Project Rio

woody · May 12, 2014

Developed a Coolant leak somewhere. Replaced the Water Pump as it was starting to make a noise. Also replaced the Serpentine Belt and Thermostat. Afterwards, the leak made itself apparent. Leak is coming from where the metal meets the plastic on the thermostat housing on the intake manifold.

woody · May 12, 2014

Replaced the leaking intake over the past few days.

woody · May 12, 2014

After the intake replacement, I ran into some hesitation issues under load. I ordered MSD Wires and MSD Coil Packs. I'm hoping that this solves my misfire issue. The #4 & 5 spark plugs were soaked in coolant. As well as the spark plug boots. I went over everything else in detail and looks good. #5 cylinder had coolant in it. I was able to wick it out with a nylon rope, several pieces later, I can insert nylon rope in the cylinder and it comes back dry. I checked all the other cylinders and they are dry as well.
Decided to replace the spark plugs while in hopes that was the issue. Still had the hesitation issue. I inspected the plug gaps, all @ 1.3 per the ford service book.

I checked everything real closely and noticed that the fuel injectors #1 & #2 didn't look like the rest. checked the book and guess what - they where rotated 45 degrees. Fixed that and now everything is okay.
Well Guess what - No more hesitation...

woody · May 12, 2014

Today I installed MSD Coil packs and Street Wires by MSD.

woody · May 12, 2014

Replaced OEM parts with FRPP Roller Pilot Bearing, FRPP Nodular Flywheel, ARP Flywheel Bolts, Spec Stage 2 Clutch with Pressure Plate, ARP Pressure Plate Bolts, OEM Throw-out Bearing, New Pivot Stud, FRPP Clutch Fork, PA Performance Starter, Steeda Quadrant, Steeda Adjustable Clutch Cable.

Started by putting the rears on ramps, and lifting the front up on jack stands.

Then disconnected the rear exhaust, removed the cat's. After that the Driveshaft came out.

While getting ready to remove the Bell Housing bolts, noticed that someone in the past used the transmission as a lift point.

Had my youngest daughter remove the shifter boot, shifter dust cover, and pull the Steeda Tri-Ax out.

8 Bell housing bolts, 2 easy bolts and 1 pain in the rear bolt on the starter and the transmission came out fairly easy.

Time to remove the flywheel.

There was still plenty of material left on the clutch, but that wasn't why I was upgrading. The Throw Out bearing was toast.

The new Spec Pressure plate had a manufacturing defect in it. My friend Neil was able to carefully grind it down.

The old Pivot stud was worn out.

Installed the new Pilot Bearing, Flywheel, Clutch disk, Pressure Plate with ARP Bolts. Afterwards we repaired the bell housing. Then installed the new Clutch fork, Pivot Stud, and Throw Out Bearing. The transmission went back into place fairly easy with the help of this homemade transmission adapter plate for my 2.5 ton floor jack.

woody · May 12, 2014

Now that the transmission was back in, time for the starter re-install. 2 easy bolts done, and then a friend painstakingly put the pain in the rear bolt back in. Note his hand in the picture below. The bolt is on top behind the starter with tight access.

Last thing to do was install the new Steeda Quadrant, Firewall Adjuster and Adjustable cable.

I want to thank Liz & Ernie for the use of their shop. I also want to thank James, Nelson, Neil, Liz, Ernie, Alex, and Chloe for helping out. Also want to thank my dad for making the transmission plate. I gave him the idea and numbers and he put it together. I made lifting the transmission in and out a breeze. Thank you Dad.

woody · May 12, 2014

Since my drivers side rotor and pads where making a noise and investigation revealed that the wear was uneven. I ordered new Rotors and Ceramic pads for all 4 corners of the GT.

Rears were a pain with the parking brake incorporated into the caliper. But it is done.

Front Brakes done and noise is all gone. road tested and everything works as intended.

sleepn_sn95 · May 12, 2014

Progress is looking good!

I need to do my rear pads soon. How hard is it to use that special tool?

woody · May 12, 2014

sleepn_sn95 said:
Progress is looking good!

I need to do my rear pads soon. How hard is it to use that special tool?

The tool is real easy to use. Turn clockwise and adjust as the piston retracts.

woody · May 12, 2014

The last month I have been having cooling issues with my 96 GT. Started with a cracked intake where the plastic meets the crossover tube at the thermostat. I have replaced all hoses, water pump, intake, and both sensors on the crossover tube over the past month. Drove it to Vegas and back and had no issues other than forgetting to tighten the radiator cap, causing it to overheat and force coolant out the cap. Replaced the degas tank when I got home as the low coolant sensor would not go off even though it was full of coolant and the temp was normal.

The car is quick to get real hot to the touch. The temp gauge moves up to the "O" in normal and stays there. The heater works, and there is no coolant under the carpet indicating a bad heater core. However I can smell coolant at times, especially after I stop and turn off the car.

The last week under hard acceleration from a stop the heater core inlet hose (the one that comes off the top rear of the intake) pops off leaking coolant everywhere. This has happened twice, and both under hard acceleration. Normal driving it's fine.

I'm thinking I may have a damaged a head gasket. :cry:

Any Ideas?

I will be compression testing the car this Thursday when I have more time.

Based on my Service Manual, I think I may have narrowed it down to a heater core issue.

Based on this cooling system diagnosis and testing flow. I need to do the Pinpoint Test B.

And based on Pinpoint Test B:

B1 - coolant level good

B2 - no signs of contaminants

B3 - no leaves or outside obstructions

B4 - the inlet and outlet hoses are different temps.

I narrowed it down to a no on B4

woody · May 15, 2014

Today I did the first test for a head gasket issue.

Started with the Coolant Tank Cap off and cold engine. No bubbles!!! and the car took almost 20 minutes to rise to normal temp.

This is where my gauge always sits at:

The lower hose (Heater Core Intake Hose) is the hose that pops off. Note the bulge.

woody · May 15, 2014

Took time today to get my Horn, Cruise Control, and Fog lights working. Replaced the Airbag Clock Spring because everything I read on the forums indicated that if your Horn and Cruise Control are not working then it has to be the clock spring. Well, that wasn't the case. The Horn and Fog lights work and will test Cruise Control when the rear end is rebuilt. It was a single missing fuse. Replaced and it works.

Disconnected the Battery and waited a few hours for the airbag to discharge its charge. Removed the 2 8mm bolts holding the airbag onto the steering wheel.

Then I removed the cruise control plug.

Then I used a T50 Torx bit to remove the steering wheel retaining bolt.

Then used a "OEM" Steering Wheel puller.

Then using a pick, I removed the tumbler.

Then I removed the plastic knee guard which is held on by 2 8mm bolts and 2 metal clips.

Then I removed the steel plate under that which is held on by 2 8mm bolts.

Then I removed the steering column plastic cover which is held on by 5 Phillips screws.

Then I disconnected the 2 connectors that are located on the steering column under the dash.

New Airbag Clock Spring in place. Now to reverse the process.

woody · May 18, 2014

Good News

Today I discovered my Cruise Control now works, so the replacing of the Airbag Clock Spring was not a waste of time.

Compression Test Completed.

Cylinder #1 180
Cylinder #2 180
Cylinder #3 180
Cylinder #4 185
Cylinder #5 180
Cylinder #6 180
Cylinder #7 180
Cylinder #8 185

Per the Ford book they are all within spec and within 75%

Cooling system flush completed and now crap in the system and pressure tested. I have noticed that the hose that keeps popping off is not like the OEM hose. It was too easy to slide off and the pressure meant the clamp couldn't hold it. Put a screw clamp on it and now the hose stays put under hard acceleration.

Like my dad said, the coolant smell is residual coolant that hasn't burned off from the time it showered the engine in coolant. The under side of the hood and top of the engine is sticky and smells like coolant. It will go away with time and a good cleaning.

Bad News

A week ago I started hearing a faint grinding or metal rubbing noise coming from under the car when I was slowing to a stop. The noise was occurring with the car out of gear and rolling to a stop. I then noticed it was also occurring in gear but was not as loud. Shortly after this I noticed a hum above 65 on the freeway.

Took it to my dads today to work on it. It did fine on the freeway to my dads from Mukilteo to Covington.

Jacked it up and took off the rear wheels. Placed the rear axle on jack stands and chocked the front tires. Had my dad start the car and put it into gear to listen for the noise. In the video you car hear it, and it's not coming from the rear end. It get more noticeable towards the transmission. So we thought it was a drive shaft or a transmission issue.

Since I didn't have a good jack to lift it high enough to look at better. We took it for a road test and the car started shaking and we could feel it in our seats and got worse the faster we went. It also got worse the further we drove the car and made it back to the house.

I parked it and ordered a new drive shaft.