Bad roadtrip 10 days ago.

[djfordmanjack]

That would be some crazy, crazy ****....bad luck. But not impossible. Lean mixture, predetonation or retarded spark certainly can damage valve seats, overheat or crack things.... never stop getting amazed by what mechanical or electrical failures can and will actually occur on cars !

Hugh, sorry for being absent but was very busy lately (no French women involved...). I will soon start preparing the 57CS for spring and will post in my build thread.

[RICH MUISE]

I was thinking more along the line of timing issues, which could lead to the valve problem.

[mustang6984]

Hugh, sorry for being absent but was very busy lately (no French women involved...). I will soon start preparing the 57CS for spring and will post in my build thread.

 

[RICH MUISE]

the circus continues. The engine is running great when the car is in park/neutral. Much quicker response to hitting the throttle than I've previously ever had before. Was going to drive it about the neighborhood this morning to warm it up for some engine code readings. It immediately stalls when I put it in reverse. Not so when I put it in drive. My transmission guy and I are trying to figure out if it is in fact maybe a tranny problem.
I also found out today the shop that pulled my oil pan screwed up at least two things getting it back together. I wanted to check the oil, but the handle pulled out of the tube with no cable/dipstick attached! The braided cable is right at the top of the tube, so I was able to get a good grip on it with needle nose pliers. It wasn't budging, which is telling me they left the dipstick in when they pulled the pan, and got the end of it wedged between the block and the pan when reinstalling. Also, the throttle body rubber gasket is part way off the throttle body.  Like I said, the circus continues.

[mustang6984]

So...was that YOU I heard painting the skies to the west of me BLUE earlier today? LOL!!!

[RICH MUISE]

The main issues have been resolved. I swapped the engine control module for a spare one I had, but no change. When I was reconnecting the battery cables after swapping out the CPUs, I had some big time sparking at the battery post and also lower in the engine compartment. Turns out the main positive battery cable to the starter and alternator was rubbing against the power steering pulley, and shorted out. I suspect that burnt out the CPU, because it now runs fine even after an hour's road testing. It also goes into reverse with no issues. My transmission guy will be surprised, but happy I'm sure, that it wasn't a transmission issue. Next up is an alignment before I put too many miles on it. I'm pretty sure it was another issue caused by the shop I had used to drop the oil pan......I know I checked the cables for exactly that issue and tied them to some bracketry.

[mustang6984]

EXCELLENT find! Nothing like having an issue point it's self out! NOW...time to get it out on the road and drive again! Summer is coming! 

[djfordmanjack]

Rich, didn't check the whole thread back, but wasn't there a problem with belt slipping squealing or such ?
Maybe the power cable rubbing also had its fair share in the process....great the mystery is solved, bad thing about the dip stick....when it rains it really pours....

[lalessi1]

It is always the little things that bite us in the.... The devil is in the details. Glad all is resolved!

[RICH MUISE]

The belt squealing was a quick fix.........just a bad brand new  Gates belt. Had nothing to do with the battery cable  issue. As mentioned, I had the cable zip-tied back away from the pulleys, and I figure the shop that did the oil pan must have cut the ties and never redid them.
Not everything is resolved yet, Lynn, but at least the roadblock to getting the rest ironed out is gone. I just hope I don't have to wait 2 weeks to get my car into the alignment shop.

[RICH MUISE]

Got the car's A/C replenished, and the front end aligned. It feels soooooo much better. I took it out and put 160 miles on it. The engine feels/sounds really good. The steering wheel is not clocked right though, so it has to go back to the alignment shop.  lol, nothing is easy peasy. When I picked the car up,they told me he had a heck of a time getting the steering wheel to set right, but "finally got it".......not!! I'm not sure what has changed, the car has been aligned at least 6-8 times over the years and steering wheel clocking has never been a problem. He told me everytime he tried to make a small adjustment, it moved too much. Maybe he'll figure it out when it goes back in.
I did check, I thought I remembered the steering wheel being splined, but it is double D, so no easy fix there.

[gasman826]

It is really important not to clock the steering wheel on vehicles with steering boxes.  The gears have a high spot to tighten the box at center.  These helps reduce the driver having to saw the steering wheel to go straight down the road.  On some vehicles, turn signal cancel timing could also be affected. Since your car has R&P, it has no high spot so clocking could be an option.  Of course there are always exceptions to the rule...many of the solid axles and Twin I Beam Ford pickups and vans.  Just a thought, did you recently retorque the R&P to tie rod adapter?

[RICH MUISE]

When we swapped out engines, If I remember correctly, the rack assembly was dropped down with the tie rods still attached. My son did all of the underneath stuff.

[RICH MUISE]

The car had been running well, but I had been having the feeling it was running in "backup mode"....a bit sluggish at times, shifting points, etc, etc...... The computer I had replaced the original with had been sitting on a shelf for 15 years or so, and wasn't real sure about it. I did find another on eBay, and got it swapped out on Sunday. Just a few short trips and it made a big difference!! Definetly not running in back up mode any longer. Put 100 miles on it Sunday and Monday.