New to the forums but needed some help and after searching google for answers, I haven't had much luck coming up with a solution for my specific problems. A little background on the car though in case it may help.
Bought the car a few years ago. Motor in it was bad. The previous owner started to take it apart, but gave up after removing one of the valve covers and loosening the intake. Ended up just replacing the motor with one from an 03. Which was an ordeal in itself. Had to change the flywheel and clutch because i have the t-45 transmission and 01+ had the tr3650. And not only did I pay the shop for the motor swap, but also had to pay them to do a head gasket job because it smoked like crazy when they hooked everything back up. But never the less, it needed tires bad. Sat for a bit, fuel pump went out. Searched these forums and other sites for possible causes and ended up ordering one from rockauto. I was sure it was the pump but wasn't 100%, even after testing other areas, like the switch in the trunk and etc. Sat for another month or so and car would not start.. ended up after more testing, bought one from a parts store (where I work) and fired right up. Also cleaned the tank, new fuel, new filter, etc. Figured that's what I get for buying a cheap one in the first place. The car itself is shy of 200k miles. Has aftermarket ignition coils, mishimoto radiator, which is sadly leaking and needs to be replaced, and it came with the car so no warranty. Other than that, its stock otherwise. Got tires for it and have been driving here and there this last week or so. (Still needs a bit of suspension work and a alignment) It has many issues but for right now, I just want to focus on a few.
As far as I'm aware, it hasn't been wrecked. The front and rear bumper are cracked on the drivers side, like they bumped into something, rear driver side wheel well is scuffed some as if they rubbed up against a hard surface, and the passenger door is dented/damaged where the body of the and passenger side fender come together. (Not physically though) Looks like previous owner? attempted to fix these areas, but did a poor job at it. Still has a clean title though..
Only thing I've done to it since I bought the car, at least personally, is some suspension work (Outer Tie Rods, Lower Ball Joints). Has some SR performance lower springs, and a K&N Cold air intake kit( which was a PITA to install) Other than that, just been some body work here and there, and some TLC. Needs more suspension work cause the car feels "floaty" if that makes sense.
Sorry for the long post, just trying to give as much info as I think could help. Ever since I started driving the car and/or turning it on before I was actually driving it, the instrument cluster would be real slow to turn on. Like a good 10 seconds or so before the odometer would turn on, and the gauges moved. Now, all the gauges, from what I can tell work. ( Reason I say that is because the coolant temp gauge takes a long time to move...due to the aftermarket radiator I suppose?) All the lights underneath the gauges, traction control, MIL, ABS etc. do not light up, even when you put key into the run position. The theft light works and will blink a few times and light up like normal before it turns off, same with the battery light if you stall the car out. When looking for my fuel pump related issue, I noted in CJB under the driver side dash, fuse #5 or F2.5 depending on which diagram your looking at, was blown. Replaced with another 15a fuse and lights worked like normal. Went to start it up and back to the original issue. Fuse was blown again. Replaced it again. Same thing. Headlight switch, and dash illumination works. I do not have the rear defroster switch plugged in, nor the fog light switch. ( Thought the fog light switch was bad and took it apart and now I cant get it back together lol) I decided to do a double din install and was going to relocate both switches to under the radio. Though, I learned that the defroster switch is a pain to relocate because later models had a separate relay and mine doesn't, or something like that. I broke my cluster bezel piece when trying to figure out the instrument cluster bezel and in my haste at the locale salvage yard to get a new one, I didn't notice the replacement did not have the cut out for the defroster switch. Which is why its not plugged in. Cant find the fog light switch (the one that's mounted next to the E-Brake and coin holder) and its been discontinued by ford...go figure.
The other issue is I have the mach 460 sound system, and no sound from the left side of the car. The car does have an aftermarket unit in it. Was in the car when I bought it. If I move the unit itself, it does change the sound on the right side some, but nothing from the left. I thought at first it was my aux cord causing the issue, but even the radio does the same thing. I have taken the radio out, when I was figuring out the double din conversion, and there was only one plug going to the radio and then the cable for the antenna as well. I could have sworn that both sides where working at one point. Maybe I pinched something off?
As far as I can remember, the instrument cluster was acting up well before I took the radio out, but maybe its related somehow? Can take pictures of the connector and all the radio wiring someone did later if needed. Other than that, there are other things Ill address at some point. Some i can figure out by searching others ill need a bit of help, like the starter making noise on startup. Sorry for the long post. Most of this is probably not needed, but ive read other post about similar issues and people asking if the car was in a wreck or if it had an aftermarket head unit etc. Just wanted to be as thorough as I can, or I feel as I need to be. Could go on about other quirks this car in particular but that's for another day.
Any help would be appreciated. And i'll try keeping the posts shorter next time.
Bought the car a few years ago. Motor in it was bad. The previous owner started to take it apart, but gave up after removing one of the valve covers and loosening the intake. Ended up just replacing the motor with one from an 03. Which was an ordeal in itself. Had to change the flywheel and clutch because i have the t-45 transmission and 01+ had the tr3650. And not only did I pay the shop for the motor swap, but also had to pay them to do a head gasket job because it smoked like crazy when they hooked everything back up. But never the less, it needed tires bad. Sat for a bit, fuel pump went out. Searched these forums and other sites for possible causes and ended up ordering one from rockauto. I was sure it was the pump but wasn't 100%, even after testing other areas, like the switch in the trunk and etc. Sat for another month or so and car would not start.. ended up after more testing, bought one from a parts store (where I work) and fired right up. Also cleaned the tank, new fuel, new filter, etc. Figured that's what I get for buying a cheap one in the first place. The car itself is shy of 200k miles. Has aftermarket ignition coils, mishimoto radiator, which is sadly leaking and needs to be replaced, and it came with the car so no warranty. Other than that, its stock otherwise. Got tires for it and have been driving here and there this last week or so. (Still needs a bit of suspension work and a alignment) It has many issues but for right now, I just want to focus on a few.
As far as I'm aware, it hasn't been wrecked. The front and rear bumper are cracked on the drivers side, like they bumped into something, rear driver side wheel well is scuffed some as if they rubbed up against a hard surface, and the passenger door is dented/damaged where the body of the and passenger side fender come together. (Not physically though) Looks like previous owner? attempted to fix these areas, but did a poor job at it. Still has a clean title though..
Only thing I've done to it since I bought the car, at least personally, is some suspension work (Outer Tie Rods, Lower Ball Joints). Has some SR performance lower springs, and a K&N Cold air intake kit( which was a PITA to install) Other than that, just been some body work here and there, and some TLC. Needs more suspension work cause the car feels "floaty" if that makes sense.
Sorry for the long post, just trying to give as much info as I think could help. Ever since I started driving the car and/or turning it on before I was actually driving it, the instrument cluster would be real slow to turn on. Like a good 10 seconds or so before the odometer would turn on, and the gauges moved. Now, all the gauges, from what I can tell work. ( Reason I say that is because the coolant temp gauge takes a long time to move...due to the aftermarket radiator I suppose?) All the lights underneath the gauges, traction control, MIL, ABS etc. do not light up, even when you put key into the run position. The theft light works and will blink a few times and light up like normal before it turns off, same with the battery light if you stall the car out. When looking for my fuel pump related issue, I noted in CJB under the driver side dash, fuse #5 or F2.5 depending on which diagram your looking at, was blown. Replaced with another 15a fuse and lights worked like normal. Went to start it up and back to the original issue. Fuse was blown again. Replaced it again. Same thing. Headlight switch, and dash illumination works. I do not have the rear defroster switch plugged in, nor the fog light switch. ( Thought the fog light switch was bad and took it apart and now I cant get it back together lol) I decided to do a double din install and was going to relocate both switches to under the radio. Though, I learned that the defroster switch is a pain to relocate because later models had a separate relay and mine doesn't, or something like that. I broke my cluster bezel piece when trying to figure out the instrument cluster bezel and in my haste at the locale salvage yard to get a new one, I didn't notice the replacement did not have the cut out for the defroster switch. Which is why its not plugged in. Cant find the fog light switch (the one that's mounted next to the E-Brake and coin holder) and its been discontinued by ford...go figure.
The other issue is I have the mach 460 sound system, and no sound from the left side of the car. The car does have an aftermarket unit in it. Was in the car when I bought it. If I move the unit itself, it does change the sound on the right side some, but nothing from the left. I thought at first it was my aux cord causing the issue, but even the radio does the same thing. I have taken the radio out, when I was figuring out the double din conversion, and there was only one plug going to the radio and then the cable for the antenna as well. I could have sworn that both sides where working at one point. Maybe I pinched something off?
As far as I can remember, the instrument cluster was acting up well before I took the radio out, but maybe its related somehow? Can take pictures of the connector and all the radio wiring someone did later if needed. Other than that, there are other things Ill address at some point. Some i can figure out by searching others ill need a bit of help, like the starter making noise on startup. Sorry for the long post. Most of this is probably not needed, but ive read other post about similar issues and people asking if the car was in a wreck or if it had an aftermarket head unit etc. Just wanted to be as thorough as I can, or I feel as I need to be. Could go on about other quirks this car in particular but that's for another day.
Any help would be appreciated. And i'll try keeping the posts shorter next time.