well, my ler blew up due to backfire, how do i put on a new one? any tips?
Take it down to a ler shop,install a new dual exhaust,pay the man,leave happy.It's easier to have a shop do it and weld everything up nice and secure.I hate clamps.That is my suggestion.Otherwise,if you insist on doing it yourself,go down to the parts store,buy a ler that fits your exhaust pipe and is the right offset and length,cut the other ler off,hope that your exhaust pipe isn't rusted,fit the new ler in,clamp it down.Generally,one can get a decent exhaust for $200.00 (aropund here you can).The cost goes up with higher quality lers,different tip options,etc.But a basic system is fairly affordable.
If you have a torch heat the connections up real red and wiggle the pipe or ler off.
First, find out why it backfired, then fix it. Otherwise you'll just blow the new one up. I know this from experience :hick:
In my case it was the '85 T-Bird (V6 carbureted). The anti-backfire valve in the smog pump system didn't do its job. I was in the passing lane on a four-lane highway going around a slower car and came to a turn so I let off on the gas. The moment I did the car backfired and blew the ler up. While I was right next to the car I was passing. It almost went in the ditch (probably thought I was shooting at 'em). For a few days I had a blast driving around with my still-intact-but-very-bent ler whose baffles had been blown out. I quickly learned how to make it backfire on command (short burst of WOT, followed by sudden lift of the gas pedal = BANG). I then decided to trade the car in on the 1991, so I got a new ler (under the lifetime warranty). Accidentally blew the new one up on the way to the Ford dealer. Luckily the dealership only intended on sending the car to auction (the car was 8 years old and had 270k miles on it at the time), so they didn't deduct from the trade in.
thats exactly what mine does, a quick press of the gas and release, backfire, mines a CFI 87 3.8
oh yes, how effective would seafoam be on this engine? i see a vacuum line tap, would i use the hose that goes under the air filter box?
if you want to wake that 3.8 up a whole lot more,, delete the smog system, gut the fuel injector screens, and tune in your tps. Also adjust your fuel presure regulator 1/2 turn.
the smog can be completely removed off the 87 3.8 but you gotta use another belt.
see my diy link for all related vac lines that need cap'd off as well as cleaning up the CFI base plate / EGR . There is a gold pcv fitting on the rear driver side of the CFI that cloggs up with carbon which ends up restricting EGR flow,, this causes problems elsewhere. Another thing to check is when your motor is hot, remove the belt and spin the smog pump by hand to see if its binding any. If you do delete the smog, just pinch off the pipe tubing on the y pipe so you dont have an exhaust leak.
A better swap would be to hunt down a v8 cfi motor and realize that those get more air in to your runners. You can not use the injectors on that CFI so you will need to swap in your green top injectors.
Ive said a lot here, all this depends on your tools and time and talent.
Hehehe mine pops backfires through the pipes just letting off the gas, especially in the 45-50 MPH range before overdrive kicks in. Of course my car doesnt "coast" either, its like driving a stick and letting of the gas but leaving the clutch pedal out. Mine is also an 87 3.8 CFI.
Hoopticat & 88Foxbird, I am real curious about how that backfiring can happen.
Do me a favor and check how long the fuel pump runs when you put the ignition in RUN without starting the car.
Does it run for one or two seconds or does it run continuously.
it happens when you get too much gas in the cylinders and exhaust. Generally the only time I've had it happen to me is when my cats were bad/nonexistent and when I had one or more cylinders not firing correctly or at all. after you floor it the gas gets thrown into the exhaust and when you let off the gas ignites from the heat from the other cylinders.
It runs for the usual couple seconds. I think my car has other issues besides the occasional overfueling. Every once in awhile on a warm restart it has trouble strarting and I have to pump the gas alittle for it to fire, and when it does I get black smoke out the pipes for a sec. Also the car doesnt coast so think the trans may have an issue.
you should never have to give a fuel injected car gas to start.
your probably dealing with an illusion because when you give it gas, your opening the throttle plates more for air.
Since your stepping on the gas, the tps voltage is higher to.
the lack of the car feeling like it can coast could be throttle plate position as well.
Id suspect someone has been adjusting the idle control motor assmembly on the cfi driver side and has it out of wack.
I think you should start a check list, that is if your keeping the car. Sorta like cleaning house so to speak. there really is only three things that need looked at,,fuel , spark , air.
start with a fuel pres test. You should have 40psi at the shrader valve on the driver side upper part of the CFI. You could load test the fuel pump by driving with the fuel presure tester taped to your windshield. Observe the lowest reading while your transmission is switching gears.
Next, get rid of those old fuel injector screens.
there is so much to say but thats a good start,, lots of good stuff on 3.8's in my diy.
You might want to take time to pull any codes as well
and just for your information,,, if you ever need a gallon or two of gas, that motor is excellent for doing so.
Just find your eec code connector on the driver strut tower (triangleish shaped with 6 pins.
Find the tan/light green wire
jumper that wire directly to your car chassiis ground somewhere.
unhook the CFI fuel feed line on the rear pass side.
loop that line into your gas can
turn your key on
and gas will continue to flow until you unhook the jumper wire or turn off the key.
I havent touched a thing on the motor apart from when I did the oil change. When I have problems with it starting(which is rare), it would not start at all unless I pumped the gas a little while cranking and then it would fire up and puff black for a sec. Do you think the IAC needs replaced?
Also on the coast issue. I dont know if I explained it right but its like when your driving a stick and you let off the gas but dont push the clutch in and use the engine to slow you down. It seems more like the trans isnt disengaging (for lack of a better description) than a throttle issue but I could be wrong.
All I care is the motor lasts until the Ranger is back on the road and then the bird will sit until spring. Hopefully I will figure out what to do with it by then.
if you have an 87 engine,, you dont have an IAC.
Good explaination on the transmission drag. Sounds like your not getting into overdrive.
There is a rod that goes from the CFI linkage down to the transmission. there is a plastic grommet that the rod snaps on at the CFI which could be worn out but if it were, it would likely fall right off.
there are the same type of plastic grommets on your shifter linkages under your brake booster. its a complicated labrynth of thingamabobs that make the shifting happen and if just one of the plastic parts is gone down there, you wont hit overdrive correctly.
im kinda confused on your car,,
you say its an 87 but i see you have the turbo coupe nose and a primer hood.
if it were an 87 3.8L CFI engine, you would not have that stuff.
Is this motor out of an 88? swapped in?
That's good, it means the EEC computer is working and you are not in 'limp home" mode.
Maybe you have a leaking injector that's flooding the engine.
Opening the throttle lets more air in to lean it out.
Running the self tests and pulling the codes is a good idea.
Now your confusing me. It is an 87 3.8 cfi with a TC nose and hood swapped on it. Also the car is getting into overdrive and the linkages all look good. BUT the trans fluid doesnt look all that healthy but its still shifting fine for the most part. Heres one for ya. When it downshifts from OD to 3 at about 35mph it doesnt do it smoothly, its kinda like (another stick buttstuffogy lol) downshifting without rev matching in a stick shift.
Anyway its a $250 car that was wrecked when I got it with 104K on it and now it has around 112K and this was all put on in a period of about 7 months and it was doing this the whole time. Original plans were to swap the 5.0 cfi ho that is sitting in the garage into it when the 3.8 died but the little sumbitch wont quit lol! Right now I have another project that has priority(2.3T Ranger) so the little 3.8 just gonna have to keep going.
Sorry for the rambling that probably didnt make sense but I'm tired.
sounds like you know what to do.,,,, filter and fluid type f.
while the pan / filter is off, start the car and just at idle, a helava lot of fluid will rush out from i guess the converter and whats still stuck up in the transmission. I do this for just 10 sec or so to get more fluid out.
if no ones ever been in the tranny, you'll probably find a plastic lolly pop thing floating around in the pan.
Type F in an AOD? I was always under the assumption that type F would destroy an AOD (which requires Dexron). I've heard of people using a quart of type F to firm up the shifts, but never a whole pan full of it...
you would know better than me, but type f has always been my trans fluid for everything ford.
type f was introduced by ford in 63 for thier transmission, and dextron introduced by gm for thiers. Your thinking is perfectly understandable with all the years of GM experience you have.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/atf.htm I am not really sure anymore how applicable the type f or dextron is anymore today as it was over the past years. As we know, many changes have came along. I guess all we here as a community need to know is what was the transmission fluid used in 1983 on a bird or coug. I remember my neighbor in VA Beach telling me what my father had always said. Type f for ford, that other stuff is for gm.