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Topics - sarjxxx

1
Other Vehicles / My current rides
Well since the Cougar is still out of commission, I figured I'd post up a little of my other 2 Fords....

First up is the F-150, 2012 XL. 3.7 Cyclone V6 and 6-speed auto with select shift. Base truck, gray vinyl seats inside with vinyl floor. Only included option was tow package with the factory installed Class III hitch and 4/7 pin trailer hookup. Got in in 10/2015 with just over 14,000, just turned 53,000 last week.

When I bought it...




And a little update after I added the new wheels - factory takeoffs from a 2017 - added step rails, replaced the gas door, got a vanity plate, and a few other things not visible...



Not a whole lot planned for this one, going to keep it mostly mild. Came with a nice 1 in/2 out custom Flowmaster  cat-back on it when I got it, and I will be throwing a set of shorties on it eventually.
Aside from that, will be replacing the headlights, taillights, and front grille with the Raptor style look. Probably going to swap out the steering wheel for leather too. Not much else really planned for it now.

May eventually get an overhead console swapped in from a better optioned truck as well as power door locks and windows. I installed the cruise control switch and once I get the dealer to flash the VCM and turn it on that will be good to go. Might throw a trailer brake in there one day but haven't seen a need for it yet.
2
Lounge / I think I'm going to revoke my wife's license...
So after a wreck my wife had about 1.5 yrs ago, that actually wasn't her fault and totalled the car, we got a nice check from the insurance company and put a down payment on a new car. At the time, knowing how new cars immediately depreciate as rapidly as they do, I made a point to be sure we had GAP coverage on the loan so we didn't get screwed over if the new car was totalled for some reason. Well that loan had an obscenely high interest rate and after a good year or so of payments she had it refinanced. I wasn't involved in this process and I didn't have to foresight this time to make sure she continued some sort of GAP coverage with the new loan and didn't really think about it.

Well as you probably guessed, she totalled that car about 2 weeks ago. Driving drowsy early in the morning and plowed into the back of a brand new Explorer stopped at the back of the line for a school bus on a long boring 2 lane highway on the way to work. One of those incidents where you immediately know the car is done. And of course, she didn't get the GAP coverage on the new one, which she only finalized less than a month before the incident. So naturally, now we had to cover $3700 difference on that.

The insurance policy does have rental coverage, so we were renting for about a week due to neither of us having time to get out and do any real car shopping. Today I get a call from her that she rolled off the road in the rental, hit a large decorative landscaping rock in someones yard and subsequently bent the rim, scratched up the hubcap, flattened the tire, and trashed the fenderwell all in one go.:punchballs:

This woman is trying to do me in...
3
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars FOR SALE / Feeler: My 88 Cougar 3.8L
Hey guys, I've been gone a while. I just haven't had the time or the money to play with the old cat lately, and as a result I have decided it better to let it go to a good home. For those of you don't know (or remember) anything about my car the link to my project thread is [thread=28690]here[/thread]. There is a list of all work done to it on the first post, and an extensive amount of photos throughout the thread. I am just trying to see if there is any interest if anyone wants to take this poor thing off my hands, if so I will post more information and photos of it's current condition. The car currently does not run, I believe this is due to needing a replacement ECU, should be fairly simple.

I also have a few spare parts and misc. accessories. I am considering pretty much any offer, I just don't want it to go to the syard, and I don't have the time to part it out. The car is located in Belleview, FL 34420.
4
Engine Tech / having a very strange fuel pump issue
I am encountering an unusual problem with my fuel pump. A friend of mine has been borrowing the car, everything has been going fine until a couple of days ago.... He said he was going up a slight incline when the car started to lose power and would not respond to the gas pedal, and he pulled over and once he stopped the engine shut off. And he could not get it to start again. Once he called me to ask about it he said that the engine would turn over but would not start, and that there was a sort of electrical burning smell in the car. I asked him to listen for the fuel pump priming but it was raining very heavily so he couldn't hear it at all. I said ok, go check the inertia switch. He said the switch was up and he clicked it down, I'm like ok great problem solved, go start the car now. Nothing. So I told him to wait until I could get up there later that night.

I get up there and check it out myself, and there is in fact an electrical smell in the car. I checked to listen for the fuel pump priming myself, and turns out it does, but it never stops. The typical 2 sec hum when you first turn the key never stops until you turn it back off again. Now my initial thought would be ok, the pump is obviously working so why won't the engine start, something must be clogging the line and it's not getting fuel to the engine, but then I have to wonder about the far more serious question, why is my pump not ending the initial prime, and what is the electrical fire smell that I was noticing in the car??? I tried to sniff out the source but it was very vague and I could not pinpoint it.

Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this? I can't think of what would cause it to lock up like that. The pump and relay were both replace 3-4 years ago, I'm not sure exactly, so I would hope they are not already failing although I'm sure it is possible, it's just that "failure" to me brings up the idea of in not coming on at all, not the idea of it getting stuck on permanently.....
5
Lounge / "Buy my Volvo"
lolling
[video=youtube;JJ0nkStZnWo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ0nkStZnWo[/video]

reminds me of a few cragslist ads I've seen
6
User Rides / My newest aqquistion... 2004 Frontier
So here's a little bit of what I've been up to in my absence.....

My newest toy, I picked up in November, my dream truck. 2004 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, XE 3.7L V6, 5speed 4x4 complete with the racks and rails, PW/PL but manual seats!

I know, its no Duramax, but it's my dream truck, for real. I've been in love with these things since before I got, (and wrecked) my original one back in 08. Had to make a 4-hour drive to pick it up, and almost had it sold out from under me before I got there... turned out I was racing a guy who was coming from 5-hours away to pick up the same truck, and I just managed to get there first. I did feel bad for the other guy... but glad I made it in time! Picked it up for $9000, about $4000 less than these normally go for.

So anyway, meet Enterprise - my other little bundle of joy






oops, forgot this one... thought it was kinda cool



And a couple of my custom sub box install just cause I'm so durn proud of it....


7
Lounge / Any manual transmission experts on here?
This is dodge related, so I put it in the lounge, rather than in the trans section.

The dodge forums are pretty much worthless so maybe you guys can help me out a bit hummm?

Having a bit of a problem (well actually a very serious problem lol) with my Raider (Dakota) with the 6-spd. Clutch problem to be more specific. Couple weeks ago one of the bearings in the trans, I'm thinking throwout bearing since it changed based on how much clutch I was giving it, started squealing like a banshee. Realizing I of course had a serious problem probably about to hit me, I didn't want to drive my truck but since I need it for work I kinda had to. Well, drove it like this for a couple weeks, all the while, squealiing getting worse, clutch hard to disengage, and sometimes even grinding, yes, grinding, when I pushed all the way down. At first I started to think I was loosing hydraulic pressure in the clutch, but I had a full master reservoir. So eventually, worse came to worse, and about 30 miles from home, it finally gave out. I got into 1st gear, barely, then as I started to shift into 2nd, I couldn't get the pedal to fully disengage the clutch. Felt to me as if I had lost all hydraulic pressure. So natually I pulled over, and as I did so, the pedal went from super sloppy to stiff as a board, I could not push the clutch at all. Thinking WTF??? the whole time, I got out and once again checked the master cylinder, thinking surely I've lost hydralic pressure this time or something right? well no, still full. So I had my partner who was riding with me check the lines as I tried to mash the clutch pedal. No leaks, nothing. In fact there was so much pressure that as i was pushing the pedal, I snapped the connecting rod form the pedal to the cylinder, and he saw the hose jolt from the sudden pressure change.

Well thankfully I was still able to hard shift it, so I strapped some tires to the bumper, and got a family member to nudge me out of the lights as I hard shifted my way home. Now if I push on the clutch pedal at all, its super stiff and the clutch makes a horrible grinding sound the like of which I've never heard before.

Well, now I'm terrified of what I'm going to find when I pull the trans and attempt to remedy the problem. I'm 2 payments behind on my loan and absolutely don't have the money to take it to the shop to get the trans fixed, so I'm debating whether to attempt to fix it myself. Now I've done a couple trans swaps on the cougar and other vehicles, so I'm no stranger to trans work, but I've never messed with a manual before, so does any body know what may have happened inside there, and if its something I can fix myself, or should I just let the repo guy come and take this  thing away?
8
Electrical Tech / Wtf is wrong with my headlights!?
a couple of years ago I had a problem with my headlights, where apparently the "circuit breaker" was malfunctioning. That was at least, the best I could determine. I had power to the switch, no crossed, disconnected, or shorted wiring that I could find. The lights would just come on and go off, whenever the hell THEY felt like it was a good idea. This resulted in a $160 ticket and a ridiculous insurance hike.

So, in an effort to resolve this problem, I hardwired my lights up to rocker switches on my switch panel. Park lights on the regular switch, cause they never had a problem, Low beams on one rocker, and high beams on another. Flash to pass/bright switch completely bypassed. Eventually as I got around to trying to actually solve/eliminate the real problem, I replaced my headlight switch, where the manual says the supposed circuit breaker is located, with a brand new one. Problem solved right?. Except not.... at all. So I replaced my blinker/high beam switch with a known good one. Problem solved again right? No. not, at all, again.

Then one day, the problem just -went away-. For no reason at all. Like a magical gremlin in my electrical system just decided to go bother my neighbors car instead now or something. And so, for the last 2 years, I have had no problems with them at all. Now, yesterday, they hesitated before coming on. For about 2-3 seconds, then had no problem. Could flip them on/off as I wanted, and they stayed on all night. However, just about an  hour ago, as I was getting ready to come home, they once again decided that they didn't want me to get home without getting chased by the cops. Luckily I was only about 3 minutes from home, so crisis averted. However, after I got home, I tried and tried to get them to come on, and absolutely cannot get them to function. If I pull the flash-to-pass switch, I get high beams while I hold it, but nothing else at all. Normally I'm pretty good with electrical problems but this one has me just about wanting to s my car. I'm pretty freaking pissed off. Does anyone else have a clue what I am talking about, and/or how the hell to fix it? I would greatly appreciate it so I can drive to work in the morning without having to worry about getting pulled over......
9
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / interested in 87-88 TC style steering wheel
I am looking for a TC style steering wheel. I don't know if they came in multiple colors, but am looking for charcoal/black. You can keep the hornpad to sell separately if you want, mines fine, besides your thunderbird logo won't work too well in my cougar ;)

Also I know this is a longshot, but I think I did see one once, if it doesn't have the buttons for cruise control, that would be awesome.

Thanks
10
Site Suggestions / why do my pictures shrink
I posted a picture on my thread and it posted at about half the size I uploaded it as. For a very long time I thought this was something that Photobucket does when you do the IMG thing but I accidentally posted the same pic in my signature and it was every bit as huge as the one I intended to put in my thread.

So why can my sigpic take up an entire page but huge pics you want to see in a post are diminished down to a shell of their former glory?
11
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / why is my evtm wrong
I finally decided to buy an EVTM and well wouldn't you just know it, its WRONG.

I bought a 1988 Thunderbird/Cougar EVTM and here's what it listed for the 3.8L engine components:



Obviously that is for a 1987 engine. Should I have bought a 1989 EVTM because of some ridiculous year naming system that I don't know about, or are they just wrong like that? And if so I wonder how much else is wrong....:mad:
12
Lounge / Rock Auto discount code:
Quote
Your RockAuto discount code 87477797205941 will expire on May 13, 2012.

If you or anyone you know is thinking of doing some vehicle repair, now's the time to order the parts!

Taking advantage of this discount opportunity is easy! Simply enter your code in the "How did you hear about us" line of the shopping cart. If you are using our traditional HTML catalog, please click the "Apply" button to the right of the field. Your discount will automatically appear, subtracted from your order total. Orders using discount codes must be placed online. Phone orders are not eligible for discounts.


Rock gave me this code a while back said it doesn't matter who uses it so here I'll share it with you guys. I think its good for like 5% off I don't remember exactly. You can use it as much as you want until the cutoff date.
13
LEADS on T-Bird/Cougar Stuff For Sale / reproduction front end stuff?!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/86-87-88-MERCURY-COUGAR-FRONT-BUMPER-COVER-ASSEMBLY-NEW-/140559745019?fits=Model:Cougar&hash=item20ba037ffb&item=140559745019&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-86-FORD-THUNDERBIRD-ELAN-FILA-5-0-V8-FRONT-BUMPER-/150447588210?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AThunderbird&vxp=mtr&hash=item2307600372

http://www.ebay.com/itm/83-84-FORD-THUNDERBIRD-Fila-2DOOR-COUPE-FRONT-GRILLE-CHROME-PLASTIC-FRAME-BODY-/140739101068?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AThunderbird&vxp=mtr&hash=item20c4b4418c
14
General Computer Forum / How to add a cooling fan?
Ok so its technically not computer stuff but its still electronics and it it involves my computer in a way so it counts lol.

What I've got is, the surround sound reciever that I use for my PC runs really freakin hot and I'd like to install a small cooling fan like the kind you'll find in your pc tower to help it out. Now first of all I know somebody's gonna be like "is it well ventilated and not under a bunch of stuff?" yes, its wide open and still runs hot. I had a PA amp once that had a cooling fan built into it so I'd like to be able to do it to this.

Is it something I can just buy online and then connect two wires to my main power supply and be done with it, or does it get more complicated than that?
15
Body/Appearance/Interior / Thinking of going 4 eyes....
Well an 86 cougar just showed up at my favorite JY and its got a nice (well by nice I mean not dented or chipped, but DEFINITELY needs paint... hell it's the wrong color anyway) front end on it. I know the swap has been done before, but I only ever see it on birds. Has anyone tried it on a cougar? I know the bumper cover will have to swap along with the header and lights, but will everything match up to the fenders? I'm thinking not....

Any one got some info / pics?