i just recently bought one of these gorgious cars but it''s already driving me crazywith a lot of small problems.


after replacing the turnswitch, steeringpump, and how do i say this in english? the power regulator and battery, now the steeringhouse is starting to leak, the temperature meter has stopped working and i can''t locate that sensor.


that''s question one, where is the temp sensor located on a 351?


is it easy to repair or replace the heater fan?


that''s not working too.


also the right front turn signal is not working, and there are no wires there!, can you simply get a wire from the back to the front to fix that or will that give other problems?


i''m a truck mechanic myself so a lot of the technical things will work out but to know how to do it is always a good thing.


and i''m no star in electrical things.


the other problems are starting problems but that''s due to the LPG installation in it, cheap driving but more electrical bugs.

 

It''s junk and you''ll have to ship over her to me! [img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]


Anyhow I''m guessing you are referring to the steering gear box is leaking.. This is not uncommon on these cars.. WHere is it leaking from exactly, where the shaft connects to the steering column, or on the bottom where the arm attaches to the steering linkage? Normally these leak out the bottom where the large shaft comes out and the arm bolts on.. There is a seal in there that can be replaced.. It''s easiestto remove the gearbox ro replace the seal.. You;ll need a good puller to remove the arm off the box as it is on there TIGHT! THen I think there is a snap ring and finally pull the old seal out and drive the new ones in..


Pends which 351 you have (Cleveland, Modified, or Winsor) as to where the sensor will be.It''s a little brass part with a single wire plugged onto it..


On top of the intake manifold towards the front of the car on the 351W..


Threaded into the front of the block just below the upper radiator hose on the 351M and 351C..


When you find the sending unit an easy test to see if it is the gauge or the sending unit woudl be to connect the wire off the sending unit to a ground.. Turn the key on and the gauge should go the whole way to hot (or the light shoudl come on, whatever your car has) IF it does not you have a wiring or gauge problem in that circuit.


For your turn signal if you run a wire from the rear turn signal to the front, the front turn signal will light when you press the brakes.. Best bet woudl be to use a test light and see if you can find the proper wire..


Do you have any pictures of your car to share? Not too many of those beauties around anymore...

 

thanks for the info, will check it out tomorrow, when it''s light and dry, raining here at the moment.


that wire trick i already knew, but first to find it, so these cougars are getting rare over the big pond too?


damn i was hoping to find a nice original interior for it and let that be shipped together with some cars a local usa car dealer is importing.


the interior now in it is very basic and out of a four door, so the front seats won''t tilt, any other interiors out of a ford/mercury that will fit?


for repairing that leakage getting the parts will be the big problem, not the work itselfs, i work in a truckgarage so there are some hefty tools available.


another thing i discovered is the oilpressure that stops at max 1/3 of the meter and goes up very slowly when i start the engine my old ford capri has almost instant oilpressure, i''m hoping it''s the sensor and not the oil pump, or even worse a worn out engine.


when the engine is hot the oil pressure is even lower barely gets to the first marker above the 0 when the enignie is running stationary, that is worry''n me, but it''s possible they used an modern oil for it 10w40/15w40 and than you also get these problems.


and if i''m not mistaken 20w50 is normal for these engines.


here some pictures








you can see they ripped of the vinyl roof and didn''t painted it allong the original lines, not a very big problem for me because when i get it al sorted out, i''m going to get it painted white, the truck garage i work also has a own bodyshop en paintbooth, so can be done cheap.


for the rest the car is rustfree except some surface rust around the edge of the boot lid.


but when i can''t get this car reliable out it goes, reliabillity is for me also an important issue with a car, i was planning to use this one for daily transport, and whenm that works out good he''s cheaper to run than my capri, fuel price wise, (cougar LPG 49 ct''s liter),(capri high octane 1,32 liter), the capri runs 9/10 km on 1 liter, the cougar 4/5km on a liter.

 

Very nice!!! Yes unfortunatley the old gems are getting scarce over here too.. Especially after the past few years.. The scap metal price has been high and alot of restorable but not perfect cars of this era have been scrapped..


I coudl see where parts would be a problem.. I guess we;re kinda spoiled over here.. we can get parts for anything and everything no matter where it came from.. Of course everything here comes from China now..


You may just want to consider an entire seal kit for the steering box since you''''ll have it off anyhow and the rest of those seals are 30 some years old.. One thing I forgot to mention earlier as a quick fix for the leak (sometimes) UPS used to use Ford Chassis for their trucks, and older Ford power steering is notorius for leaks.. THey would put a few drops of brake fluid in the power steering to swell the seals... Mayeb not a permanant fix but it could be worth a try..


AS far as your interior you do have options... The Torino, Montego, Elite, Cougar, Thunderbird from about 1973 to 1979 are all similiar.. I know there are some difference here and there on the different models and years but basically alot of the parts will interchange...


I would get a mechanical gauge and check your oil pressure with that.. Unfortunatly in the mid 70''''s quality was not job one.. Oil pumps were cheap aluminum that would wear pre maturly then causing the bearings to wear.. IF your car has the 351M or 351C these engines had oiling issues by design.. Heavier oil may get you some more life out of it.. Do you happen to know which351 you have?


How''''s the car perform on LPG? We don;t have alot of LPG vehicles over here (some commercial trucks and fleet vehicls is about it) I managed to score the LPG setup off an old forklift but it''''ll only handle up to a 2.3 liter engine, thus I haven;t gotten to play with it yet..


If you need any help with finding/getting parts don''t be afraid to ask.. Edited by: maxfax3

 

if i get the oilpressure and the bugs on lpg right he stay''s the steering gearbox will be fixed.


but only when the oilpressure problem is easely to fix, another engine is an expensive thing over here, you guys just order a new crate engine for 1000$.


whe don''t have that option here, costs us at least 2000 euro over here.


and that kind of money i don''t have.


brakefluid in the stearingoil, doesn''t that damage the seals in my new stearingpump?


i don''t like the idea to ruin that by a quick temporarly fix for the other leaking.


LPG is very popular over here, one drawback is that the roadtaxes almost triple when used in a modern car so you have to make a lot of miles to get that money back, but luckely there is a rule here that a car 25 years and older is free from roadtax.


so that makes it cheap driving in an aldtimer ovver here, one thing you have to take in mind are the loss of space in the trunk, the engine gets slightly hotter, the power drops by 10/20%.


but when you can drive for almost a third of the fuelprice you take these things for granted, and lets be honest USA cars or boats like we use to call them are not made for racing but cruising.


other point you have to take in concidiration isa that you neeed hardened valveseals ( is that the right term) i mean the edges where the valvetouches the head those have to be hardened, as in the head and on the valves.


a good brand for lpg installations is impco, special installations for usa cars, i don''t know if these are available in the states.


and there is one other point you can say hell i''m going to drive LPG, that''s the environment, LPG is the cleanest fuel around.


they calculated what would heppen when everybody went to lpg drivng, Co2, nox, fine dust,al those eminssion would almost stop to be.

 

update, the oil problem is most likely due to wrong oil, with cold engine the oilgauge was standing in the middle like he should, only when the engine is getting warm the pressure drops.


temp sensor has been found, done the test, gauge works, so broken sensor that''s not an expensive thing to fix, thanks for your discription where to find it maxfax3 [img]smileys/smiley1.gif[/img].


found the wire for the turnsignal but no power anywhere on it, i suspect that the connectors against the fire wall are the problem, but i''m not going to take that apart at home, better do that on my work, there i have all kind of connectors available to repair it.


so the starting problem needs to be fixed, needen to rummage around on some wiring this morning to get it started, and the heaterfan wil be a problem.


started working this morning for a few minutes and made a hell of a noise.

 

looks like you''re getting close to having it running good. The heater fan (blower) should be accessible on the passenger side of the engine bay (big round thing). getting at the screws that hold it on may be hit or miss depending on the tools on hand. Personally I don''t like the idea of the brake fluid quick fix either. replace the seals on the gearbox and be done with it. As for the starting problems... that may just be timing issues. have you made sure the timing is set right yet? considering it''s LPG, it should vary from gasoline a little since it burns hotter and faster.

fyi: crate motors here are usually around $2000 and up. rebuilt stock motors are usually around $1000. shipping is probably where we have it easier.

 

well i think i found the starting problem, there is some valve in the airfilter that holds the lpg when starting, and it seems that was somtimes staying open.


discovered this yesterday because he wouldn''t start again, sprayed some breakcleaner into the airintake and he started a friend of mine heard a click in the airfilter so i discovered that valve.


lubed the stuff up and no problems again.


only the oilpressure is still worying me, what is the right oil for these engines a guy on a dutch forum said 15w40 and so the engine would be almost up to a revision he concluded due to the low oilressure when the engine is hot.


but friends of mine always used 20w50 in similar engines.

 

stock oil is 20W40 or 20W50 according to the autozone website.

I''d say your friend is right. go with 20W50.

 

already done it, the oilpressure is better, but not as high as it has to be, now stays at 1/3 on the gauge with a warm engine.


but the starting problems are starting to get to me, so he''s got to go, a pitty i love the model, but unreliabillity is a thing i hate.


going to visit some usa car traders and see what they want to give for something like this, one dealer told me a while ago he couldn''t get a rustfree yank on lpg for under the 5000 euro, maybe he''s interested.


if you work daily with these cars and lpg installations it''''s easy going but not for me.


i just want to enjoy driving it with not to much tinkering, though i''m a real classic car driver, always drove old european fords with the pinto 4 cil engine, reliable as hell those things, the engine always starts and runs until they are realy worn out.Edited by: wietse