don’t even really think Cobra rotors are all that much of an upgrade over the stock rear discs, I use them because they’re the only off the shelf option with the 5x114.3 hub swap and they look better with bigger wheels, that’s it.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
I was taking scenarios to the extreme but the same thing applies. The stock rear caliper piston size is adequate at achieving balance with just about whatever front combo you pair with them.

Going bigger. Whether that’s a larger single piston, dual pistons, 4 pistons or beyond might/will exert more clamping force onto the rotors but is that a desirable scenario? Weight shifts forward under braking, which means the rear end gets lighter, and V8/SC MN12s already have nearly 60% of the weight on the nose statically, so going to more powerful brakes in the rear increases the dangerous prospect of them locking up under heavy braking. Not good.

There’s a reason drums stuck around so long in the rear of many models including MN12s in base form because in just regular day to day operation they perform fine. Under heavy use however as they’re notorious for they will fade, which is where 4 wheel disc excels. But really unless you’re experiencing severe brake dive there’s almost never a reason to upgrade them beyond. I don’t even really think Cobra rotors are all that much of an upgrade over the stock rear discs, I use them because they’re the only off the shelf option with the 5x114.3 hub swap and they look better with bigger wheels, that’s it.
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It would need to be tested then.

I plan on taking Dirty Bird to the track. I plan on doing, uhhhh..... "exceptional", driving with Dirty Bird as well when she's back on the road.

I know that larger brakes up front are meant to do what you've described, but then why is it that other vehicles that are also nose heavy, have a rear brake bias over front brake bias? This is evident with the rear pads needing replaced at least two times before the front pads need replaced. Surely ABS, TCS, and other nanny driving technologies alone haven't made the need to apply more brake pressure to the rear pads vs the front pads? Something else is happening. Why can't that be extrapolated and applied to our platform?
 
If rear brake pads are needing replacement twice as often as fronts, then either they are using an inferior pad in the rear, or something is wrong with the rear brakes. I see lots of cars come through the shop, many over long periods of time, and none of them regularly go through rear brakes faster than the fronts.

Also, when I was running the Lemons car, we ran 13” Cobra PBRs up front, and stock calipers with relocation brackets and Cobra rear rotors. Initially we were wiping out brakes all around because no parts store pads could take the heat and abuse (I wiped out a brand new set of pads in 45 minutes) however once we got good pads, that setup was more than you could possibly ask for. Our heavy MN12 would do 140mph down the straight, and still brake later than cars that were 1000lbs lighter.
 
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