Get the alternator and battery tested first. Can’t figure out what’s going on till you know those are both working properly
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FivepointSlow
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That was my first thought but the cars up on Jack stands at the moment for the suspension overhaul so I was hoping maybe someone would have an idea of something else while its sitting.
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FivepointSlow
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Have a couple days off here and nothing else going on. The mustang hadn't been touched since it went up on jackstands a few weeks ago and I'm eager to drive. Been so busy I couldn't touch it til now.
I'm usually better at picture taking but I didn't think much of it while doing this, I was updating my instagram story of my struggles throughout the process though. @RBKienzler
Old struts and springs came out with the hangup being the strut bolts. But I got them off.
Springs seem to be OEM and have been cut before.
Got the new coilovers in place, took awhile to figure out the little spacers to make it work with my C/C plates due to the spring top hat and clearances but I think I should be good now.
Had a causality though, forgot to order new sway bar endlinks, these ones seemed fine bushing where good so I figured why bother and then the sway bar and links said F you and one killed itself while trying to get the nut off
New control arms going in
Then encountered a problem, on both sides, ball joint is like welded to the hubs. No amount of hammering or sledge hammering budged them (tried the sides of the knuckle first to shock them, then moved to the tops, and then even applied pressure with a puller and hit the sides, nada. Would not be surprised if these are OEM with the 190k the body has on them...
Silly me thought a sawzall would cut it
Finally got one cut and separated, tried again with a puller and hammer combo and nothing. Let soak in penetrating fluid. Nothing. Gonna bring to a shop and see if they can press them out...
Moved onto the power steering rack as the drivers side control arm bolt wasn't sneaking past the rack, so out comes the rack, and I started to pull the pump but that one bolt hiding behind the line fitting had me fucked up so I stopped for the day yesterday, gonna get back at it in a few here.
I ordered sway bar end links, measured and ordered sway bar bushings (turns out my sway bar is not OEM and measures 30mm. Siick. Also ordered rack offset bushings while I was at it.
Gonna pickup a new pump once I pull the old one.
Hopefully the rear end is smooth sailing because this can of worms is OVERWHELMING
I'm usually better at picture taking but I didn't think much of it while doing this, I was updating my instagram story of my struggles throughout the process though. @RBKienzler
Old struts and springs came out with the hangup being the strut bolts. But I got them off.
Springs seem to be OEM and have been cut before.
Got the new coilovers in place, took awhile to figure out the little spacers to make it work with my C/C plates due to the spring top hat and clearances but I think I should be good now.
Had a causality though, forgot to order new sway bar endlinks, these ones seemed fine bushing where good so I figured why bother and then the sway bar and links said F you and one killed itself while trying to get the nut off
New control arms going in
Then encountered a problem, on both sides, ball joint is like welded to the hubs. No amount of hammering or sledge hammering budged them (tried the sides of the knuckle first to shock them, then moved to the tops, and then even applied pressure with a puller and hit the sides, nada. Would not be surprised if these are OEM with the 190k the body has on them...
Silly me thought a sawzall would cut it
Finally got one cut and separated, tried again with a puller and hammer combo and nothing. Let soak in penetrating fluid. Nothing. Gonna bring to a shop and see if they can press them out...
Moved onto the power steering rack as the drivers side control arm bolt wasn't sneaking past the rack, so out comes the rack, and I started to pull the pump but that one bolt hiding behind the line fitting had me fucked up so I stopped for the day yesterday, gonna get back at it in a few here.
I ordered sway bar end links, measured and ordered sway bar bushings (turns out my sway bar is not OEM and measures 30mm. Siick. Also ordered rack offset bushings while I was at it.
Gonna pickup a new pump once I pull the old one.
Hopefully the rear end is smooth sailing because this can of worms is OVERWHELMING
I have MM end links for you???
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FivepointSlow
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I forgot you had those.
I already ordered a set from LMR. I was gonna just rock the old ones as the bushings looked good but then one of them went all twist snap on me.. lol
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FivepointSlow
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Got the car ready for the misc bushings and such to button up the front end.
Dropped the steering rack
Then dropped the sway bar since I'm replacing those bushings anyways and it gave me some more space to get to the PS pump.
These bushings have definitely run their coarse
Pump was next, took out 3 bolts, left the 4th bolt that hides behind the high pressure line fitting (great design by the way...) used a PS pump puller to get the pulley off, which gave me room to get the fitting for the line off, which then allowed me to take the 4th bolt out and drop the pump. Way more of a headache figuring that process out and what had to come out to get it done then it seems when I type it out.. lol
Both lower control arms are now in, and everything is tightened down and ready for the hubs, which I dropped off at the local shop to have him fight the ball joint battle for me. I assume either his air hammer or press will make quick work of them.
Also double checked my clearances on the coilovers with my strut towers and CC plates.
The top hats on the coilovers will make contact with the steut towers if they're not perfectly centered, and I'd like to have the ability to get and alignment which means the strut needs to be able to move, so I put 2 of the fatter spacers under the CC plates which gives me enough for that required movement.
My other clearance issue was the nuts I am using have a built in flare washer deal, and won't allow movement in the spherical bearing in the CC plates if tightened down, so I used a half sized spacer to bump the nut up just enough to clear the CC plates during any movement.
This is where we leave off for now.
A bit of a mess which is not my usual style.
Should be getting the steering rack bushing in tomorrow, and I'll be picking up a new pump as well in the next day or so, then I can throw the PS stuff back together, hub assemblies will be done tomorrow aswell so the hubs can go back in aswell.
Sway bar bushings and end links will be here thursday/friday so next weekend I will be able to be done with the front end.
Hoping the rear goes smoother...
Dropped the steering rack
Then dropped the sway bar since I'm replacing those bushings anyways and it gave me some more space to get to the PS pump.
These bushings have definitely run their coarse
Pump was next, took out 3 bolts, left the 4th bolt that hides behind the high pressure line fitting (great design by the way...) used a PS pump puller to get the pulley off, which gave me room to get the fitting for the line off, which then allowed me to take the 4th bolt out and drop the pump. Way more of a headache figuring that process out and what had to come out to get it done then it seems when I type it out.. lol
Both lower control arms are now in, and everything is tightened down and ready for the hubs, which I dropped off at the local shop to have him fight the ball joint battle for me. I assume either his air hammer or press will make quick work of them.
Also double checked my clearances on the coilovers with my strut towers and CC plates.
The top hats on the coilovers will make contact with the steut towers if they're not perfectly centered, and I'd like to have the ability to get and alignment which means the strut needs to be able to move, so I put 2 of the fatter spacers under the CC plates which gives me enough for that required movement.
My other clearance issue was the nuts I am using have a built in flare washer deal, and won't allow movement in the spherical bearing in the CC plates if tightened down, so I used a half sized spacer to bump the nut up just enough to clear the CC plates during any movement.
This is where we leave off for now.
A bit of a mess which is not my usual style.
Should be getting the steering rack bushing in tomorrow, and I'll be picking up a new pump as well in the next day or so, then I can throw the PS stuff back together, hub assemblies will be done tomorrow aswell so the hubs can go back in aswell.
Sway bar bushings and end links will be here thursday/friday so next weekend I will be able to be done with the front end.
Hoping the rear goes smoother...
DKblue98GT
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Lots of work. Definitely easier to remove the Pulley first...
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FivepointSlow
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Yea spent about 30 minutes trying to find my swivel ended 10mm wrench only to spend 30 more minutes cussing about not being able to get leverage on it without the end slipping off the bolt. figured it out in the end though lol
Currently debating if a new steering shaft is in order aswell... I had either play or a dead spot in my steering... I remember it as a dead spot right in the middle of about 1/16 of a wheel turn with no response from the wheels but I never narrowed it down to being a dead spot or continuous play in the wheel...
But this MM solid shaft is looking tempting though
RAU03MACH
Legend
Iv had days like thatHave a couple days off here and nothing else going on. The mustang hadn't been touched since it went up on jackstands a few weeks ago and I'm eager to drive. Been so busy I couldn't touch it til now.
I'm usually better at picture taking but I didn't think much of it while doing this, I was updating my instagram story of my struggles throughout the process though. @RBKienzler
Old struts and springs came out with the hangup being the strut bolts. But I got them off.
Springs seem to be OEM and have been cut before.
Got the new coilovers in place, took awhile to figure out the little spacers to make it work with my C/C plates due to the spring top hat and clearances but I think I should be good now.
Had a causality though, forgot to order new sway bar endlinks, these ones seemed fine bushing where good so I figured why bother and then the sway bar and links said F you and one killed itself while trying to get the nut off
New control arms going in
Then encountered a problem, on both sides, ball joint is like welded to the hubs. No amount of hammering or sledge hammering budged them (tried the sides of the knuckle first to shock them, then moved to the tops, and then even applied pressure with a puller and hit the sides, nada. Would not be surprised if these are OEM with the 190k the body has on them...
Silly me thought a sawzall would cut it
Finally got one cut and separated, tried again with a puller and hammer combo and nothing. Let soak in penetrating fluid. Nothing. Gonna bring to a shop and see if they can press them out...
Moved onto the power steering rack as the drivers side control arm bolt wasn't sneaking past the rack, so out comes the rack, and I started to pull the pump but that one bolt hiding behind the line fitting had me fucked up so I stopped for the day yesterday, gonna get back at it in a few here.
I ordered sway bar end links, measured and ordered sway bar bushings (turns out my sway bar is not OEM and measures 30mm. Siick. Also ordered rack offset bushings while I was at it.
Gonna pickup a new pump once I pull the old one.
Hopefully the rear end is smooth sailing because this can of worms is OVERWHELMING
07GtS197
Well-Known Member
The play could have been from steering rack bushings too. The ones in my 02 gt looked ok but when I turned the steering wheel the rack moved noticably before the wheels moved.
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Your stalling issue sure does sound like a bad alternator.
Get yourself a 10mm ratchet wrench for the power steeeing pump bolt, or you could have pulled the line off the pump to access the bolt with a socket. I’ve pulled dozens of these pumps and never had to remove the pulley.
Get yourself a 10mm ratchet wrench for the power steeeing pump bolt, or you could have pulled the line off the pump to access the bolt with a socket. I’ve pulled dozens of these pumps and never had to remove the pulley.
DKblue98GT
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I would definitely recommend the MM steering shaft.
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FivepointSlow
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I tried sneaking a 10mm ratcheting wrench with the swivel end in there and was able to get it on the bolt but the swivel end (I don't think thats the correct terminology but its the end that bends) was at such an aggressive angle I wasn't able to keep the head on the bolt and turn it with any leverage.
When that wasn't successful I tried getting the line off but the line was of course the one size of wrench I didn't have handy. I think it's like an 11/16 or something and I couldn't find one that fit, and my adjustable wrenches all where too thick to fit between the pump pulley and line to get to the nut of the fitting. So I figured my next best bet was to pop the pulley off which had to come off anyways to go onto the new pump.
Pulley being off freed up room to get the line off with an adjustable wrench, which freed up room to get a socket on the bolt.
I think I am going to keep it in mind for now, and get it back together and driving again and not turn this into a huge ordeal of replacing every single thing in the car, so I can actually enjoy it for the summer, and if I still have play and the shaft needs to be replaced it doesn't require tearing much out to remove, not sure the exact process but I imagine I just need to loosen the rack bolts and nudge the rack forward a bit to slip the shafts on and off, but I shouldn't have to completely remove the rack and drain fluids and such so it doesn't HAVE to be done now "while everything's out" lol
But thanks for the recommendation I didn't even know they had aftermarket steering shafts until I started poking around.
DKblue98GT
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It's really easy to get sucked into "replacing everything" but it sure makes the project take longer...
The MM shaft makes the steering really quick. Installation is very easy.
It's a lot of money for a part you don't really need.
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The MM shaft makes the steering really quick. Installation is very easy.
It's a lot of money for a part you don't really need.
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FivepointSlow
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Steering rack bushings came in, got the ones that came with the rack out and put the offset ones in.
Had to order a new PS pump through napa shipping direct from manufacturer because no parts store around me had one in stock.. seems legit. So that will be in hopefully by the 16th
Had to order a new PS pump through napa shipping direct from manufacturer because no parts store around me had one in stock.. seems legit. So that will be in hopefully by the 16th
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FivepointSlow
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New day new problems
Old sway bar bushing have seen better days...
Greased up the sway bar bushings and went to toss the sway bar back in
One side no problems, other side? Spin spin spin...
The little stupid retaining clip for the world's shallowest carriage bolt snapped off.. grinded the bolt off and pulled it all out.
Realized the hole in the frame is square. So rolled the dice and went to home depot and grabbed a carriage bolt in hopes it would do.
Bingo worked like a charm.
Not sure why ford went the shallow carriage bolt/retaining clip route but oh well that's buttoned up.
Got my bumpster kit off the old rack and onto the new rack
Popped off the old dust covers just out of curiosity and found some grossness
Then took a look at the old dust covers themselves and I'm not sure how this happens but I'm sure it didn't help the life of the rack lol
Front end is just waiting on the hubs (forgot to pick them up from the shop before then weekend so I'll grab them tomorrow)
And then the rack goes in
Next I tackled the RLCAs, pass side went fine.
Then on the drivers side I couldn't find the front mounting point nut in the frame... wierd.. grabbed the bolt on the other side and sure enough its loose, pulled straight out... it was never bolted in.. YIKES.
Would explain why the rear end would kick/walk out under acceleration though.. amazed the bolt stayed put for however long that wasnt tightened down!!
Old sway bar bushing have seen better days...
Greased up the sway bar bushings and went to toss the sway bar back in
One side no problems, other side? Spin spin spin...
The little stupid retaining clip for the world's shallowest carriage bolt snapped off.. grinded the bolt off and pulled it all out.
Not sure why ford went the shallow carriage bolt/retaining clip route but oh well that's buttoned up.
Got my bumpster kit off the old rack and onto the new rack
Popped off the old dust covers just out of curiosity and found some grossness
Then took a look at the old dust covers themselves and I'm not sure how this happens but I'm sure it didn't help the life of the rack lol
Front end is just waiting on the hubs (forgot to pick them up from the shop before then weekend so I'll grab them tomorrow)
And then the rack goes in
Next I tackled the RLCAs, pass side went fine.
Then on the drivers side I couldn't find the front mounting point nut in the frame... wierd.. grabbed the bolt on the other side and sure enough its loose, pulled straight out... it was never bolted in.. YIKES.
Would explain why the rear end would kick/walk out under acceleration though.. amazed the bolt stayed put for however long that wasnt tightened down!!
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DKblue98GT
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Pretty scary about the missing nut.
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FivepointSlow
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Went to the hardware store for the 1000th time in the last week to get a nut for the rear control arm, and finished those up, and reinstalled my rear sway bar.
Tossed in the rear coilovers which despite my subwoofer and accompanying wires being in the way they both went in without a problem and have been he most straight forward thing thus far.
Picked up my hub assemblys from the shop and tossed those in.
Also ordered a brake hardware kit and while I had the caliper off I went through and greased the brackets and replaced the anti rattle clips and pins, in hopes that it stops my noisy front brakes.
Then I got a magical call from NAPA that my pump came in, so I shot up there, picked it up, tossed it in (which was a struggle, put it in and forgot to do the bolt behind the line first, so down it came, line off, etc), then tossed the rack in.
Filled with fluid and started the car up and oh boy I have never been so depressed seeing fluid piss out of the bottom of my car...
Then I realized I did not replace the seals in the rack lines because I didn't get new seals with the rack I bought...
So tomorrow the rack comes back out and the lines will get resealed.. Luckily NAPA has a reseal kit in stock for the teflon rings, and I am going to try to see if they have o-rings that will fit aswell...
I am OK... I am OK...
Tossed in the rear coilovers which despite my subwoofer and accompanying wires being in the way they both went in without a problem and have been he most straight forward thing thus far.
Picked up my hub assemblys from the shop and tossed those in.
Also ordered a brake hardware kit and while I had the caliper off I went through and greased the brackets and replaced the anti rattle clips and pins, in hopes that it stops my noisy front brakes.
Then I got a magical call from NAPA that my pump came in, so I shot up there, picked it up, tossed it in (which was a struggle, put it in and forgot to do the bolt behind the line first, so down it came, line off, etc), then tossed the rack in.
Filled with fluid and started the car up and oh boy I have never been so depressed seeing fluid piss out of the bottom of my car...
Then I realized I did not replace the seals in the rack lines because I didn't get new seals with the rack I bought...
So tomorrow the rack comes back out and the lines will get resealed.. Luckily NAPA has a reseal kit in stock for the teflon rings, and I am going to try to see if they have o-rings that will fit aswell...
I am OK... I am OK...
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FivepointSlow
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After running around to 3 Napa stores who all said they had the teflon seal rings in stock over the phone, the 3rd one did, got back to the garage, dropped the rack, cleaned the threads, threw the new rings on, which was easier after watching a video on how to get them over the threads without a tool and without damaging them, tested everything before putting the rack back up (I'm learning to not make more work for myself) everything seemed fine with the rack on the floor and pushing the tie rods manually.
Put the rack back up, spent entirely too long lining the steering shaft up and getting that to slide into place, everything tightened down, test it again without the tierods connected to the hubs, everything's great!
Go to connect the tierods and I guess the repeated on and off coupled with someone cross threading them at some point and one of the said bye bye.
So now I have a driveable car with no steering.
Let me go order a new bumpsteer kit and wait on that in misery...
Oh and while testing I was going lock to lock and when I went all the way left it felt like it was hanging up on something and I guess I turned it a little too hard and I heard a tiny snap, and then my airbag light went on... and now my horn doesn't work... fuck.
Clock spring maybe? I pulled the bag off and everything looks visually fine... its flashing airbag code 32 which I haven't googled yet.
Oh joy.
Put the rack back up, spent entirely too long lining the steering shaft up and getting that to slide into place, everything tightened down, test it again without the tierods connected to the hubs, everything's great!
Go to connect the tierods and I guess the repeated on and off coupled with someone cross threading them at some point and one of the said bye bye.
So now I have a driveable car with no steering.
Let me go order a new bumpsteer kit and wait on that in misery...
Oh and while testing I was going lock to lock and when I went all the way left it felt like it was hanging up on something and I guess I turned it a little too hard and I heard a tiny snap, and then my airbag light went on... and now my horn doesn't work... fuck.
Clock spring maybe? I pulled the bag off and everything looks visually fine... its flashing airbag code 32 which I haven't googled yet.
Oh joy.
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