My svo died last night need help

2113 Views 26 Replies 7 Participants Last post by NavySVO, Jul 24, 2009

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · Jul 14, 2009

Im so freakin upset!!!! On saturday night one of my friends took my car for a test drive, it was fine beforethen. It turned off on him twice because of his drivin skills, we got back and parked it. When it was time for me to leave i turned it on an all of a sudden the idle droped so low it almost turned off and jumped to about 800rpm and droped again. The motor would shake and turn off sometimes because the idle would drop too low and just did this ever since. I parked it all day sunday and decided to drive it monday evening, as i was headed back home i noticed that when i was cruising it felt as if it wanted to cut off, i would give it some gas and it would be fine. About less than half a mile from my house i caught a red light and it died on me, i cranked it and nothing. My guess, im hoping, is that is just a sensor of some kind or that freakin TFI module. Can any one please help.

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SM90Stanger

· #2 · Jul 14, 2009

First of all, NEVER let a friend (who can't drive) drive a rare and expensive car such as yours.

As far as the problem, it could be a dead battery because it sounds like the engine just isn't getting a spark and then you can't even start it after.
First, get the battery tested. If the battery is fine, it's the alternator. You can go get that tested as well. Also check to make sure your air filter isn't clogged. Just go over all of the basics: battery, spark plugs and wires etc. Beyond that, I can't really help. Sorry and good luck:bigthumbsup!

TOM RENZO

· #3 · Jul 15, 2009

Check for spark and fuel. Is the cam turning? If not timing belt could have jumped or broke. If not run codes and repost

TOM RENZO

· #4 · Jul 15, 2009

Check for spark and fuel. Does the cam turn when you crank it? Does the DIZZY turn when cranking. Timing belt could have jumped or the dizzy gear could have lost teeth. If not run codes and repost

FrankBullitt05

· #5 · Jul 15, 2009

try a leakdown test as well, may be a broken headgasket or some such...

I had the headgasket deteriorate on my car between the 1 and 2 cylinders and have very similar symptoms as you described. No compression for those two cylinders, and thus no power.

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 15, 2009

dead 84 svo

TOM RENZO said:
Check for spark and fuel. Does the cam turn when you crank it? Does the DIZZY turn when cranking. Timing belt could have jumped or the dizzy gear could have lost teeth. If not run codes and repost

Theres both spark and fuel and for the timing belt it seems to be fine unless it jumped but the friend who drove it punched it only once and didnt rev it over 4500 rpm and was fine when we parked it 'till a couple of hours later.

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 16, 2009

FrankBullitt05 said:
try a leakdown test as well, may be a broken headgasket or some such...

I had the headgasket deteriorate on my car between the 1 and 2 cylinders and have very similar symptoms as you described. No compression for those two cylinders, and thus no power.

Thanks for the pointers but when you have a busted head gasket the motor usually smokes and mixes water with oil and my car has none of those, thank god, well it smokes at start up a little but im pretty sure thats just old valve seals. I'll still check compression later cause i havent done it.

TOM RENZO

· #8 · Jul 16, 2009

Check fuel preasure. And run codes. you can do a quick check to see if timing jumped by removing the plug on the front cover and look to see if the timing marks are lined up. Crank to cam. Then check the ignition timing. How old is the TB. It may have jumped.:bigthumbsup:happydance:

IXXBC

· #9 · Jul 16, 2009

Could it be your intake at the impellor of your turbo? When the turbo doesn't get sufficient air it bogs and dies.

NavySVO

· #10 · Jul 16, 2009

test the TFI using this

See less See more

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 16, 2009

i was just about to ask how to test some of these sensors or modules, thanks so much.:bigthumbsup

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 16, 2009

im sure the TB is as old as the car is but i could not get that damn plug off its so stiff i didnt want to tear it. As soon as i get off from work ill take the whole cover off. If it where that the TB jumped wouldnt the motors malfuction be constant?
because my cars malfuction would go away sometimes, it started malfuctioning little by little. I still have a gut feelin it might be the MAP,TFI, or the TPS. I noticed once that when i had the car at idle, before all this happened, i would hold the throtle to hold the rpms like at 1500 and it would bog and idle would drop low and motor would shake just alittle not so bad as before it died. The idle would get back to normal after a few seconds but this would happen only at that certain rpm.

NavySVO

· #13 · Jul 17, 2009

rix_five0 said:
im sure the TB is as old as the car is but i could not get that damn plug off its so stiff i didnt want to tear it. As soon as i get off from work ill take the whole cover off. If it where that the TB jumped wouldnt the motors malfuction be constant?

Are you talking about the TPS plug? It isn't on the throttle boby per say, just the wiper portion of the TPS is held onto it by 2 screws. Follow the wires out to get to the plug.

rix_five0 said:
I still have a gut feelin it might be the MAP,TFI, or the TPS.

You don't have a MAP sensor. You do have a BAP (Barometric Air Pressure) sensor that should have the port open to the atmosphere. The reason I mention this is that some people have hooked it up to the vacuum tree thinking someone else disconnected it.

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jul 17, 2009

the plug that tom renzo mentioned to me and i later mentioned, im guessing, is the one on the TB cover to check the markings on the timing gear. As for the BAP i didnt get a chance to check it when i found out that( as i suspected) the TFI is bad, i ran some tests according to the document you sent me, thanks alot again:bigthumbsup. I took off the old one and noticed it was an aftermarket piece brand name WELLS, so i guess it had gone bad once before. I want to purchase the motorcraft tfi but that thing is expensive, over $140, but i found one MasterPro with lifetime warranty for just $37, i just hope i dont have to change that freakin piece every month.

NavySVO

· #15 · Jul 17, 2009

rix_five0 said:
is the one on the TB cover to check the markings on the timing gear. .

Ah...TB = Timing Belt.....I thought you were talking about the Throttle Body

rix_five0 said:
but i found one MasterPro with lifetime warranty for just $37, i just hope i dont have to change that freakin piece every month.

Buy another one so you can change it out to get to the parts store for your new one when it fails again. It is always good to have a spare as well. It will come in handy when you are in the middle of nowhere and break down.

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jul 17, 2009

thats exactly what i had in mind scince theyre so cheap but i talked to this local mechanic that told me he can get me the motorcraft module for about $85 new, so its either two cheap taiwan w/ lifetime warranty or one good motorcraft w/ one yr. warranty that adds up to about the same amount. When i called the autoparts for that cheap one they told me that they had two different ones. One that was for Centrifugal fuel injection w/ electronic module indentification? wich looked just like the one on my car and another for Electronic engine control? wich they didnt have in stock and did not know how it looked. Do you know about these? wich should i get?

TOM RENZO

· #17 · Jul 17, 2009

I am totally confused . You are changing the TFI module ??????? You posted you had SPARK AND FUEL. Totally confused. How could you have spark and fuel . And now you are changing the TFI module???????????????? In my post i asked you if you had spark and you said YES. If the answer was no i answered your question on the 3rd post and would have said replace the TFI. The two different EFI modules are DIZZY mount and REMOTE mount.

TOM RENZO

· #18 · Jul 17, 2009

Sorry for the triple post. I dont know how to edit.:headscratch::so:scratchchin

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jul 18, 2009

When you post a comment and youre still logged in just there should be an icon in the bottom right of your post that says edit, just click on that. And the TFI module or ignition module doesnt just dies on you, from my experiences with my 89 5.0 when it malfuntioned, the symptoms where as if it was really off timing and eventually it would cut off and i would have hard starts till it just gave out on me. I replaced it twice and there was actually a factory recall wich i got $700 from ford for me replacing the original part and any other expenses i had because of that. Anyway, all i did was change the TFI and problem solved, i hope thats what is wrong with this one.

rix_five0

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jul 18, 2009

TOM RENZO said:
Check for spark and fuel. Does the cam turn when you crank it? Does the DIZZY turn when cranking. Timing belt could have jumped or the dizzy gear could have lost teeth. If not run codes and repost

I took off the tb cover and everything seems to be in place and no signs of damage anywhere, the belt is tight with all its teeth, ans so does the cam gear. How do i check if its aligned right?

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