I just got done changing the sparkplugs, plug wires, dist cap and rotor, coil, and i took off the smog pump and replaced it with a smog pump eliminator. I didnt have the time to take the pipe off the h pipe or the pipe that goes to the heads, i will do this later thouhg, this wont hurt anything will it. after i got done test driving it, i went to pull it into the garage and i heard a noise that sounded something like a ticking noise, it was going tick tick tick tick, constantly at idle, and it would get quicker when u rev it up. My idler pulley was making a squeking noise a while back then it went away. Could this noise be the idler pulley problem coming back. I hope so. Also my car is surging at idle agian. It did this when i bought it and i fixed it by cleaning the maf and all the other sensors and spraying carb cleaner in the throttle body. Im gonna do this again but if this dont fix it, could i just make my car idle a little quicker. I think this would def fix it. my car only idles at 600 right now, i figured i oculd put it to about 800 or 900. How would i go about doing this. Thanx for any help.
Problems with my car
- Thread starter bigap15
- Start date
CManT1914
New Member
If you didn't remove those pipes going to the heads and mid-pipe, that's an exhaust leak there. That would explain the ticking you're hearing. It won't hurt anything, but you'll lose mpg and a little power with it like that.
Also, don't mess with your idle speed, leave it alone. Your surging idle may very well be from your exhaust leak. When I had a bad exhaust leak a few months ago, I had an unstable idle as well.
Also, don't mess with your idle speed, leave it alone. Your surging idle may very well be from your exhaust leak. When I had a bad exhaust leak a few months ago, I had an unstable idle as well.
bill302
Active Member
click on link part 3 reset base idle also good info on solving idle problems. have you checked tps voltage? no reply on ticking CManT1914 hit the nail on the head.
http://www.muscularmustangs.com/maintain.php
http://www.muscularmustangs.com/maintain.php
94gts
Member
Well, the pipe coming from the h pipe was making a noise so i put the aird valve back on to kinda solve that. The ticking noise is coming from the front to drivers side of teh car. It only does it when i take it for a hard drive or when i just start it when its cold. I was thinking it might be a slight vacuum leak. What are some vacuum lines i should check. If i get vac gauge, how do i use this and what should my vac be. When i put my plug wires on, i didnt use the diselectric silicone stuff that was included. I was thinking about pulling the plug wires and putting that on there. thanx for the quick replys and keep them coming. I know i sound stupid about this but i guess im just a little nervous of whats wrong.
ok i have pluged the exhaust leak and taken care of that. I also found out that the ticking noise is only when the car is heated up like after getting on it a couple of times or something. I was thinking it was the fan hitting something making a ticking noise but i couldnt find nothing. Is there any vacuum lines or anything that only comes on when the car is heated up. like when the fan comes on. Also this problem shouldnt be in the engine should it cause it only comes on when it gets heated up. If it was a engine problem it would do it all the time wouldnt it. Thanx for the help
Someone please help. I dont know what to do. Im thinking about taking it to a shop and letting them examine it too. My car is now shaking quite a bit at idle and at 1 grand it is horrible. Could a spark plug wire not be on there all the way or something. Please help. That ticking noise is only when the car heats up like after i race or something. thanx. PLEASE HELP
Ok, with it shaking, go through the trouble code tests. Part of it is called a cylinder balance test. This will check each cylinder and tell you if a cylinder is missing. This is a quick efficient way of finding a miss, if you do the test while it is missing (by running rough, I assume you have a miss. I could be wrong).
Otherwise, go over all the things you touched when you did the maintenance. make sure all connectors are plugged back in and wiggle and push on each plug wire. The dielectrical grease is nice but not absolutely essential (it helps you to remove the wires in the future without destroying them). Dont use too much though. Make sure no wires are crossed and that none are touching.
You can run the car in the dark (BE VERY CAREFUL OF MOVING PARTS SINCE YOU ARE IN THE DARK!) and spray water around the wires. If you see blue sparks, you have wire leakage.
Random thoughts. Good luck.
Otherwise, go over all the things you touched when you did the maintenance. make sure all connectors are plugged back in and wiggle and push on each plug wire. The dielectrical grease is nice but not absolutely essential (it helps you to remove the wires in the future without destroying them). Dont use too much though. Make sure no wires are crossed and that none are touching.
You can run the car in the dark (BE VERY CAREFUL OF MOVING PARTS SINCE YOU ARE IN THE DARK!) and spray water around the wires. If you see blue sparks, you have wire leakage.
Random thoughts. Good luck.
wouldnt the shaking from a harmonic balance shake throughout the whole rpm range. Because it only shakes from idle to about 1500 rpm and then its smooth. Also i didnt even touch the harmonic balancer, i hope it didnt mess up by just taking off the belt. I will check all this out hopefully sat. If the harmonic balancer is shaking would i be able to tell while just looking at it? thanx for the help
xkuntrycowboyx
Member
ticking could b a plug wire arching across, also causing unstable idle. make sure you didn't get a bad plug wire to cause this. the shaking could be that you've put a plugwire back on in the wrong place. make sure you have the firing order correct. from disconnecting smog, there are several little vaccum lines. make sure all are cappped. when you did your plugs, did you make sure and gap them all correctly before installing?
run through everything you did one more time and double check it all.
and don't mess with your idle. 600rpm is where it needs to stay.
run through everything you did one more time and double check it all.
and don't mess with your idle. 600rpm is where it needs to stay.
CManT1914
New Member
bigap15 said:
That sounds like a bad balancer. Don't worry, it's probably nothing you did, they tend to go out after a while.
That rubber area that's sticking out should be flat, and not exposed. If it is, then your balancer is bad. That's the isolator that absorbs vibrations, when it starts to go, the outer ring can actually spin freely from the inner ring, causing your timing to go to pots. Not to mention then your crank takes a lot of stress. Not good! Crawl under the car and inspect it very closely.
well i just checked to see how much harmonic balancer would be and i found a stock replacement for 60 dollars. I thought they were more than this. Well sat when i get to look at my car i will see if i can figure out what it is. If i dont figure it out, i guess it will be going into the shop to see. If they say its the harmonic balancer i will have it replaced. I know the car is missing bad though cause u can here it missing in the exhaust and stuff. Im push comes to shove, i will take all the plugs out and regap all of them, i will check those wires, and if they are bad put the old ones back on. and i will check my firing order. It might be my firing order because i changed the caps over only to find out i put the wires on all backwards, so i had to put them back on the old cap adn change them over again, i might have messed somethign up. Does anyone have a picture of the firing order. Thank you guys for all your help.
Nope. If it is your first time, allow a couple hours just in case. It can be done in about 20 mins though, depending upon your set up.bigap15 said:
You will want to rent/loan a HB puller and installation tool.
Good luck.
I would definitely check those spark plugs and wires. One (or more) plug(s) may not be tightened enough. Take the plugs out and double check the gap. I had an F-350 that gave me fits after an engine swap. It was really running rough at idle and sort of smoothed out when revved-up a little. Long story short, I jammed the side electrode of the spark plug down into/onto the center electrode when installing the plug (the gap was 0.000"). 
Check to make sure that your firing order is correct, things get kind of confusing when changing out the distributor cap.
Good Luck with your search!! Phil
Check to make sure that your firing order is correct, things get kind of confusing when changing out the distributor cap.Good Luck with your search!! Phil
Similar threads
