85 Ford Thunderbird 5.0.....Swapped in a mustang 5.0 HO and T-5 Tranny.
Ever since the swap my speedometer hasn't worked. Lights up just fine and everything just shows 0 mph. Sometimes when in reverse I notice it registering 1 or 2 mph.
I tried replacing the speed sensor with a borg werner one from Oreilys but did not change the situation.
Any ideas on what to look for or how to troubleshoot this? Thanks guys. Jason.
Very well spoken jcassity. I think we all go through these types of thoughts and feelings even with the cars we love. You will forever be feeding the car time and money to keep it going as with any other thing you do, it just has to be worth it to you and fit into your lifestyle. I think you would have to pry my bird out of my cold dead hands before I let go of the car but things change in life.
Yeah, was great to see the birds and cats again. Putting my car on the dyno was real cool. (sorry for a all the smoke in your garage Greg, lol)
Yes, next time we need to all be on the same page where we are going. Would have rather hung out with everyone a little longer.
This is just the shot in the arm I needed to get me remotivated to get some serious work done on my bird. I've been putting off too many things for too long. I see some progress coming this winter.
Ok, and the winner is ignition switch. Thanks for the tip. When I pulled the column shroud off the ignition switch fell apart. Hopefully the borg werner inition switch from Oreily's will last longer. These dang things are rediculously troublesome. Thanks guys!!!
Tryn to get the tbird going after sitting about a year. Got plates and a battery for it. Problem though. Hooked up the battery but the fuel pump don't run, power windows don't work, no windshield wipers, no radio. Car has been sittn a while so I'm sure its something with a ground or wire somewhere. I relocated the battery to the trunk years ago when I did the 5.0 HO swap and everything had been working for years. I checked the ground at the battery. Sanded it all up etc and it sparked when I hooked it back up so it's got good connection there.. It cranks fine, dash lights all work, interior lights work, cluster lights work, but fuel gauge doesn't show fuel level upon putting the ignition in run position. All the head/tail lights and signals work. I checked a few of the fuses and they were good. Not sure what's going on exactly. I was wanting to drive this thing this weekend to knock some of the rust off and get her purring nice again. Darn it!! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Jason.
Well, after the last episode at a ler shop I am reluctant to let anyone I don't know weld on it. The last joker welded exhaust brackets on my trunk pan, burning holes in it and catching it on fire!! lol. If it' ok to weld that back up I can do it I suppose, or enlist someone better than I. I know a few.
What do you guys recomend i do to fix this? And to prevent it? I am thinking I used the wrong end links. Maybe they are too short and put too much strain on the brackets...??? This wouldn't be the first time my fix caused another problem. lol. All well, live and learn I suppose. Your help is greatly appreciated. I am starting now to get the little fixed on this car so I can go to cat-jam this year. I went looking expecting to find a broken shock cause I heard thumping but found the broken sway bar mount instead. YUK!
Well, I sort of fell off the face of the earth the past year and a half due to the fact I was going through divorce. It was final in September of 2007, and I now feel like I finally got my life back. The poor T-bird was functioning as my family car day in and day out to tote my 2 kids around in. Certainly not ideal in stop and go traffic with the stiff clutch behind the 5 speed and poly bushings making the ride very rough and no AC. But it held up and started every day, though in desperate need of brakes and struts and a host of misc maintenance that has been getting ignored for a long time. On the bright side I'm now fully functionally, past the stress related heart condition and firing on all cylinders again. I'm currently checking my dates to see if I can make Cat Jam. Problem is that it usaully interferes with my family reunion and with a couple of relatives that might not make the next reunion due to illness and general old age, I am reluctant to skip it. If the dates work out I'll have to get busy getting the bird in shape. Looks like the format of Cat Jam might be changing a bit from the last time I went to acoomodate the growing attendance. Kuddos to Eric and his helpers for keeping the ball rolling. Thanks. Jason.
Well, I didn't see any different wiring diagrams called out in the EVTM for the 85 T-bird for the speed sensor. That leads me to believe that the manual tranny doesn't matter. How do I check to see if there is a good circuit at the plug? Thanks, Jason.
