One problem down a million more to go...

[ripped camel]

So I'm starting a new thread because of the drama in the last thread. I changed the O2 with a motorcraft one and 100 miles with no returning check engine light so that is good (crossing my fingers it doesn't come on after I say this). The car still is erratic, the car has no clue when to shift at times, other times it's fine.

I had the alignment done, the car still is SCARY to drive. It floats, it's not tight, the car feels VERY loose. I would be scared to let my wife drive the car. In all my years out of the 14 cars I've owned, I've never had a car be this scary to drive.

I had brand new tires put on and balanced twice. Jamie changed out the LCA, and strut rod bushing on the pass side. He said the other side was changed and was in good condition. The car has strutmasters struts that look mint. I have no clue what the hell else it could be. It has such massive body roll it is insane. The steering wheel turns dramatically to make a simple turn.

Most importantly I'd like to thank those that put their two cents in and helped me figure out it was the O2 sensor for the check engine light.

I'm at my wits end with this car. I just want the POS to work right. Every shop tells me the car is fine...it absolutely is not because it didn't drive like this when I bought it, for if it did I never would have purchased it.

 

[YR1 MK8]

bad rack and broken sway bar? cracked frame?

 

[DieselDan]

The pump doesn't feel like maybe its giving too much assist does it?

 

[Screw-Rice]

Not sure on these cars, but in the past, I have bypassed the pump to eliminate it as an issue. Also, dumb question, but is the pump full? Had this happen on a t-bird. Pump was almost empty, wheels barely turned, when steering wheel was spun lock to lock.

 

[BAD97LSC]

i just talked to derek and he said when he makes a turn the steering whee will stay turned after the corner, i have had customers cars like this before, the steering whees wouldnt return without actualy turning them back yourself, in 3 different cars that did this, i changed the racks and the problem was gone, derek said his steering wheel will stay turned and go in circles if he doesnt manually bring it back to center. i'm no pro but to me it sounds like the rack is doo doo.

 

[ripped camel]

Jamie thinks it's the rack for half the problem, because after making a 90* turn the car does not return to center. It stays cocked to one side. After I make it go back to center if the road goes one way it will shift the steering in that direction and not return to center.

The body roll I'm lost on, but as Jamie said I should tackle one thing at a time. I'm going to do the rack first.

As for the shifting I was telling Jamie that the car will act like it has zero power, but the RPM's will shoot up high when I floor it, it just sort of stands still. Other times it will act like an animal. He thinks that may be the torque converter, so the new Mach 1 converter I got may be bad. I told him it also sometimes makes a single hard click when going into gear...the same type of click you will hear if you put a car into park, and then let off the brake (you know how the car will drop back a bit and the tranny stops the car from going back further and makes a click).

I think I could do without the lemon with my cup of fail....

 

[ripped camel]

i just talked to derek and he said when he makes a turn the steering whee will stay turned after the corner, i have had customers cars like this before, the steering whees wouldnt return without actualy turning them back yourself, in 3 different cars that did this, i changed the racks and the problem was gone, derek said his steering wheel will stay turned and go in circles if he doesnt manually bring it back to center. i'm no pro but to me it sounds like the rack is doo doo.

Jamie you beat me to the punch. HAHA!

My battery died, sorry about that

 

[Aquabrit]

in 3 different cars that did this, i changed the racks and the problem was gone, derek said his steering wheel will stay turned and go in circles if he doesnt manually bring it back to center. i'm no pro but to me it sounds like the rack is doo doo.

Mine has never returned to center, either.

 

[Screw-Rice]

Mine has never returned to center, either.

Ditto, thought that was strange. Thought maybe it was just a Lincoln thing...you know, not come back too fast, and pull some old mans arm off the wheel. :lol:

 

[marked8]

It's a Mark VIII, Gremlins will always be at your door step. I myself am replacing the fuel pump again next Tuesday.

 

[BAD97LSC]

also derek lets correct something, your convertor is not a new mach one convertor, its a Reman convertor and i honestly dont believe its anything more than a stock convertor, thats just my opinion though, it looks exactly the same as the stock mark convertor, but then again i have never seen a mach 1 convertor so i dont know how they look! derek says he can punch the car and the rpm's will shoot way up but the car wont do anything i dont know much about the inside of a tranny and how they work so i cant really speculate anything!

 

[ripped camel]

also derek lets correct something, your convertor is not a new mach one convertor, its a Reman convertor and i honestly dont believe its anything more than a stock convertor, thats just my opinion though, it looks exactly the same as the stock mark convertor, but then again i have never seen a mach 1 convertor so i dont know how they look! derek says he can punch the car and the rpm's will shoot way up but the car wont do anything i dont know much about the inside of a tranny and how they work so i cant really speculate anything!

Yeah it just sits there. It never used to do that before the tranny swap/torque converter install/j-mod/head change/svt fuel pump install Jamie did. It's not something he did wrong, but something in there is not working right.

Floor it, RPM's go all the way up, and it barley lurches forward...it used to fly from a roll...now it just stand still (both with and without a tune).

 

[BAD97LSC]

hey who knows with all the :q:q:q:q being talked about me it probably is my fault 100%
maybe its time to close my shop and not do this anymore.

 

[Screw-Rice]

How do they "shoot all the way up"? Talking about to redline, or....

 

[LaserSVT]

Dumb question but I will ask anyway just to toss it out there. Did you reciently do a trans fluid change? When you swapped in the new parts I would assume you did but if there was even the slightest hint of browness in the old fluid then you put new fluid in it that would indicate the trans is now ready for a rebuild.

 

[Sapperfire]

Yeah it just sits there. It never used to do that before the tranny swap/torque converter install/j-mod/head change/svt fuel pump install Jamie did. It's not something he did wrong, but something in there is not working right.

Floor it, RPM's go all the way up, and it barley lurches forward...it used to fly from a roll...now it just stand still (both with and without a tune).

Uhh, have you checked your fuel pressure at WoT?? Mine used to do that...right before the pump went out
the steering wheel not recentering is a rack issue or binding ball joints

also...you said you did the Jmod...how did your trans fluid look before the mod..was it brownish? If so, did you reuse the old fluid or replace it with new trans fluid

 

[BAD97LSC]

i took the trans out of a low mile 98 over a year ago, sold it to derek and it sat for about a year. he then brought it back to my shop when i had the car there for the motor problem, i stood the 98 and his 97 trans up on my work bench, swapped the electric internals over from the 97 to the 98 trans, changed the 1-2 accum and springs, did a j-mod to the valve body, new gaskets, new trans filter, brand new fluid, and put in a reman convertor that derek bought and brought to me to install. i am not 100% sure but i dont think the trans was acting like this when the whole thing was first put back together, but derek has to verify that.
there was no fluid in the trans because i drained it over a year ago. the other problem i have is, somethings are left better stock, i dont have a good feeling about the svt focus pump derek asked me to install. its only the way i feel, but if the thing was meant to be in another car, then put it in that car, if the car is a mark VIII, put a mark VIII pump in it, if the car isnt stock and more fuel is needed, well thats a different story.

 

[Sapperfire]

Jamie how was the fluid when you drained it before you sold it to him...

and what vehicle the pump belongs in wouldn't be the issue...it's all told by pressure, he needs to check his fuel pressure...were the injectors replaced or cleaned?? Maybe some gasket maker in them
( rofl at 60 hp gain on someones car I know when that stuff was cleaned out)

it's very hard for me, or any tech to diag things over the net or phone...but I'll do my best

 

[ripped camel]

hey who knows with all the :q:q:q:q being talked about me it probably is my fault 100%
maybe its time to close my shop and not do this anymore.

No you did a great job, so I'm not worried about your work. I saw your work first-hand and you go the extra mile. Could something have been missed? Sure with all the stuff that was done something easily could have been overlooked, but my money is on it being a defective part before it being your work.

Jamie as I mentioned on the phone two shops couldn't find what was wrong with my suspension while it was on a lift and they drove it. You figured it out in less than 2 minutes....and they had 2-3 guys all under my car trying to figure it out.

How do they "shoot all the way up"? Talking about to redline, or....

When I put the pedal to the floor from a roll to pass someone, the RPM's fly up like they are supposed to, but the car barely moves. Before all the work was done the car would take off like an animal...now it has 50-75% less power when flooring it from a roll.

Dumb question but I will ask anyway just to toss it out there. Did you reciently do a trans fluid change? When you swapped in the new parts I would assume you did but if there was even the slightest hint of browness in the old fluid then you put new fluid in it that would indicate the trans is now ready for a rebuild.

Yeah all new Mercon V fluid.

Uhh, have you checked your fuel pressure at WoT?? Mine used to do that...right before the pump went out
the steering wheel not recentering is a rack issue or binding ball joints

also...you said you did the Jmod...how did your trans fluid look before the mod..was it brownish? If so, did you reuse the old fluid or replace it with new trans fluid

Yup Mercon V fluid. How can I check the fuel pressure at WOT? I have no clue how to do that. Would my SCT do that with the datalogging feature?

i took the trans out of a low mile 98 over a year ago, sold it to derek and it sat for about a year. he then brought it back to my shop when i had the car there for the motor problem, i stood the 98 and his 97 trans up on my work bench, swapped the electric internals over from the 97 to the 98 trans, changed the 1-2 accum and springs, did a j-mod to the valve body, new gaskets, new trans filter, brand new fluid, and put in a reman convertor that derek bought and brought to me to install. i am not 100% sure but i dont think the trans was acting like this when the whole thing was first put back together, but derek has to verify that.
there was no fluid in the trans because i drained it over a year ago. the other problem i have is, somethings are left better stock, i dont have a good feeling about the svt focus pump derek asked me to install. its only the way i feel, but if the thing was meant to be in another car, then put it in that car, if the car is a mark VIII, put a mark VIII pump in it, if the car isnt stock and more fuel is needed, well thats a different story.

Remember for the first 500 miles I didn't drive it like normal because I was waiting for the torque converter to break in, so at first I wasn't able to compare. After I got to play with it a few days after it was broken in I noticed it definitely wasn't running the same.

Remember we thought maybe a tune would change it (to get the CEL off) and make it drive right. It runs better than it did before the O2 was swapped, but I can still feel a definite miss of some sort because it just stutters, and does moreso after flooring it.

 

[ripped camel]

Jamie how was the fluid when you drained it before you sold it to him...

and what vehicle the pump belongs in wouldn't be the issue...it's all told by pressure, he needs to check his fuel pressure...were the injectors replaced or cleaned?? Maybe some gasket maker in them
( rofl at 60 hp gain on someones car I know when that stuff was cleaned out)

it's very hard for me, or any tech to diag things over the net or phone...but I'll do my best

And as my thank you I will sacrifice some ricers to the car gods for you...when the car actually runs good again

 

[BAD97LSC]

dude do you know how many motors and trannys i have pulled since that one lol, i dont remember what my oil looked like last month when i changed it! i have no idea what it looked like i know i drove the car back from yankee town which is almost 2 hours away from me and it drove flawlessly thats all i can tell you about the trans. i wouldnt have sold it to derek if i had any doubts. also, the injectors are the same injectors that were in the motor before i ever touched it, and there is no gasket maker anywhere near the injectors unless someone has pulled them out and globbed it in the holes after i put the car back together! as far as checking the fuel pressure derek you need a fuel pressure gauge, you hook it onto the shrader valve on the fuel rail and close the hood with the gauge sticking out the back of the hood near the wiper arm so you can see it through the windshield while you drive. i have one in my tool box.

 

[Sapperfire]

Hook a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail...start car...check gauge..grab throttle cable..pull it and watch gauge

and the OLD trans fluid question has yet to be answered...if the OLD fluid in the trans was brown-ish..and it was flushed with new fluid..the trans is now slipping

a loss of power issue could seriously be HUNDREDS of different things
but we will hit on the main ones first...is it misfiring still? You said CEL was gone

 

[ripped camel]

I just remembered something. Before the head swap and all the work, when the car would start it would idle above 1000RPM's for about 10 seconds, and then drop right down to 750RPM's. After the install it hovers above 1000RPM's for an extended period of time...enough so that I noticed it and after about 30 seconds (about 3 times what it used to take) it slowly drops to 750RPM's again.

Same brand oil is being used (Motorcraft part synthetic 5w30) that i used before (although of course the oil we put in was brand new).

Maybe that is completely unrelated, however it was something very noticeable, and it is a consistent issue that never changes.

 

[ripped camel]

Hook a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail...start car...check gauge..grab throttle cable..pull it and watch gauge

and the OLD trans fluid question has yet to be answered...if the OLD fluid in the trans was brown-ish..and it was flushed with new fluid..the trans is now slipping

a loss of power issue could seriously be HUNDREDS of different things
but we will hit on the main ones first...is it misfiring still? You said CEL was gone

I have no clue about the old fluid because I didn't toy with it at all. Jamie will have to answer that one.

As for the Cel after 100 miles it has not turned back on after the O2 sensor install. It runs better and more consistent than it did, but still has a definite stumble that can be felt throughout the car, and after driving it hard the stumble becomes MUCH more noticeable.

 

[BAD97LSC]

like i stated above it was pulled out over a year ago i havent the foggiest idea what the fluid looked like then, couldnt tell you.