3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #15 – September 03, 2017, 01:47:58 PM Quote from: TurboCoupe50;462532Compared to Ford's 3.8, the 305 was a Crown Jewell... Other than being a turd(mostly due to emission control/tuning), really no different than any other small block Chevy... Ford's 302/5.0 in same era didn't run much if any better...The only real problem with Ford's 3.8 were the heads... Aluminum heads were still in their early stages and Ford didn't allow enough material between the fire rings and some of the oil & coolant passages... So unless one flushed cooling system almost yearly they blew gaskets with regularity(I honestly dunno if that would have saved them)... The sharp 90* transition machined from lower head bolt surface to vertical was pr0ne to cracking in the early heads... To put it this way, in the last 50+ years I've owned close to 200 cars, not one had a Ford 3.8... Yes I've owned a 305 or two even some Chevy & Buick 3.8...Thanks for the background info on the 3.8L & the Chevy 305. Aren't the 3.8L engines in the 1989 Fords and newer more likely to blow a head gasket than the Fox body Cougars & T-Birds? Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #16 – September 03, 2017, 04:48:24 PM Pip is the pick up in the distributor. Can't remeber the more common name for it, but its similar to a crank or cam position sensor in a more modern engine. It is under the rotor in the distributor, and you may be better off buying a whole new distributor if you can get one. Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #17 – September 03, 2017, 11:38:34 PM Quote from: Haystack;462536Pip is the pick up in the distributor. Can't remeber the more common name for it, but its similar to a crank or cam position sensor in a more modern engine. It is under the rotor in the distributor, and you may be better off buying a whole new distributor if you can get one.Thanks for the additional info. I think the distributor is original but there's only 135K miles on it. I am guessing a new distributor will be quite expensive. Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #18 – September 04, 2017, 02:26:59 PM A brand NEW dist for my '96 F-150 with 5.0 was like $125... My old one has a bad PIP but I was too lazy to change it out... Of course it has remote mounted module, if that's included on new dist you can probably add $40-$50... Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #19 – September 04, 2017, 04:01:10 PM Quote from: Haystack;462536Pip is the pick up in the distributor. Can't remeber the more common name for it, but its similar to a crank or cam position sensor in a more modern engine. It is under the rotor in the distributor, and you may be better off buying a whole new distributor if you can get one.Is the idle air controller the same as the PIP or the TFI module or is it a separate part? And where is the "spout" I should disconnect? Is it the TFI? Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #20 – September 05, 2017, 07:42:55 AM Spout connector is a jumper plug near the distributor. It basically turns off certain computer functions and puts the car in limp mode. It is usually near the tfi plug that goes into the bottom of the distributor.The tfi mounts to the distributor and the large plug goes in there. The iac isn't the problem, forget about that for now. Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #21 – September 05, 2017, 08:43:55 AM Quote from: Haystack;462557Spout connector is a jumper plug near the distributor. It basically turns off certain computer functions and puts the car in limp mode. It is usually near the tfi plug that goes into the bottom of the distributor.The tfi mounts to the distributor and the large plug goes in there. The iac isn't the problem, forget about that for now.No basically it prevents control of timing advance by ECM, AFAIK everything else functions as normal... Definitely does not activate limp mode... Limp mode sets injector pulse at a fixed state, sooo engine is too rich at idle(usually see wisps of black smoke), too lean cruise, performance is in toilet... Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #22 – September 05, 2017, 10:44:56 AM Quote from: Haystack;462521My guess is that was a typo for iac, idle air controler.I had to look it up myself to make sure I wasn't forgetting things. Getting old!ISC = Idle Speed Control. CFI's method to control idle. It physically moves the throttle blade to adjust airflow. IAC sends air through it and bypasses the throttle blades. QuoteThe tps should sit around 1v at idle and reach 3.5v higher then idle voltage to initiate a full sweep. Everytime the computer is powered on, it checks for idle voltage. Anything between about .67-1.19 volts whould be in range, optimally closer to the middle of those numbers. Check for a constant raised signal until it pegs or reaches at least 3.5v higher then idle voltage. Any dead spots or higher then 5v indicates a bad sensor or possible ground wire.This...You didn't indicate what the actual code that was thrown... Have you verified voltage at idle?Although the 3.8 likes to blow head gaskets, the earlier ones aren't nearly as bad as the latter. Mine made it 226k before blowing. Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #23 – September 06, 2017, 03:32:37 AM Quote from: TurboCoupe50;462558No basically it prevents control of timing advance by ECM, AFAIK everything else functions as normal... Definitely does not activate limp mode... Limp mode sets injector pulse at a fixed state, sooo engine is too rich at idle(usually see wisps of black smoke), too lean cruise, performance is in toilet...Really? Thats interesting, i had problems a few times where the car wouldnt even start but if i pulled the spout it fired right up. I think this was on my 87 tbird with a 302, pulled off the timing chain cover and the timing chain was so loose you could almost touch the chain together inbetween. After i swapped the chain with a cheap double roller that issue went away. That really, really would explain alot. Quote Selected
3.8 L Cougar idling problem Reply #24 – September 06, 2017, 02:39:16 PM I would do some more trouble shooting before I would replace anymore parts. If you are still getting a TPS error code, that needs to be figured out.List the KOEO codes you get and define whether they are hard codes or memory codes. Quote Selected
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