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Topic: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0) (Read 9433 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #30 –
Got a tow dolly. The car returns tonight.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #31 –
Good luck!
The Birdman wouldn't lie!

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #32 –
What a freakin' nightmare. We almost flipped at least twice, until my friend got it through his head to slow down. So we spent the last 4+ hours driving back. At least it was the perfect time of night for it.

Oh yeah.. the battery also died on it, even though the guy had charged it up earlier in the week. So we had no flashers for the car while it was being towed.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #33 –
Quote
We almost flipped at least twice, until my friend got it
through his head to slow down.

Slow down? What are you, some kind of girly-man????  :p

When towing another car, you must drive at 85-95 MPH at all times. This keeps the towed car in the "slipstream", increasing overall fuel mileage, as well as creating a pear-shaped bow wave that actually pushes the towed car back into place, should it try to escape into the neighboring lane. It's all very scientific.  :cool:
Death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.

1988 5.0 Bird, mostly stock, partly not, now gone to T-Bird heaven.
1990 Volvo 740GL. 114 tire-shredding horsies, baby!

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #34 –
I'm still having bad flashbacks to the arse-end of my friend's SUV starting to jerk from side to side from the tow dolly and T-bird wagging. It came VERY close to breaking loose altogether. I get a sick feeling in my stomach every time I remember it.

Well, if all the hurricanes didn't turn me into an alcoholic, this past week and a half may just finish the job..

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #35 –
Amusing side-note:

As I said, we had no lights back there. Couldn't use trailer lights, (long story) and the battery on the Bird didn't last long, even with most of the rear parking lights removed so just the front ones were active. All we had for a light in the rear (aside from the four-way flashers on the towing vehicle, which were somewhat visible from behind the T-bird, but not directly viewable) was this thing:



It's a LED light you can strap to your forehead.. bought it before hurricane Charley.. it has two white LEDs, and one red LED, and you can switch between the two setups.. and can last easily over 100 hours on one set of AAA batteries. (more like 200 hours) I switched it to the one red LED and stuck it between the windshield and the dash. We drove by several police from multiple counties and never got pulled over once for a pretty obvious equipment violation. (with the trailer and the towed car lights out) I nominate this head-light as one of the handiest things I've ever owned.. heh.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #36 –
Update time:

Other friend came over tonight to look over the car. We changed the PCV valve, checked out the dizzy, (looks good, maybe cap and rotor are less than a year old, which would fit with the ignition tune-up he did w/ new plugs, wires, etc.) and a few other things.

1) Positive battery cable is toast. It's cracked to the point of showing bare wire. That'll be replaced soon.
2) The coil terminal looks to be almost chewed up.
3) Before we replaced the PCV, the car would crank and sound like it was trying to catch, but stepping on the gas pedal would kill that and it would go back to just cranking. After the PCV valve, stepping on the gas wouldn't change how it cranked.
4) After cranking it for some time, as I mentioned in another thread, you could start to smell raw gas.. but not from the engine compartment. (as in, most likely from the exhaust)
5) We pulled the #1 plug, and aside from it being a little singed brown, it was not fouled.. and looked relatively new. (see also ignition update)

I have the battery charging overnight again on 2 amps.. might look into a new coil and positive battery cable tomorrow.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #37 –
Meh.

Got the new coil and a new 2-gauge cable between the positive terminal and the solenoid. The car seems to WANT to run, even more so than before the coil change, but still won't stay running. However, there was still oil in the throttle body.. hadn't dealt with that yet. I decided to stuff a rag into the TB after pulling off the air intake hose, and I'll clean that sometime tonight or tomorrow.. there's a lot of oil still in there.

Still have to check the other 7 plugs and see how bad they look.. ran out of daylight, and the mosquitos would carry me away if I tried it now.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #38 –
As I mentioned in the other post.... check the cataliytic converters. Its common with plugged exaust for a engine to start and die, then not want to restart.

You can remove the EGR valve and try to start it(would be best to plug the intake side but not absoulty necessary, will just idle wayy too fast). If it runs its the converters.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #39 –
I'll try that tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

The coil probably should've been replaced anyway. There was a significant amount of metal missing from the contact. I'll have to take a picture of it one of these days.

May have to do a hammer job until I can get them replaced with high-flows, around engine swap time.. just to get it running around the yard under its own power.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #40 –
It's alive.. ALIVE, I tell you, ALIVE!

Pulled the EGR loose and started it.. it ran fine. Couldn't get it into gear or step on the gas, but pulling the EGR off allowed it to idle for some time.

Good thing it was cool enough to suppress the mosquito population long enough for me to crack this open.

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #41 –
Had it running again today.. even long enough for it to warm up. (4 bars up from C on the digi-dash) Oil pressure and charge were also acceptable.

Can't put it under load, though.. and hitting the gas is tricky. Have to do it a little at a time. I got the car moved about 6 feet back onto flatter ground. Do you think, for purposes of moving it to a more suitable work area, I should just try to disconnect the cats from the front and let it all hang?

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #42 –
Well, whatta ya know.. decided to charge it for a couple hours at 6 amps vs. 2, and this time I was able to get it running long enough and well enough to move it into the spot where I usually work on 'em. (backed it in.. don't exactly need to flaunt it to everyone that it doesn't have a tag on it.. heh)

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #43 –
Cool... Bust those cats out, and you'll be out crusing in no time...

Re: Is this even close to right? ('88 5.0)

Reply #44 –
Are all three cats?