Well from time to time people drop off their cars when it has been to several shops. That either threw parts at it or just were stumped. Here is what i found see if you can tell me where the issue is.
1995 5.0 HO 5 speeder with 373 in the tail
Car runs smooth and idles great
Timing 12* BTDC with spout out.
Injectors new and stock.
Plugs wires dizzy and all other tune up parts new. Including a new TFI and DIZZY
Fuel pressure at 43 PSI no vacuum and a brand new 225 Warlbro pump. Brand new fuel filter
Symptoms very boggy and absolutely no power
Cant break the tires loose in first gear by matting the pedal
Codes 181 and idle code 425. Idle below normal Cylinder balance perfect!!!
This car is the slowest stock 5.0 ihave ever driven
Thoughts on why gentlemen ????
Please post what you think is wrong. Then i will post what i found!!
Are the cats still on it? I bought a 3.8 cougar once that wouldn't spin gravel, ended up being plugged cats.
Years ago I found a bad pcm that wouldn't advanced the timing on accel. Also found on another car a crushed fuel line that would give good fuel pressure but on accel would drop off because of a fuel flow problem.
Ive heard of computer problems on them. That would be my guess.
Is code 425 ligit?
code 181-- adaptive learned fuel control maxed out due to a lean condition.
I second the crushed fuel line.
Ok some more info. It is engine related. Even though this car is used every day by the customer to go to work. And it runs great other than a total lack of power. I can drive it a any speed i want and the kicker is it has absolutely no power. But it can be accelerated at any speed just no guts. You guys gave answers and fixes the other shops addressed in vain!!! Your answers were great. And i tested all of them in search of this loss of power. Once again ENGINE RELATED.
Sounds like a plugged cat. My old 83 ad that same symptom. Would go anywhere at any speed just had no grunt. Knocked the cats out and she turned into a completely different animal
Cats were checked. No back pressure whatsoever. They were changed out to high flow units by another shop in vein. Same trouble.
Remember i said it was ENGINE RELATED !!!
SORRY typo Code is 415. Idle adaptive code. Glad you pointed that out Sorry
Any customer mods to the motor and how many miles?
Darren
even though you said the cyl balance was perfect,, that "could" mean they all were within reasonable tolerance of each other...
you didnt post compression numbers .........
so,,,,,
my best guess at this moment being remote like everyone else, the common denominator is the cam is worn too much but not enough to cause residual fuel to wick into the pan or on the 02 sensor.
I was headed towards bad valve springs or an issue with the timing chain.
Darren
yeah i was thinking timing distributor issue
You say engine related, so that rules out fuel,air,ignition,exhaust. It cant be sensors, thats not directly engine related. Im guessing a very warn cam, not opening the valves far enough. The timing chain worn out and making the valvetrain sluggish. Or the timing chain being off a degree. Other than that ill admit that im stumped
But he said it idles well, and smooth..
He also said it had 43 pounds with vac line off, so possibly rusted fuel rail is my contribution..
I think a this point everyone is just hurling spears at the elephant. Tom needs to chime in and give additional information or just pull the .44 mag out and save us all a lot of pain and tell us what the hell is wrong with it.
Darren
maf sensor or o2's is my guess.
You said it wouldn't spin the tires if you mat the pedal. Maybe the mat is too thick ;)
90K and only mod is a fuel pressure regulator adjustable and under drive pulleys.
BINGO BLACK JACK AEROCOUPE AND JAY NAILED IT
The cylinder balance was ok because all the cylinders were low. This set all the codes. Naturally the only thing in common is what BLACK JACK and AEROCOUPE posted
THE TIMING CHAIN!!!!
(http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx46/proguns/002_zpsd06f8183.jpg) (http://s740.photobucket.com/user/proguns/media/002_zpsd06f8183.jpg.html)
Learn a little every day. I figured a worn timing chain might give poor idle...but now I can see why a cylinder balance would sometimes help in a diagnostics exercise.
You should have driven my '89 5.0 convertible before I started taking it apart. I can get that things are a dog with 3.08 gears in the back, but that thing was only slightly more hurried than molasses in January.
(pretty bad when car guys argue about who has the SLOWER car lol)
chain / cam,, whats the difference when your looking at low compression,, it sounds to me like that motor has been dogged out.
if the chain has been jacked up that bad, the things that follow it are due for an inspection.
maybe dumb luck will yeild just a chain is the root cause, im betting more than just a chain,, thats just my opinion.
and to be fair, its not a perfect cylinder balance but ,,, i tend to read between the lines and picked up on your not stating what defined the balance.
Normal people would have expectations that "perfect" would couple both the numeric value and the difference of the cylinders.. since ou didnt post the numbers... i made no assumptions.
It happens if they get ther asses handed to them on a regular basis. Feel bad for the older motors that came with a nylon cam gears. The engine that i originally built for my bird had one and when i tore it down to rebuild i actually was able to take the timing chain off by hand. Bonehead idea for saving money
I could easily touch my chain to itself between the gears on my old bird, and it had plenty of power for a 180k s.o. there is more wrong then the timing chain, unless it was skipping teeth.
my old 86 had over 290k with about 100k put on by me spinning the tires every time I got a chance. I'm sure it was original as well. had less then 90lb pressure on all 8 cylinders and would do a one tire fire through 40mph.
my current 87 has somewhere around.215k and the same thing. with the 5 speed I can spin completely through first and.chirp 2nd on a good solid straight run.
and all of these were with a single chain, not the double roller the h.o. motors came with from the factory.
Tom,
Did it skip a tooth or was it just so stretched that it basically gave it as poor timing as skipping a tooth? The only other thing I can think of is the motor had been into before and someone screwed up reinstalling the timing chain but it does not sound like that was the case.
Darren
To be honest the customer did not OK the repair or should i say the inspection. Timing chain is my feelings as all the cylinders are app the same compression pressure or reading. A stretched chain drops the compression evenly because the cam retards several degrees. This points to a stretched or jumped chain i am assuming. I once found a cam pin missing years ago on one. That was a KILLER. But what i was trying to point out was a simple compression test was all it took. The reason the balance test was ok and would come back all ok is the cylinders are all the same or close within 10%. And in my experience the ford roller motors never eat cams. What i should say is i never saw a flat roller cam in a FORD. So i was pointing out that some people just run codes and never go back to basics. A dozen shops overlooked this issue . So sometimes the old fashioned trouble shooting pays off. Thanks and your posts were excellent. Once the customer Signs a work order i will post further findings. Thanks So much for being good sports Tom!!
well dang it ,, now arent you just a pain in the butt! you made it sound like you knew where the prob is.,, good assumption though and to be honest,, i agree with your thoughts that the cam isnt jacked up yet, but the possibility is still there.
you prob didnt think to peek in the trunk to see if there is evidence of a bottle being used in the past.
excellent read! Keep us posted if you get to dig in!