Well where to begin with what I've found.

- Tornado installed in the intake tract. I had to literally sit down and re-think ever buying a used vehicle again. My fault for waiting to do the maintenance till now I guess.

-Ebay no name replacement COPs in 2 cylinders. Ordered 2 used OEM COPs from said Ebays and rebuilt all 8 OEM cores with new boots and springs (save yourself $300+, don't buy new COPs if your OEMs are firing fine).







-ACDelco copper plugs that were the wrong heat range. Also some way overtorqued by the previous goober. No idea how I didn't have a stripped head as 2003 was still 4 thread. Also had 2 plugs that were basically rattling around and I was able to get them out by hand.

Trashed the tornado after snapping a pic and posting a lol pic on the interwebs



Replaced the plugs with new Autolite APP104s gapped to .054 and torqued to 15ft lbs with anti-seize which is the correct way to install them. Can't tell you how many ppl look at me funny when I tell them I use a torque wrench for spark plugs. If you have aluminum heads, you need to. Even 1/8 turn past hand tight is way too tight, 12-15ft lbs is not very much at all.

New air filter and fired it right up.

So that was my afternoon. I was able to do the air filter/plugs/COPs in a few hours, no idea about the horror stories ppl say about it being hard. I know the 3V is a hooker but this 2V was easy. #8 did suck but its not the hardest plug I've ever had to get at.

Next up is going to be the fun of the rear brakes/parking brakes which I have never done either. With as much of a jackass as the previous owner seems like he was, I'm a little worried.

 

You must be very good in small places or have lots of patience.

I'd check your tranny as it should be changed every 35k. Also, when in the rear brakes, check for the typical blown wheel seals leaking.

Enjoy.

 

Well the left rear wheel makes a clacking noise every 5 or 10 seconds and I can feel it throughout the entire truck. Thinking the parking brake shoes came apart. Will check everything else though. Wheel makes noise spinning regardless of the clacking noise. Don't want to have it on the road till I get it all sorted.

Trans fluid was fully flushed 25k ago and topped off again 5k ago. I'll probably do the full flush again here in the summer. Also did the transfer case and both diffs back 25k ago.

As far as working in small spaces or having patience... I dunno I just have a lot of extensions and swivels. Put a cheap magnetic duralast spark plug socket on a 3" extension and seat it on the #8 plug. Then stick a universal on top of that and then about 2ft of extensions onto the universal and put the ratchet up as high as possible so it touches the hood and gives you an angle to work with. Use one hand to stabilize the extensions/universal and the other to turn the ratchet. Comes right out. The rest of them are easier. Install is the same except replace ratchet with a torque wrench. Hell, the stupid COP retainer bolts were harder to get at than the spark plugs.

 

I use plenty of duct tape to hold the plug socket, extensions, and 8 mm socket onto another ext to remove the COP bolts without having to fish.

Did you have to loosen the fuel rail to access the #8 COP bolt and plug?

Probably an alternator, water pump, or serp belt idler soon. All pretty easy to access. Also the pcv elbow if not already.

Sounds like the hardest stuff is done.

 

I feel your pain as I too have had many a day such as yours.

 

Welp, there is an intermittent squealing from the accessory area so I'm guessing I have a shot idler, I'll get the belt off and start spinning things. The lights also dim when I hit the window up button with the windows already up so I'm guessing my alt is on the way out soon too. Water pump should be done as preventative. I'm comfortable working on these motors though, I had a 98 GT Mustang with a PI swap that I did a lot to and its basically the same thing. PCV elbow needs to get done too.

I did not remove the fuel rail, didn't see the need to honestly.



Yeah you should SEE some of the stuff I've found on Mustangs I've bought secondhand. So much so that my next one is either going to be a bone stock 11+ GT or a bone stock 94/95 Cobra that was someone's garage baby like the one I used to own.


Anyone want to guess what the grinding noise is from the back left wheel? I'm thinking it HAS to be a parking brake shoe. I can be just going 15mph on level smooth pavement and then its like crraacckcacackckcc and then smooth again. I guess I'll find out next weekend...

 

I think you are correct.

 

Brake shoe would be my guess too. Mine wasn't making any noise but when I took it apart the shoe fell out in 2 pieces lol. Last time I was on vacation it started making a clicking noise coming from the back. Took it apart and one of the clips that are held in place by a pin had broken and was laying inside getting ground down.

 

I'm going to find out tomorrow. Got the mini sledge ready to go to get those rotors off and a bigass breaker bar for the caliper bracket bolts. Also a torch and a big can of liquid wrench. Going with Centric rotors and Centric Posi-Quiet ceramic pads. Then a power bleed. I can see the front pads through the wheel spokes and they still look like they have good meat on them. I'll likely do them in March before we road trip down to KY. Them and new tires...

 

Actually wound up doing them today. The left rear wheel and rotor were just... stuck... bad. Took about 15 minutes to beat the wheel free once the lugs were off and then another 15 for the mini sledge and a ton of penetrating oil to get the rotor off. Surprisingly, the brake shoes were in good shape so I don't think they were the problem but I was at the point to change them anyway. Having never done them, it took me about a half hour to just get the stupid shoes back on and the springs etc... Did the right side second and it literally took a half hour start to finish. Glad I did the hard one first lol.

Rotors were really cruddy and so were all the brackets and everything and I cleaned everything off really well with a wire brush and WD40. New rotors are Centrics and Centri Ceramic pads, much much better. Shoes are Centrics too and I put all new Raybestos parking brake shoe hardware in. Took it for a quick spin around the block afterwards and everything seemed fine. Not sure what the overall issue really was, might have been all the crud on the left, may very well have been something that just needed to be re-seated. Good peace of mind to have fresh brakes out back regardless. Will be doing the fronts soon.

If anyone has any questions about how to do this, feel free to ask.

 

Get the parking brake set ok? They can be a pain sometimes.

 

Got the P brake set fine, I didn't have a lot of trouble getting it set, just the damn top spring on but I figured it out.

But I spoke too soon about the noise in the back going away but its different now. Its not a loud clacking its a loud... dull grinding almost. Happened when I hit the brakes and made some noise when the brake was off. Slide pins seemed ok but they are original, I will probably get new slide pins and see if that fixes it. If not then it could be the caliper or the wheel bearing? Its driveable now at least so there's that. Caliper is definitely working, I can see the pad marks on the rotor. No idea, this is annoying but all part of the game...

I will say at least with the new plugs and COP rebuild and that ****ing tornado out of the intake the engine is much smoother and takes off a bit faster.

 

Rear wheel bearing is on order as of today. Pulled out of the parking lot and as soon as I turned right and shifted the weight to the rear left all hell broke loose back there. The wheel was a little wobbly with the truck in the air, I know it should not move at all.

Oh well, all this nickel/dime stuff needs to be done anyway and its better that I do it for $100 for the bearing/seal and a few hours of beer drinking than paying $200-$400 at the dealer for the part and then another however many hours of shop time for them to put it in.

Can't think of anything else this could be unless the differential is going out or something but that would mean a howling at all RPMs and it is quiet. CV joint? Doesn't sound like one but maybe... Makes most of its noise during cornering/turns.

 

Standard or limited-slip rear differential?

 

Um... never checked honestly. I always assumed it was the limited slip 8.8 like my Mustangs but I could be wrong. I'll find out in a few days when that bearing comes in.