Engine Foxbody idle/throttle issues

General karthief · May 29, 2024

Cause and effect...
Cause there is oil dripping on the starter......
It's not supposed to be oiled, only operates (hopefully) for a few seconds.
I won't bore you with 'my '97 Super Duty has 600k+ miles and only replaced starter once'. True story.
Effect...
Oil seepage disrupts the electrical current, dirt and crude gathers on the oily residue making matters worse. Inside and out.
To put it in perspective, take a scrap piece of metal, any metal, place a couple drops in the centre, stick it in a corner, on a shelf, under your car, someplace out of the sun and out of your way. You will be surprised how much it spreads in a week or so. Imagine months and miles, heat cycles, you get the picture.
Replace the starter pay'n attention to the condition of cables and connections, fix the oil leak, most times it's the valve cover gaskets.
Now go forth my friend and be powerful

red5.0fox · May 29, 2024

limp said:
You have never heard of a shop replacing a worn starter in a car before??

I’m confused as to of what you’re referencing.. what does a shop replacing a starter have anything to do with this?

red5.0fox · May 29, 2024

General karthief said:
Cause and effect...
Cause there is oil dripping on the starter......
It's not supposed to be oiled, only operates (hopefully) for a few seconds.
I won't bore you with 'my '97 Super Duty has 600k+ miles and only replaced starter once'. True story.
Effect...
Oil seepage disrupts the electrical current, dirt and crude gathers on the oily residue making matters worse. Inside and out.
To put it in perspective, take a scrap piece of metal, any metal, place a couple drops in the centre, stick it in a corner, on a shelf, under your car, someplace out of the sun and out of your way. You will be surprised how much it spreads in a week or so. Imagine months and miles, heat cycles, you get the picture.
Replace the starter pay'n attention to the condition of cables and connections, fix the oil leak, most times it's the valve cover gaskets.
Now go forth my friend and be powerful

Sucks. Spent a lot of money on the starter just a couple months ago. Oh well I guess.

limp · May 29, 2024

red5.0fox said:
I’m confused as to of what you’re referencing.. what does a shop replacing a starter have anything to do with this?

I simply made reference to the fact that starters do fail, even new ones... Sorry I confused you...

General karthief · May 29, 2024

red5.0fox said:
Sucks. Spent a lot of money on the starter just a couple months ago. Oh well I guess.

well aftermarket parts just don't have the quality 'contol' anymore, that said, a lot of cranking like a 'no start' condition takes a toll on them. I try to get stuff like starters and alternator from the O'Reilly Zone with a 'lifetime guaranty '

General karthief · May 29, 2024

red5.0fox said:
Sucks. Spent a lot of money on the starter just a couple months ago. Oh well I guess.

well aftermarket parts just don't have the quality 'contol' anymore, that said, a lot of cranking like a 'no start' condition takes a toll on them. I try to get stuff like starters and alternator from the O'Reilly Zone with a 'lifetime guaranty '

Noobz347 · May 29, 2024

red5.0fox said:
Sucks. Spent a lot of money on the starter just a couple months ago. Oh well I guess.

Fix the oil leak, if you haven't done that already, and look for a shop in your area that rebuilds starters. I can almost guarantee you that a rebuilt starter out of an actual shop is going to be more reliable than [anything] that you could find on a shelf today.

Like the General suggested, the quality control just isn't there anymore. You get an old guy in a shop, he rebuilds these things with components he's proven over and over.

limp · May 30, 2024

Noobz347 said:
Fix the oil leak, if you haven't done that already, and look for a shop in your area that rebuilds starters. I can almost guarantee you that a rebuilt starter out of an actual shop is going to be more reliable than [anything] that you could find on a shelf today.

Like the General suggested, the quality control just isn't there anymore. You get an old guy in a shop, he rebuilds these things with components he's proven over and over.

Old Guys rule......

red5.0fox · Jun 6, 2024

Update: the starter problem was just the trigger wire not making a good connection. Starts fine now, and drives great. It seems to have some little hiccups. The idle sticks when I clutch in coming to a stop, but I think that’s because I don’t have a speedo right now. It does overheat in traffic aswell but I think that’s because I’ve been running pure distilled water with no coolant since it’s been running. I’m gonna have to do a flush and get some coolant in there. Other than that, it seems okay so far!

red5.0fox · Jun 7, 2024

So I’ve still got some gremlins. While cruising usually in any gear at a constant rpm you can feel it stuttering a little bit. It’s not very noticeable. Thinking it may be plugs if they got fouled out from being rich for so long?

General karthief · Jun 7, 2024

Replace plugs and check cap and wires too.

Noobz347 · Jun 8, 2024

... and do the old [Open the hood with the car running when it's pitch black outside] to check for any lightning leaking through your [lightning hoses].

red5.0fox · Jun 20, 2024

Plugs solved that problem! Runs super smooth now. But with one solved comes another.

I cannot keep the car cool with the AC on. It does great sitting at idle in 90°+ with no AC on, but it’ll overheat once you crank the AC. And I mean it’ll creep all the way up towards the top of the gauge.

I have flushed the system with prestone’s kit, ran the prestone cleaner, and refilled the radiator bleeding the air out using a funnel. What I have noticed while I’m bleeding it for the second time, even after 15-30 minutes of running heat on max, the air bubbles will not stop coming..

I’m supposed to be taking this thing to myrtle next weekend for a week. Are electric fans going to solve my issue, or do I have something more serious?

I also replaced the thermostat. The prior one was brand new, but I replaced it anyway, and that didn’t fix it.

red5.0fox · Jun 20, 2024

red5.0fox said:
Plugs solved that problem! Runs super smooth now. But with one solved comes another.

I cannot keep the car cool with the AC on. It does great sitting at idle in 90°+ with no AC on, but it’ll overheat once you crank the AC. And I mean it’ll creep all the way up towards the top of the gauge.

I have flushed the system with prestone’s kit, ran the prestone cleaner, and refilled the radiator bleeding the air out using a funnel. What I have noticed while I’m bleeding it for the second time, even after 15-30 minutes of running heat on max, the air bubbles will not stop coming..

I’m supposed to be taking this thing to myrtle next weekend for a week. Are electric fans going to solve my issue, or do I have something more serious?

I also replaced the thermostat. The prior one was brand new, but I replaced it anyway, and that didn’t fix it.

Also, clutch is new, and water pump is new. The radiator is a cheap one from autozone or rock auto and it’s like 3 years old. Maybe a new radiator?

AeroCoupe · Jun 20, 2024

If bubbles keep coming that may be a head gasket leaking. Hope not but that’s a known indicator.

red5.0fox · Jun 20, 2024

AeroCoupe said:
If bubbles keep coming that may be a head gasket leaking. Hope not but that’s a known indicator.

Man I literally did the head gaskets during this whole ordeal. I’ve probably had the car running for 2 months since I did it, and hardly any miles

General karthief · Jun 20, 2024

I think there is a inexpensive test kit for combustion gases in coolant
I poked around the inter web a couple seconds, seems I remember 'combustion test strips' that you dipped into the rad coolant to show contamination but didn't find any.
What? They were too easy?

red5.0fox · Jun 20, 2024

General karthief said:
I think there is a inexpensive test kit for combustion gases in coolant
I poked around the inter web a couple seconds, seems I remember 'combustion test strips' that you dipped into the rad coolant to show contamination but didn't find any.
What? They were too easy?

I’ll see if the parts store has some strips. And whatcha mean, what was too easy?

General karthief · Jun 20, 2024

The Googlefu shows kits from like 25-30 bucks to stupid money, we used to buy the test strips for a buck apiece, I guess they gave the rats cancer at landfills in California

red5.0fox · Jun 21, 2024

General karthief said:
The Googlefu shows kits from like 25-30 bucks to stupid money, we used to buy the test strips for a buck apiece, I guess they gave the rats cancer at landfills in California

Just tested it using a renter from the autostore. Fluid stayed blue and never changed color, so no head gasket leak?

Engine Foxbody idle/throttle issues

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Active Member

Active Member

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done

Active Member

Active Member

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

Active Member

Active Member

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

Active Member

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Active Member

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Active Member

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