3 questions ... thud ... hesitation ... tick

[AnthonyR23]

Hi, I have three problems all separate, so if anyone has any insight please feel free to comment.

The first...

This hasn't happened that often .. maybe 5 or 6 times .. if I am trying to accelerate quickly and shift from first too say second ... but say I shift a little too low in the rpm's I have heard a thud sound ... not sure if it is coming from the transmission, or the rear end or elsewhere. But it was a rather loud thud and I have no idea what it could be.

Second..

Sometimes when accelerating ... say in second gear ... low rpm's and I give it some gas to try to really get going .. it seems like it hesitates ... not instantly .. like the car starts to accelerate faster but it takes sometimes 3 or 4 seconds then it kinda just all of a sudden kicks in. Could this have to do with timing? Or could there be other reasons??

About the same old tick ... I finally got my pacesetter o/r x pipe and it is sitting in the garage.. but I have to take it with the original exhaust to get an emissions test. 15 days ago... anyways so I am getting a temp pass and have to drive the rest of the gas out of it.. bought that guarantee to pass stuff.. so I need to run it out of the system... anyways there is an extremely audible ticking which I am sure is an exhaust leak from the flange from the original h to the headers which I am hoping they don't catch for the emissions.. I don't want to repair it before only to rip it down after to put the x pipe on. So we'll hope for the best.. my dad doesn't seem to believe that the exhaust leak would be making this noise and I desperately want to be right... kinda justified buying my new headers and x pipe. lol

 

[BK_CAULEY]

the first problem cold be a number of things but im guessing its just the tranny bumping the bottom of the car cause of the sudden jolt of torque. i have had that happen before.

the second sounds like you need a tune up. plugs, wires, etc....

and the last. YEA exhaust can cause the ticking you are describing. just make sure the flages and manifold bolts are tight.

 

[AnthonyR23]

Ya hopefully its just that...about the thud... and I have brand new plugs, cap and rotor, new wires, I also bought new vacuum lines, just put a cold air intake on so the air cleaner is good, just did a oil change. Only real tune up type of thing I haven't done is change the fuel filter... could this cause hesitation?

 

[AnthonyR23]

Another quick question if you guys don't mind.. about grinding gears.. going from 2nd to third.. syncro's gone? Would or could a short throw with adjustable stops help?

 

[jrichker]

This won't help the trans problem, but may help isolate the engine problems...

Dump the codes and see what the computer says is wrong…Codes may be present in the computer even if the Check Engine light isn’t on.

Here's the link to dump the computer codes with only a jumper wire or paper clip and the check engine light, or test light or voltmeter. I’ve used it for years, and it works great. You watch the flashing test lamp or Check Engine Light and count the flashes.

See http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/

IF your car is an 86-88 stang, you'll have to use the test lamp or voltmeter method. There is no functional check engine light on the 86-88's except possibly the Cali Mass Air cars.

89 through 95 cars have a working Check Engine light. Watch it instead of using a test lamp.

Codes have different answers if the engine is running from the answers that it has when the engine isn't running. It helps a lot to know if you had the engine running when you ran the test.

Trouble codes are either 2 digit or 3 digit, there are no cars that use both 2 digit codes and 3 digit codes.

For those who are intimidated by all the wires & connections, see http://www.actron.com/product_detail.php?pid=16153 for what a typical hand scanner looks like. Normal retail price is about $30 or so at AutoZone or Wal-Mart.

Or for a nicer scanner see http://www.midwayautosupply.com/pc-7208-90-equus-digital-ford-code-reader-3145.aspx – It has a 3 digit LCD display so that you don’t have to count flashes or beeps.. Cost is $30.

 

[AnthonyR23]

Hey Jricher, I'm not getting any error codes... cleared them all up a few months back, could bad timing cause hesitation and would bad timing put out error codes? And about the exhaust I hope I'm right, but I heard that thump again today, almost right below me, transmission I think, but I wasn't pushing it that hard at all.. just low rpm's in second gear??

 

[jrichker]

Hey Jricher, I'm not getting any error codes... cleared them all up a few months back, could bad timing cause hesitation and would bad timing put out error codes? And about the exhaust I hope I'm right, but I heard that thump again today, almost right below me, transmission I think, but I wasn't pushing it that hard at all.. just low rpm's in second gear??

Bad timing will not set a code, unless you forget the woman in your lifes' birthday... Then you get lots of codes... Most of them angry...