Fuel switching questions.... got the orange "CHECK ENGINE" light came on

[HiFiMerc]

A couple? It only needs one.

Don't forget, you can use the GMN discount code. I think it's good for 5% off.

[Hearsesrock427]

Updates!

Checked the plugs and verified they were socketted in securely, and that the plug wires were on securely. Still getting some stumbling, but it's a lot more intermittent now. Sometimes you can REALLY feel it (especially at part throttle, weirdly), other times it's not there at all. When the plugs were bad, it was a hard fault, ie: it was always there no matter what. Now it just comes and goes. Thus, it's got to be wiring related. So I ordered a set of Ford Racing plug wires. Idle was a lot better than it was last time I drove around. She idled perfectly in traffic at some stoplights, and not-so-perfectly at other stoplights. So I ordered a new IAC from RockAuto. Also ordered the parts for the H-pipe from Summit Racing and RockAuto! Also gutted most of the air pump garbage. Only stuff that's left are the tubes that go into the cats on the exhaust pipes, and the belt for the pump (I read something about using a smaller belt with the air pump removed). Need to plug the hole up in front where the lines came from, that's a $5 fix at Home Depot.

What about gutting the A/C? I never use it, and never need it. It takes up a lot space under the hood. Where/how would I go about deleting the system? Anything to be careful of/watch out for? I don't want to join the blown heater core club if I can avoid it, haha.

@HiFiMerc: I plan on owning this car until I die, so I figured I might as well buy a bunch of IACs. My original one is on its way out, and it's only been 71,000 miles. Assuming the other IACs only last that long, I figured buying 4+ wouldn't be bad idea..... but it's kinda silly to blow 200+ dollars on a series of assumptions. Haha.

[slack]

Just something to think about with the smog delete stuff. We don't have to get smog tests any more in NY because of being over 25 years old but some shops can still give you a hard time or fail you on your inspection if you're missing emissions components.

I've been pretty lucky in the past with other cars I've done that too but I was told once "Come on man, you have to at least make it look somewhat believable." He didn't charge me, but I also didn't get a pass that day either.

There's a bunch of other guys here that are from NY, I'm sure they can chime in with their own experiences. I don't know if upstate is different than here...

As for the AC delete, if the system is EMPTY you should be able to just unbolt the stuff to get it out. If it still has gas in it, a shop could empty it.

[Hearsesrock427]

@slack: Thankfully, I'm on good terms with a couple shops who see the value in a roomier engine bay. hehe. Lots of old hot-rodders!

I'll be having some go-fast work done in the coming weeks- perhaps while Ebyt's there getting the H-pipe done, they could empty the A/C. There's a place not far from my house that doubles as an ethanol free gas station and a shop, so maybe they could hook me up. Thanks for the info!

[Hearsesrock427]

Update.

Didn't end up going to get the exhaust mocked up. The tranny started acting REALLY weird recently. I think I broke something, bad. You see, ever since I had Ebyt, she'd take her time shifting into Overdrive Lockout (or any forward gear, as I would later find out) from any gear. Example: I'm backing out of the driveway. I go from Park to Reverse. No problem, nice and quick engagement. RPMs drop a bit, but she never stalls. So I back out of the driveway, into the road. I want to go straight, so I shift into Overdrive Lockout. Things get weird here. I feel the gear engaging, just like when I shift into reverse. But when I step on the gas (almost always lightly) to get her moving, she lurches and bucks. It's a smooth bucking though. Sometimes she doesn't even go when I push the pedal. She just revs in place- as if she's stuck in neutral. It got REALLY bad yesterday. I was in a rush to get out of parking lot. I shifted from Park to Overdrive Lockout. Waited ~1.5 seconds, until I felt the gear engage. Then I applied moderate throttle. Just revved it up. Then she just lurched on away, after some 2+ seconds of revving. Figured I messed something up soon after..... I was just cruising down the road, very light/part throttle. First gear was fine; she'll go in and out of it without problems. Second gear is worse. She'll go into it, but she won't shift out if it willingly anymore- especially at part throttle. Ebyt held second gear until like, 40 MPH. She's not supposed to do that unless I'm at WOT. By that time, there were some obvious vibrations and shaking (torque converter shudder?). It got a LOT worse as I went faster, as I would soon learn on the highway. By 50 MPH, the vibrations were so bad, they were shaking the seats like crazy. It felt distinctly different from that knocking feeling I had before switching to 10W-40. It was definitely not low oil pressure or high coolant temp. Tried engaging and disengaging Overdrive at ~50 MPH. It was..... inconsistent. But it always took a while to engage. And it just didn't feel right. So I slowed down to ~40, and the vibrations lessened. I was shitting myself by the time I got back home.

Needless to say, I got to flushing the tranny fluid today. I'm letting her slowly leak out into a drain pan. I'll drain as much as I can by letting it leak out, then drain the rest after emptying my 10 quart drain pan. Will replace the tranny fluid filter, and add 12 quarts of Mercon V. And since the pan will be dropped anyway, where can I find a tranny pan with a built-in drain plug? I'd hate to have to dig another trench in my lawn (this is so I can get adequate space underneath), then straddle it with Ebyt, just to do a flush! I also will need a couple bolts; I somehow lost one whilst loosening some of them on the pan. I'm hoping some new bolts come with the replacement pan?

[Hearsesrock427]

Update!

Got the pan off, and emptied it. Just need to clean it, and get a new gasket for it. Still need to remove the old filter. Hopefully there's no metal chunks in there. Also, do I need to replace the magnet? If so, where can I find the parts? I need pictures of where the torque converter drain plug thingy is. I know that if it's not visible when you first get under there, just crank the motor with the starter "bumping the motor" to get the converter drain plug thing to show itself.

[lincolnlarry]

How did the fluid look? Did it smell burnt look black? The magnet just needs cleaned off. Is there any metal chunks stuck to the magnet?
The convertor plug will be seen with the dust shield off looking to the back of the car with your head under the oil pan. There will be a hole in the flat flex plate the convertor is attached to when you rotate the engine. The drain plug is in the hole.

[lincolnlarry]

This seems to be a good investment/deal for something that will make your life much easier.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-3-T...0101/204337248

[Mainemantom]

This seems to be a good investment/deal for something that will make your life much easier.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-3-T...0101/204337248

X2 on this plus I would invest in some ramps. I like the plastic ones better than the metal. Not very expensive.
I would also invest in the factory Ford shop manuals for your car. You can find them on Ebay .
You will also find RockAuto to be a friend.

[Hearsesrock427]

Added some context

@lincolnlarry: It wasn't totally black.... more of a bronze color than anything else. Definitely not dark red and definitely not very transparent. Good thing I changed it! There are likely still issues though. For one, my transmission pan didn't have a magnet in it at all. Weird. Then there's the issue of potentially not draining the torque converter. I thought I found the drain plug for it, but I may have been mistaken. Thanks to you, I was looking in the right area. So we're close. But the drain plug wasn't visible (didn't bump the engine enough). Not to mention, the weather was cloudy, and making an easy to miss part that much harder to see. After looking up pictures of AOD torque converter drain plugs, I'm convinced I missed it yesterday. I'll try later tonight, and I'll use a flashlight to find the hole. It's got to be there somewhere.

Filter, gasket, and pan all went on fine.

[gadget73]

The AOD doesn't have a magnet in the pan from the factory.

Non-original converters may not have the drain plug. If it was rebuilt in the past, its possible there just isn't anything there to find.

[Hearsesrock427]

@gadget: I think that's the case here. I know exactly where to look now; seen tons of pictures of the torque converter drain plug location. It should be right on that plate that feels like mosaic tiles. http://s4.photobucket.com/user/Capta...using.jpg.html

10mm socket wrench should be able to gain me access to the plug..... but there's no hole or anything ANYWHERE. It's just metal plate. So what now? I read something about using a oil cooler line to pump the old fluid out? I'd need a huge-ass drain pan for that though. Or several 10 quart pans.

[gadget73]

Thats an AODE. The AOD doesn't have the hole. You have to remove the metal plate forward of that. Its vertical, and goes from the bottom of the trans bellhouse up to the back of the engine. Should be 4 or so smallish bolts, and you can slide it down. If there is a bracket going forward from the bottom of the trans to the motor mount, you can loosen the nut on the motor mount and swing it out of the way to get the shield down. Once thats all out, you'll be looking at the front side of the flexplate. There are 4 nuts that secure the converter to the flexplate. between those nuts, you should find cutouts in the flexplate. Behind one of them is a pipe plug to drain the converter. it faces the front of the car.





dude is taking the torque converter nuts off, but you should be looking at something awful similar to this to find the drain plug. And yes, I know thats a C4. The image works well enough for this explanation tho.

[Hearsesrock427]

@gadget: Thanks for the tip! Got the fluid drained from the converter, and put the new fluid in. We're up to just under 12 quarts. I say "just under" because there's a leak a few inches past (toward the back of the car) the tranmission pan. It comes and goes too; doesn't seem to be a pattern to the leak. Weird. The pan itself, barely leaked at all, despite me losing a bolt. Fixed the leak in the pan by tightening the bolts a bit (there were a few that were slightly loose). Swung by Advance Auto Parts, and found some fluid you put in your tranmission to stop the leaks and restore the seals. It's a 2 part treatment that costs ~$10. It was called "Bar's Leaks" IIRC. What caused the leak past the pan, and how do we fix it?

[Hearsesrock427]

Update. Didn't up buying the Bar's Leaks snake oil. Magic potions FTL.

After going back through my fluid change steps, I'm convinced that I added too much fluid. I didn't have ANY leaks before I added some more fluid (despite some mildly loose bolts on the tranny pan). It was only after I added the 10th or 11th quart of fluid that she started leaking the two aforementioned places. It got REALLY leaky past the pan as I poured in the 12th quart. Will drive around a bit, and see if the leak stops by itself.....