Need help with my '88 GT

zookeeper

Founding Member
Aug 25, 2001
3,415
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109
Rogue River, Oregon
Ok, I have some minor problems that I've been putting up with, but really need to fix. First, I have an oil leak somewhere on the top end. It really sucks because it leaks down the rear of the motor and finds it's way to the exhaust which not only makes a mess on my floor, but makes a smokey mess inside the car at stoplights. I think it's either the intake or the valve covers and I'd like to put new gaskets in both while I've got the intake off. How hard is it to get the intake off? Anything I should be careful of? The next prob is an erractic idle, I think I caused this one. Due to the oil leak, I needed to clean all the oil off the motor to try to track the leak down, so I sprayed the engine down with a degreaser and gently hosed it off with a light mist of water. Even though I tried to aviod all the electrical stuff, I evidently hurt something, because the car would barely run at all. After driving it a bit, it got better, but since then the idle is erractic and it occasionally dies at stop lights. Could it be the TPS? Anyway to test it myself? The third problem is overheating. A few months ago, the car started losing water somewhere and it would barely go 60 miles between refills. Once I got it home, I looked to try to see where it was coming from, but being that it was dark I couldn't see much. Since I was in the middle of doing paint and bodywork on my '68 fastback and I had my truck to drive to work, I didn't get the time to work on it for a while. Yesterday, I filled the radiator, and pulled it out of the garage to let it warm up while I washed it. It idled for nearly 45 minutes and the temp guage got to the middle of the normal range and no hotter. I drove the car a few miles to try to get it to leak and never could. Today I drove it nearly 70 miles and it didn't use a drop of water. Since I don't know of any car that fixes itself, I'm pretty sure the problem is still there, but what could it be? Any chance of a stuck thermostat causing it to overheat and puking the water out? Any help at all with any of my long-winded issues would be appreciated, since I love driving the car and it gets better mileage than anything else I own!
 
when removing the lower intake pay special attention to the de-torquing sequence and re-torque the opposite way when putting it back on. valve covers should be a snap. dunno what is causing the coolant leak best way to find out is have it pressure tested if you cant find the leak yourself
 
Thanks, I've done a ton of small-block Ford intake swaps, but I'm kind of intimidated by the EFI stuff, and this is my first one. I was mostly concerned with snapping off a connector or accidently damaging something. If the torque sequence is the biggest hurdle (I hope!) I may have a fighting chance after all!
 
Disconnecting the fuel lines can be a real pain too, especially if they have never been off. You will need those little A/C-fuel line disconnect tools ("rings") for this.
 
DMAN302 said:
I'm not familiar with DEtorquing?...get a hanes manual and learn up a bit before you jump right in.
c'mon, we all know what that is; it is the same as anti-fastening. :D