Recent content by renkenj

My favorite solution I found was to get a brass compression seal/fitting like you would use for a refrigerator ice maker water line and reinforce the part where the arm connects. I found the details in the search here. I've since sold the car, but it worked like a champ and looked bullet proof...

I am officially a Mark VIII driver now! A picture of the new ride is posted below. I've been out of town which explains why I haven't posted a close out to this little mechanical adventure until now. It's still a bit of a mystery what the ultimate problem was. Like I posted earlier, we separated...

It Started!!! Fantastic news! We got it to start up and run. Blacklsc1, you win the prize! Just for the sake of thoroughness, we loosened the exhaust after the manifolds and it started right up like nothing had ever happened. I'm at the shop right now and we're still determining where the...

The fuel was the very first thing I took care of. It was nearly empty when I drove it in the shop under its own power, so when it wouldn't start at first, I went and got five gallons to put in it, so that should be fresh. All told, including the last three weeks in the shop, it hasn't sat more...

Yeah, I know that my guy and others have gone over and over those connections with a test light looking for problems. Is sure seems like something seemingly insignificant got left unhooked, got severed, or shorted out during the swap. You're right electrical problems suck!

Found a used VCRM and dropped it off at the garage for the mechanic to put in. (I know I could easily do it, but he's got the car at his shop and I had to be somewhere else.) I got a message that nothing changed with the starting problem. Should I try to find a shop with more diagnostic...

Great observation! The previous owner told me that the belt broke and the water pump wasn't pumping causing it to overheat. Yes the original converter on the side with the blown gasket was ruined as a result of water in the exhaust AND it was replaced during the swap. In fact, the only way it...

I'd say we can definitely make that happen! FYI: a friend had a couple vcrms laying around from another year. Tried them and it Didn't work, but I'll wait and get the correct one before passing judgement.

Ok, we may be on to something. Just mentioned all this to my mechanic and he told me there was someone looking at it last week that noticed that the fan wasn't working. Perhaps we've got a bad part? I called the only yard around with a mark viii and they're gonna check to see if they have one...

I pinched off the rubber line as suggested...no improvements.

Hmmm. Certainly worth a try. I'll check it out and post back.

Update after computer swap Well guys, I got hold of a used computer with matching part numbers from an identical Mark VIII and put it in. All the same problems described above persist. :( It will almost try to sputter to life with WOT and run for three or four seconds but then it quickly dies...

Can't get a computer replacement until Tuesday. Arrrgh! I originally started this journey on Memorial Day weekend. Perhaps it will be finished by Labor Day!

Alright, so I'm gonna start down the road of throwing parts at it until something works. No local spare computers around like I thought, so the cloest and cheapest one I found is 50 miles away for $85 that I can pick up tomorrow. Now I want to make sure we are all talking about the same computer...

Interesting...I think the mechanic was gonna get a hold of a spare PCM today anyway and throw that in there for good measure. I'll update on the results of that.