Need some advice on a few issues with new build

[Procharged87]

Hi guys. Was hoping you may be able to offer some advice for a few problems I'm having with some mods we did on my 95 GT. Basically until 2008, it was pretty much stock except for an x-pipe, mufflers and a tuner. Then in 08 I added a Kenne Bell Blowzilla (stock port configuration) to it (only running about 5/6 lbs), a PMS Velocity, 42 lb injectors, 255 lph fuel pump, and a Tweecer RT with a good custom tune on it. Car ran great and when I had it dynoed the guy running the dyno said my AFR was perfect across the board. No smoke, vibrations or any issues. Flash forward to 2010 and I had some other parts I had been saving that I decided to do while doing a maintenance overhaul on many things as well since the car had about 95k miles on it. At this point we changed the cam (Comp NX264HR-14), added new AFR 165 heads from Keith Craft with ARP studs, new timing chain, pushrods, Holley Systemax I lower intake, Pypes stainless shortys, new alternator, Cobra T56, FRPP clutch, PP, TO bearing, pilot bearing and billet steel flywheel, new clutch cable, quadrant, adjuster, new SFI harmonic balancer, 1.6 Harland Sharp roller rockers, new TFS valve covers, new aluminum radiator, new hoses, 03/04 Cobra driveshaft, DM Speedcal, new oil pump driveshaft, replaced many gaskets/seals, new coil, new plug wires, and probably some more stuff I have forgotten. Also, because the valve covers sat a bit higher, my brother had to machine a .25" intake spacer for me out of aluminum to raise the Kenne Bell up a tad as it was hitting them. It took around 6 months for us to complete all the work based on our schedules. So, anyhow, we get it back together and now I have a few problems I was hoping someone could offer some advice on. A few people I trust to look at it have offered to help but are just so busy that they haven't had time so I'm kinda on my own on it. I did have the car dyno'ed after the new mods and I picked up about another 65 to the rear wheels so the tuner said the car is making power, it just has some bugs to be worked out.

Here are a few things I'm seeing:
1) For some reason, the motor seems to have some sort of imbalance around 2000 rpms now. I'm thinking harmonic balancer or flywheel but they are both brand new SFI rated items (50 oz). If you depress the clutch the imbalance is still present so I think the driveshaft is good. Any suggestions?

2) For some reason, the car smokes pretty bad now. Usually mostly on startup and somewhat while it is running. I see a good bit come out of the exhaust on a hard run on it. I pulled the #4 plug because it was the easiest to check and I do see oil residue on it. It didn't smoke at all right before we did the changes. I am also running the car with the PCV setup just like it was in the Kenne Bell manual (vented into fenderwell). The tuner suggested maybe bad valve guides but the heads came new from Keith Craft with their valvetrain and I would assume that they assemble them correctly. Any suggestions?

3) I also seem to have some random oil leak. The car has been sitting for months now ans sometimes I will pull the cardboard I placed under it out and it will be clean. Then I'll start the car to let it idle a bit and check it a few days later and will see an oil spot under it. We replaced the rear main seal during the build up but I'm wondering if it isn't sealing. Any suggestions?

4) Very rarely, the car will be in motion and will lose power for a second. The only way I know to describe it is that it feels like either the fuel injection shut off for a second or that the drivetrain "let go". It doesn't feel like the clutch slipping or anything just like it was in gear and popped out and back in inside of about a second, per se. The trans seems fine though and doesn't, to my knowledge, seem to be the issue. I did have some concern that maybe the driveshaft was a tad too short but I had no evidence of it. Any suggestions?

I know that is a lot to digest and I apologize for the long message. I would rate myself as decent mechanically and normally get someone more skilled to assist when I'm doing something more involved but most of the people I know with a Mustang now are all in S197 modular cars and don't really do this kind of involved engine work. The main person I do trust to help me work on it really just doesn't have the time anymore to assist so I've been stuck for a while. I would appreciate any advice that might help me get her back on the road. Please let me know if there is any additional information I can provide.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

[coupe]

1) The shake is probably something in the pressureplate and/or flywheel; I believe they're made in China. Could be slightly "off" of the 50 oz-in imbalance, causing the shake.

2) Smoke on startup usually indicates bad valve sealing... either guides, seals, or both. Probably not "blowby" or crankcase pressure from blower.

3) You'll have to pinpoint the leak location. Rear-main's are problematic and you may have installed the seal backward? Front main seal in timing cover can be a leaker too.

4) Could be a bad connector to the distributor or TFI connection. I've had similar symptoms with water/moisture in the distributor cap too...I would check that area first...then go over all electrical connections, especially anything you unplugged and re-connected after the last batch of mods.

Good luck! :nice:

[waypastcrazy]

Matt gave very good advice.I would also check to make sure all is sealed up good with the intake.I have seen many times where oil was pulled up from the lifter valley also make sure front and back have plenty of rtv.Also I am assuming you used sealer on your head studs which are not in blind holes.The oil could be getting on your 02 sensors causing wrong readings.All your symptons are pointing towards an intake not sealed up imho.Good luck and keep us updated.

[waypastcrazy]

Forgot to mention some intake bolt holes go through into the lifter valley and need thread sealer on those too.

[BLOWN95GT]

kenne bell setups are sweet :metal:
Sometimes I miss my old one! I hope you get your problems worked out!

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt55/blown95gt/100_1872_090_090.jpg

[Procharged87]

I was afraid it might be the flywheel. It's an FRPP billet steel flywheel and FRPP King Cobra clutch kit but I probably bought them 8 years or so ago (for my Fox body) and it sat on the shelf in the garage unopened for all that time. When we did the work on my SN95 we just used it from the batch of unused parts. As far as function it is actually the smoothest engagement and least stiff clutch of all the ones I have used before so I thought the install was good. Is there any way to tell the difference between it being the pressure plate or the flywheel? The balancer is a Pioneer SFI I bought from Summit and they are supposed to be manufactured by Powerbond in Australia. We checked the part number on the box and it is the right one for a 50 oz, unless they put the wrong part in the right box. I had thought about swapping the balancer back to the original one first since it was easier to do just to check it, but I might just go ahead and consider a new flywheel (unless it is the pressure plate).

The burning oil concerns me the most because it wasn't doing it before. I was real concerned that the heads could have had bad guides or seals in them even though they were new and did a little research to see if anyone else had any issues with heads from Keith Craft but I couldn't find anyone that had anything negetive to say about their service. I was hoping this wasn't the problem because obviously this is going to require the longest downtime to repair. I did have one person tell me that if the intake wasn't sealing well it could suck oil from the lifter valley, but I wasn't certain how much it would pull. It seems to burning quite a bit of oil. I can't remember if we used thread sealant on the intake bolts or not. I know we did on the lower head studs but the intake bolts escape my memory. I'll ask my brother if he remembers. After I get the balance issue fixed, I'll probably pull the lower intake. I would assume if there is oil in the intake ports it's sucking oil from the valley, and if the intake ports are clean it's the guides/seals?

I just need to get under the car and track down where the oil leak is coming from. I was actively working on getting the car fixed but ended up going through a divorce last year and the car just fell off the list for a while. My brother installed the rear main but I can't remember which way he put it in. I want to say it was the side with the spring towards the block and the flat side towards the trans. I guess if I end up swapping the flywheel, it would be a good time to replace this again if it is bad.

We relocated the coil from its original location to the passenger side fender due to the proximity to the Kenne Bell. I had to extend both the ignition coil lead wires and the condensor wires to move it. Perhaps maybe we moved it too far or there is a minor short? It was probably about a 3 ft run to move it. I always solder connections and shrink wrap each connection as well as layering a full run of shrink over the entire length of the wire pairs for good sealing/insulation. It's only done the problem about 4 or 5 times total and normally it's after I hit a bump or make a sharp turn. Hitting the bump sort of made me concerned that maybe the driveshaft was a bit too short and I was losing engagement at the tailshaft as the driveshaft moved in and out from the bump.

Thanks so much for the replies guys. I really appreciate the tips.

[waypastcrazy]

Had a 65 galaxie brought by the house a few years back that was smoking pretty bad and burning lots of oil.It had a fe390 in it that was rebuilt but they put an aluminum intake on it.As me and joecoupe pulled the intake to check for leak we saw it full of oil in the intake ports.So i just browsed over everything and spotted a dirt dobber nest completely had #8 port blocked on the intake also.Ran like a top after leak was fixed and the dobbers evicted so we proceded to install the msd box and dizzy and avenger carb.The owner was pleased that it was a simple fix.

[QWKSNKE]

LOL. I have never had a 5.0 motor that didn't vibrate in the rpm range you mentioned (stock or not) Unless we are talking a real bad vibration. Even my 93 cobra did it when I bought it with 80k miles and stock.

[Procharged87]

It's an abnormal vibration. I've had 2 Fox body cars and this SN95 (all 302s) and none have ever had this type of feeling. I mean, the SN95 didn't have the vibration before the mods, so it has to be something that was changed on it. It's hard to describe how it feels, but even my tuner could feel it and said it was either the harmonic balancer or the flywheel.

[waypastcrazy]

Personally I would think if intake is not sealed it could cause an oil leak,vibration,and power surge due to crankcase filling with boost pressure under acceleration causing seals to push out and pistons to have pressure against them from the bottom side as they are on there way downward on all strokes.
Also would cause a ring sealing problem jmho good luck

[waypastcrazy]

I Would be surprised if its not pushing the oil dipstick up after a hard pull.That would be good sign for verifying the prob.I have an idea that you could remove the oil fill cap as to releive some pressure from the crankcase just to see if the condition improves.lol Just a thought.

[Procharged87]

There is currently a line running from the oil fill tube into the fenderwell. I believe that's what the Kenne Bell instructions said to do so that's how I set it up. I had assumed that was to relieve crankcase pressure under boost. I think when the car was stock, that line ran from the oil fill tube to the plastic intake tract but I could be wrong as it's been quite a while. The Kenne Bell recommended method always seemed to work fine without issue prior to the new mods, even with the KB unit. I didn't know if it would still be the right setup for my new mods and asked my tuner but never really got an answer from him. The handful of times I have checked the dipstick, it didn't appear to be out any but, when we put the headers on we had to bend the dipstick around them a bit and I don't know if the extra tension on it is enough to hold it in place whereas it would be coming out otherwise. I really appreciate the advice. It's been real depressing that I really haven't gotten to drive it much at all since the upgrades. I'll try your suggestion and see if it helps any. Thanks again.

[EHardy1971]

Did you notice what kind of valve stem seals were on the heads? And out of curiosity, are you running synthetic oil?

[Procharged87]

I didn't take note of what kind of seals were on them but I do run synthetic oil. I probably changed to synthetic back in 96 or 97 when the car had about 20000 miles or so.

[EHardy1971]

I didn't take note of what kind of seals were on them but I do run synthetic oil. I probably changed to synthetic back in 96 or 97 when the car had about 20000 miles or so.
Well, you're going to have leaks (seeping actually) with full synthetic unless you're running MLS or rubber/neoprene gaskets, due to the molecular makeup of synthetic. It just happens. It'll seep through the fibers of the paper and cork gaskets. I have the same problem on my coupe when I changed over to Mobil 1 after initial break in of the new 306. When I built it, I sealed it up airtight, and it had zero leaks while I was running dino oil.

[QWKSNKE]

Well, you're going to have leaks (seeping actually) with full synthetic unless you're running MLS or rubber/neoprene gaskets, due to the molecular makeup of synthetic. It just happens. It'll seep through the fibers of the paper and cork gaskets. I have the same problem on my coupe when I changed over to Mobil 1 after initial break in of the new 306. When I built it, I sealed it up airtight, and it had zero leaks while I was running dino oil.

That is an old wives tale Eric. Synthetic will not leak anymore than dino oil. Cork gaskets are sh** gaskets and will leak any oil within a short amount of time. They breakdown from engine heat.

[EHardy1971]

That is an old wives tale Eric. Synthetic will not leak anymore than dino oil. Cork gaskets are sh** gaskets and will leak any oil within a short amount of time. They breakdown from engine heat.
What about on the paper gaskets? I'm talking good Fel-Pro blue stripe here, and not Mr. Gasket crap.

[QWKSNKE]

What about on the paper gaskets? I'm talking good Fel-Pro blue stripe here, and not Mr. Gasket crap.

The couple of times I ran them (I am assuming you are referring to intake gaskets) I never had a leak problem with synthetic.

The reason people blame synthetic on leaks comes from swapping from running dino oil (and more than likely with poor oil change intervals) to synthetic after many thousands of miles. Synthetics are typically higher in detergent make up and as it circulates and cleans the inside of the engine, it removes gunk buildup on gaskets such as v/cover and oil pan. Typically the gaskets have already started breaking down (cork/paper) at this point and once the gunk cleans out from these weak areas, the oil leaks start.

From a 5.0 engine rebuild standpoint, I always recommend to run the neoprene oil pan gasket (aftermarket cork is not the same as OEM cork) and the 86,87-up stock v/cover gaskets. The factory gaskets are metal with a rubber ring in the center and are reusable and never leak unless the bolts have backed out

[EHardy1971]

Not intake, but timing cover gaskets. It started seeping through the paper not long after I switched, as with the oil pan gasket. Granted it's cork, but my engine only has about 5k miles on it since the build. I took my time to seal everything up correctly, because I'm anal as hell about leaks.

[QWKSNKE]

Not intake, but timing cover gaskets. It started seeping through the paper not long after I switched, as with the oil pan gasket. Granted it's cork, but my engine only has about 5k miles on it since the build. I took my time to seal everything up correctly, because I'm anal as hell about leaks.

nah I never had a timing cover issue (other than the front seal) Did you use a thin layer of rtv?

[EHardy1971]

nah I never had a timing cover issue (other than the front seal) Did you use a thin layer of rtv?
I used one better, Perma-tex gasket sealer. It's coming through the paper of the gasket itself.

[Procharged87]

I always use good gaskets when doing a repair or more mods. The intake gaskets I used I believe are Fel-Pro 1450. We used RTV on the corners where the intake and the heads meet although I have heard some people say they skip using the front and rear intake to block gaskets and just use a thick bead of RTV instead. The head gaskets are Fel-Pro 9333-PT1, I believe, as I think they only recommend MLS gaskets when the block and heads both have a true/decked surface. Since we weren't having the block decked I went with what many people recommended to me. For the oil pan, I bought the 1 piece Fel-Pro oil pan gasket that goes around the entire mating surface. For the valve covers I used the TFS gaskets that are either neoprene or rubber and have a metal core. For many of the other smaller gaskets, like the rear main seal, I bought all of those gaskets either directly from Ford or used Fel-Pro pieces.

[EHardy1971]

On the pan gasket, did you RTV the corners on the front and rear main caps?

[Procharged87]

No, I don't believe we did. I was told with the one piece neoprene style gasket that it wasn't neccessary to use RTV anywhere on it but, I have no idea on what their credibility was either regarding that.