Thinking about getting this 97

It's probably not the spring isolators. They were in fine shape on my similar mileage mn12 when I did the spring swap. I recall you said it had suspension work done. Check simple stuff like sway bar links and shock bolts (trunk area) being lose.
 
Kenz said:
It's probably not the spring isolators. They were in fine shape on my similar mileage mn12 when I did the spring swap. I recall you said it had suspension work done. Check simple stuff like sway bar links and shock bolts (trunk area) being lose.
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Yes, it had quite a few bushings, quick struts (up front), shocks (rear), end links, LCAs, UCAs, and I forget what else replaced.

The PO gave me all the invoices for that for me to re-review on what was done suspension wise.
 
Installed the new wheels on my Gold Bird, AKA "The Mexican", and made some discoveries:

  • Although relatively new, both front shocks are seemingly already blown
    • Might just RR the shocks and nothing else there as I already have a spring compressor
    • I should have kept my sport springs had I known that I was going to be picking up another T-Bird when I took them off my Pearl T-Bird 😂
  • Although relatively new, the rear end links bushings are already deteriorating
    • Unsure if that's the cause of the "crunch" sound I hear when backing out of my driveway
  • Brakes do need to be done as I suspected
    • I will be installing the current hardware I have just to get me by as it's better than what's on there now
    • Sometime in the future, I will be doing the PBR caliper swap as the existing calipers and rotors are super dinky compared to even my Pearl T-Bird's rotors
  • The rear UCA bushings appear to be new
    • I'm unable to tell if the rear UCA bushings are the correct type or the wrong type (the ones that don't move like they're supposed to)
Passenger side
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Driver side
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Those front shocks look old, maybe originals. The KYBs on the back are decent.

Some quick strut (shocks) assemblies for the front would be fine for a daily driver and an easier upgrade. Don't have to mess with the springs then either.
 
Finally got to really drive my Gold Bird on the freeway since getting the tires put on yesterday.

Short story, I'm taking it to another shop to get the balance of the tires checked. At anything above 65mph there was a very noticeable vibration throughout the whole car which wasn't there before the old tires.

Kenz said:
Those front shocks look old, maybe originals. The KYBs on the back are decent.

Some quick strut (shocks) assemblies for the front would be fine for a daily driver and an easier upgrade. Don't have to mess with the springs then either.
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Rears are definitely new, the fronts are definitely not new. I priced out a pair of Monroe quick struts for $67/ea, so I'll be doing that as a quick replacement.

Alignment won't be necessary for removing just the strut assembly, right?
 
theterminator93 said:
Correct, as long as there were no springs broken the last time it was aligned.
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No, PO showed / gave me alignment sheet that was done in early 2024. Car still rolls straight even after the new tires.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Short story, I'm taking it to another shop to get the balance of the tires checked. At anything above 65mph there was a very noticeable vibration throughout the whole car which wasn't there before the old tires.
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The front end on these cars is very sensitive to the tires being out of round or not balanced perfectly. If they are off even by a little, it will be felt in the steering wheel. The tires I put on my sport wheels have always been off a bit. I went so far as to find a shop that put them on a roadforce balancer, that helped but they still have a minor shake around 65. I suspect one or more of the tires have always been slightly out of round or have a bad belt.
 
At another shop now getting the balance redone. 1st come 1st serve, so it's going to be a 3-4 hour wait.

Hopefully it's done right this time around.
 
I have everything, except for time. Time should be available next Friday. I just hope that nothing catastrophic happens (serpentine belt snaps or intake manifold coolant passage gives out) between now and then. The only things not shown here are the 3gal of coolant (off camera) and the front shocks (en route).

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I didn't realize how much of a difference non-sport vs sport pads and rotors make. I'll definitely look forward to the PBR mod. I realize I could have done that now, but I've already spent a bit of coin on all this and was already feeling the squeeze as such. Maybe early next year I'll do the PBR mod.

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There isn’t much sense upgrading to the PBRs when you have a fresh set of sport brakes on there. When it’s time to replace the pads and rotors, then it’s worth considering. Until then, money is likely better spent elsewhere.
 
@MadMikeyL , the sport rotors (old) there are from my Pearl T-Bird. The size comparison was to the non-sport (new) rotors.
 
MadMikeyL said:
Ok. I thought you were transferring the sport brakes onto the gold car and upgrading the brakes on the pearl one.
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I thought that the sport brakes were what was needed for the PBR mod, but I learned that isn't the case. So I'm planning on sticking with these so I can move forward with the PBRs at a later time.
 
Engine temp & needle location on temp gauge, yesterday.
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Engine temp, today.
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I've never seen that high on the V6. 215°F was the highest; that was going uphill at 70 mph in 3rd gear.

210-212°F is somewhat common in stop and go traffic in hot weather.

At what temperature does your fan come on. I want to say mine comes on at 210°F, or possibly 208°F.
 
I'm not sure what temp the fan comes on. I want to say it's gotten higher than this before, but I'm unsure as I didn't have the scanner plugged in at the time. All I know is that the needle got to the white line right below the "H" on two different occasions. Each time I was driving the car uphill on a 5% grade traveling 60-70 MPH.

I won't be able to get my new thermostat and stuff on until this coming weekend.

And I was thinking about it, and I think I should also get new hoses too while I'm at this maintenance phase of the car while the coolant is drained.
 
220 is a bit toasty when not moving, assuming temps around 90? Hottest I saw with the factory radiator was mid-high teens when it was about 100 degrees out, stop-and-go city traffic, A/C cranked.

I don't have the exact temps but I can boot up the computer and check out the factory MBE3 database for the fan temps. IIRC it's about 220 HSF, 210 LSF... I recall I dropped my fan settings to match my thermostat when I put in the 180 t-stat; I know my LSF comes on at 195.
 
@1997ThunderbirdLXV6 , @theterminator93

Not sure if you guys saw, but my temps reached 231 in that first screenshot.

And yes, ambient temps were at ~95F that day. It's not even the hottest part of summer yet, so it's on my going to get worse and I won't be able to do anything until next weekend.
 
Completely normal.

Your coolant wont actually boil over until it gets upwards of 268 degrees.
 
That temp does seem a little high. If it happened while going 60mph, it isn’t a fan issue. I wouldn’t be too worried about it for now, but I would definitely get a new thermostat when you do the intake manifold.
 
MadMikeyL said:
That temp does seem a little high. If it happened while going 60mph, it isn’t a fan issue. I wouldn’t be too worried about it for now, but I would definitely get a new thermostat when you do the intake manifold.
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I have a new FoMoCo thermostat ready to go with the new intake manifold, new FoMoCo (closed vane style) water pump, and I just ordered new upper and lower hoses because I'm already there and have no idea how old the existing hoses are.

Shit, maybe I should have also gotten new heater core hoses too? 🤔
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Shit, maybe I should have also gotten new heater core hoses too? 🤔
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That would be a good idea. Had a heater hose rupture in both my MN12s. Makes a smoke show behind the car when they let go.
 
I took a look at the stock MBE3 tune.

Low speed fan off - 200
Low speed fan on - 210
High speed fan off - 210
High speed fan on - 220

Low speed fan off above 48 MPH, it will come on again at or under 42 MPH.
 
theterminator93 said:
I took a look at the stock MBE3 tune.

Low speed fan off - 200
Low speed fan on - 210
High speed fan off - 210
High speed fan on - 220

Low speed fan off above 48 MPH, it will come on again at or under 42 MPH.
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So *high speed, fan on" is anything above 220F AND faster than 48 MPH? If not, what is that value?
 
Based on what I can see in the database the HSF will turn on anytime the ECT exceeds 220°F - regardless of speed. The scalars that define speeds to turn off the fan only relate to the low-speed fan.

There are also scalars and a function to turn on the HSF under certain high load conditions (e.g. climbing a hill), but in the MBE3 database it doesn't appear to really adjust the fact that it comes on at 220°F:

Load ≥60%
RPM ≥1808
Speed ≥40 MPH
Temp ≥ 220°F
 
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