Stocker 126 Posted December 26, 2015 Report Share Posted December 26, 2015 Ford CFI: The drawbacks of fuel injection combined with the drawbacks of carburetion, and none of the benefits of either. Because either someone's been siphoning fuel out of the LTD, or the cold temperatures have dropped its gas mileage into the single digits. It was nowhere near this bad last year. That's the kind of mileage my Buick got sometimes, and that car I had to let idle for 10 minutes after startup so it wouldn't stall out on the road. I'm almost hoping someone violated my filler cap, but that's unlikely given where it's been this week and how cheap fuel is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-chart- 287 Posted December 26, 2015 Report Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) Ford CFI: The drawbacks of fuel injection combined with the drawbacks of carburetion, and none of the benefits of either. Because either someone's been siphoning fuel out of the LTD, or the cold temperatures have dropped its gas mileage into the single digits. It was nowhere near this bad last year. That's the kind of mileage my Buick got sometimes, and that car I had to let idle for 10 minutes after startup so it wouldn't stall out on the road. I'm almost hoping someone violated my filler cap, but that's unlikely given where it's been this week and how cheap fuel is. I had a '83 G Marquis from 10K to 120K, never had an issue with stalling or hesitation. I had a few issues with my 3 LTD's, with the Essex and what was called carb ice. Issue same as a carb. Have to have the hot air inlet working just right. Hose from the ex manifold heat exchanger had to be good shape. You need warm air to the inlet if it is damp and cold. No issue with multi port of course. -chart- Edited December 26, 2015 by -chart- Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thub 673 Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Changed the spark plugs on the Forester. New NGK V power plugs per Subaru specifications. Its a pretty simple job on these EJ25 motors, remove air box and remove washer fluid reservoir, maybe an hour of actual work tops. I get a kick out of reading what other people say online about how difficut a job is or how long it takes. This was one of those jobs where I saw multiple people complaining online about this plug job, clearly they have never worked on anything more complex than a I4 let alone an overhead cam V engine. (These are probably the same people who claim it takes 20 hours to change the plugs on a 5.4 L 3 valve Trition, took my friend and I 6 hours including goofing off.) As you can see I had no trouble fitting a 3/8" ratchet (flex), extension (wobble plus), and socket. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
machausta 155 Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Remember my post from the 18th about how I should be getting back the Durango? Yeah, still no. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian_05_SEL 1417 Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Remember my post from the 18th about how I should be getting back the Durango? Yeah, still no. That thing still got a Hemi? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thub 673 Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Remember my post from the 18th about how I should be getting back the Durango? Yeah, still no. How hard is it for them to find a 5.7L block and heads and swap all the stuff from your Durango onto it. It's not like that engine just came out this year they should have tons of spare blocks and heads sitting around ready to be shipped to dealers for just your situation. What happens when a police department needs a new motor in a Charger, Dodge just tells them they don't have any and you'll have to live with one less squad car. I can understand if its a completely new car and new engine but in your situation both have been on the market for several years. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thub 673 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Well the little Subaru is defiantly a snow machine, even with the crappy tires the AWD has no problem moving the car though deep drifts of heavy snow. The only thing I noticed was that because the car is so light weight it has a hard time pushing the snow down and making a new rut, wandering in and out of existing ruts. The blue Taurus didn't fare so well and got stuck in a deep drift in a parking lot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spridget 498 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 I have really never cared for Subarus. I bought one for my sister about 10 years ago, a GL wagon. It was ok, nothing special. It finally died from headgasket failure and an idiot claiming to be a mechanic. The roof was long, with no creases, or support structure. While driving down the freeway, the wind would cause the roof to ripple and slap BANG!! Very annoying. I respect them for the AWD prowess. Not an important feature down here though. Mostly, I never cared for the frameless windows. If I lived in a snow area, I'd probably own one as a beater. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaurusKev 1089 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 I gotta agree, AWD is fantastic! Every winter, during snow with my FWD or RWD vehicles, I always had to give each vehicle hell to get them moving from a hill. I would use the Jeremy Clarkson method to get moving when the car doesn't want to go in snow: pretty much use power and floor it so the tires can dig in and get the car to move. The AWD Olds? It don't give a damn. I can't even tell the roads are s**t. Even the braking was pretty decent with the 4 Wheel Disc brakes. Honestly for a beater, I love my Oldsmobile. I think when I buy a new/newer vehicle AWD might now need to be required due to our environment here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thub 673 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 I have really never cared for Subarus. I bought one for my sister about 10 years ago, a GL wagon. It was ok, nothing special. It finally died from headgasket failure and an idiot claiming to be a mechanic. The roof was long, with no creases, or support structure. While driving down the freeway, the wind would cause the roof to ripple and slap BANG!! Very annoying. I respect them for the AWD prowess. Not an important feature down here though. Mostly, I never cared for the frameless windows. If I lived in a snow area, I'd probably own one as a beater. The older Subarus are definitely cheaply built and don't stack up to other cars in terms of quality. The frame less windows are kinda cool but they do tend to have way more issues. The head gasket issues are inexcusable but I think people put up with it to have the small car with AWD. The one feature that really stands out as amazing is the AWD system, they did a good job with that part. The combination of light weight, ground clearance, lots of torque at the bottom end, and AWD make them excellent in the snow. I really wanted to go out last night and drive around but the snow was just getting too deep and even the Subaru wouldn't have made it, I missed the Explorer a little bit at that moment...nothing like a real 4x4 SUV. I put that thing through snow as deep as the bottom of the grill and it just kept going. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vash 219 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 My Outback did way better in snow than my explorer ever did. I really miss my Subaru. My mom just bought a 2014 Outback a few weeks ago, of course she won't let me drive it to see if the awd is any good in it haha. The Volvo is awd but I haven't been super impressed with the haldex system. I just miss my Subaru. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kodachrome Wolf 475 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 GREASE ALL THE FITTINGS! Having a grease gun is great, but I'm even happier all the suspension components up front have zerk fittings. Upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, and pitman arm are all good again. I was starting to get the creaks in the front end, but those are all gone now. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff 386 Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 My 09 creaks naturally. It has only one zerk fitting on the rh control arm(aftermarket). LH was a different brand as the same brand wasn't available for each side. I thought I had this all pinned down, but 12K miles later...just shy of 72K she's groaning and creaking like an old lady. It's nowhere near as bad as before so I'm going to wait until it gets that bad again before I replace everything again. This car had a new front end and suspension at about 60K miles...with name brand aftermarket parts( Raybestos Professional, Mevo-tech Supreme, Gabriel, Moog) The Ford parts are no better so I'm not willing to fork over twice as much $$$ to end up in the same place. I wonder how many times I'll rebuild it before hitting 100K LOL Probably one more time and after that it'll be someone else with the headache. Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
machausta 155 Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 How hard is it for them to find a 5.7L block and heads and swap all the stuff from your Durango onto it. It's not like that engine just came out this year they should have tons of spare blocks and heads sitting around ready to be shipped to dealers for just your situation. What happens when a police department needs a new motor in a Charger, Dodge just tells them they don't have any and you'll have to live with one less squad car. I can understand if its a completely new car and new engine but in your situation both have been on the market for several years. Got it back yesterday. The last holdup was they broke the passenger side engine mount putting the motor back in the car, and then tried to tell me that it was already bad -- it made the whole car rock during some shifts. Now it rides/drives perfect again. Not sure I can get them to replace the radiator, but I sure wasn't going to pay them the $900 they wanted out of pocket to do it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stocker 126 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 And... now the LTD decided it would rather not have coolant in it. Appears to be coming out of the water pump's weep hole, and coming out almost as fast as I can pour it in. Should've parked the stupid thing and bought something else, even if it wasn't financially logical. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian_05_SEL 1417 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Kevin's Bravada was struck tonight by a driver in a VW Jetta. Not certain if it will be a total loss yet. Kevin is fine. Just pissed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-chart- 287 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 And... now the LTD decided it would rather not have coolant in it. Appears to be coming out of the water pump's weep hole, and coming out almost as fast as I can pour it in. Should've parked the stupid thing and bought something else, even if it wasn't financially logical. Water pump on that engine is fairly easy. Nice room in there. We had '83 Gran Marq. Wife had a bit of an accident. She started the car, put in gear, then reached back for the seat belt. Foot slipped off the brake and onto the gas. She hit a row of parked cars in the side. Drove the first into the second, and both into a thrid. Totaled the first car, second had to be towed but could be fixed. Last one damaged but was drivable. Our car had no damage. Oh the days of steel bumpers and built like a tank. Ours bought with 10K and given to daughter's husband, about 120K or so. Never had anything done to it. They got divorced and have no idea what happened to the car. But time marches on. Lin Cont with smaller engine would run rings around it and get better mpg. -chart- Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaurusKev 1089 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 I am hoping structurally it is just a bad tie rod, tire, and rim... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thub 673 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 I was sad to hear the news Kevin. The close up pictures actually don't look that bad, I figured that axle would have been all screwed up. I would have like to have seen how well the "German Engineering" held up to a 2 ton SUV basically riding up onto it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaurusKev 1089 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Didn't look good. I am hoping, even if it is totaled, I can buy it back, repair suspension, then do the body repairs later. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vash 219 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Looks pretty easy to fix. Still absolutely crappy that it happened. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaurusKev 1089 Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Looking at it closer today, it honestly looks very repairable. The only real damage I think was the tie rod that rendered it inoperable. Then the tire/rim. The hood is still straight, it lined up perfectly at the passenger fender, no damage at all on the passenger side, I feel better that my Olds might roll again. I did bring my 89 Supercoupe out... I am not happy about it, but I do need a ride to work, and Blue Bird is not going in snow at all, I'd rent a car first, so the S/C got to see a ton of snow today. First time out for 2016, called Allstate this morning to take it off storage insurance. Later at work, covered with a bit of snow. Makes the Bird completely blend in with all the whiteness on it lol. The tires on that car were horrible in rain, they're even worse in snow. I felt the thing fishtailing while just driving. But still a fun car to drive Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thub 673 Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 I wish I could make turns like that all the time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vash 219 Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Put almost 350 miles on the fusion today and it did just fine. Had some vibration that I first thought was a wheel bearing but towards the end of my trip I think I pinpointed it to wind buffeting. Not sure where, going to wait to see if the new windshield takes care of it. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kodachrome Wolf 475 Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 (edited) I've become the foster care taker of this little car. It belongs to a friend who wants it running and drivable: It's a 1995 Infiniti G20. Essentially a badge-engineered Nissan Primera for the US market. It's on the basic end of how you could get them with cloth interior and manual seats, but had plenty of power/luxury items, leather wrapped steering wheel and shifter knob, A/C, AM/FM/CD, power windows, and a few other things. Like all of the G20s, it has a 2.0L I4 and this one has a five-speed gearbox. Odometer reading has it slightly over 208K. So why does it look the way it does? Ever parked a car for nine years? That's how. It was laid up because of a bad fuel pump. My friend's uncle allegedly diagnosed it with a bad ECU. I had my doubts, particularly since I could get all the systems online with a battery, but I lacked a fuel pump hum with key on. So we started here, no-start condition: I found out today that the reason it stopped cranking is because the pad on the clutch pedal that depresses the starter safety switch disintegrated. I fixed that issue by taping a penny to the mount. That also helped rule out it wasn't the battery connection, something that had been an issue since the connectors are dirty. We'd also been going about the deal ghetto style, using a jumper cable on the negative side of the battery since we had no good spare and the terminals on the borrowed battery were reversed, so only the positive side fitted correctly. Needless to say, after installing a new fuel pump, adding $5 of gas on top of the nastiness that still exists in the tank, magic happened. (NSFW - Language) The ticking noise went away about 30 seconds after the video ended. It's going to get an engine flush when the oil gets changed. It's got some nasty Fram filter on there. I'm going to throw on a Motorcraft filter for piece of mind along with giving it 4 healthy quarts of Motorcraft 5W-30 Synblend. Motorcraft parts on non-Ford cars is what you get when a Ford person starts working on other vehicles. I did get a test drive in. Tires are dry rotted and really need air, so I can't comment on whether or not it can ride well. The engine smoothed out a lot and ran well once it got warm, and the 5-speed was crisp. I only got to cycle between 1st-3rd gears, but everything worked smoothly. I've got a laundry list of things for my friend to get, so over the next few weeks, the car will slowly start coming back. Edited January 13, 2016 by Kodachrome Wolf 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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