1986 Shelby Charger Saved from the JY!

[RattFink]

Tire fixed, on, and torqued.
Fuel line repaired permanently.
Spare tools in back.
Spare hep in glovebox.
Drove to gas station and topped off with 93 octane.
6 more miles on it.

Will drive to work tomorrow.
Issues: loud rattle on deceleration, and a couple times the rpm dropped down to 500 when coming to a stop, but never stalled out. It idles around 900 normally.

[zin]

The driveability issues should get better the more you drive it, assuming the SDS, etc are working properly (which they seem to be).

No sure what the rattle would be, other than maybe something in the exhaust being loose, and/or rubbing up against the body when the engine rocks from the decel... Might check the front engine mount to be sure it's installed correctly/tight.

Mike

[RattFink]

Drove to work 20 miles round trip, no issues! Put it on a lift. Reinstalled front sway bar, reinstalled brake caliper anti rattle clip that I found on my garage floor, installed both side plastic inner fender/splash shields. I also messed with the starter wiring while on the lift as it was really close to the exhaust manifold. There are a bunch of rattles and squeaks to address, other repairs I want to make, etc. BUT, it is running really well, nothing is leaking, temp gauge is staying in a good place. I am as happy as can be, and glad to be able to drive it. While on the lift, I noticed the metal shield around the PS lines on the K-member rubbing slightly on the passenger axle equal length shaft u-joint. I bent it out of the way, and my noise on decel is gone. The exhaust does need work too as it is a little rattly. I MIGHT drive it to work again tomorrow and give it a quick alignment, haven't really decided yet... 50 miles on it so far.

[Guyondacouch]

Glad to see you have some miles on it now! For your questionable fuel pump, I have a new Wally 255 laying in a box in my garage if you want it. I was going to use it in my Shadow years ago but went a different route. PM me if you would like me to send it your way

[RattFink]

Drove to work again. Car was running great last night, but this morning it was misfiring horribly. Breaking up bad between 2k-3k rpm. Pulled the cap/rotor/wires/plugs to find one of the plugs had cracked porcelain! Ordered a set of Champion RN12YC from napa, had them installed by 10. No time to do an alignment. Drove home from work in a decent amount of traffic, temp gauge never went over 1/2, car ran GREAT! 75 miles on it so far.

[RattFink]

Well, drove to work again and misfire is back! I'm thinking my cheap plug wires (literally rock auto's cheapest) are probably carbon tracked. I'm gonna get some better wires and go from there.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, drove to work again and misfire is back!  I'm thinking my cheap plug wires (literally rock auto's cheapest) are probably carbon tracked.  I'm gonna get some better wires and go from there.

[Dr. Johny Dodge]

I had a bad coil wire once - the terminal was loose at the coil so everytime I gave the car some of the happy peddel the coil wire would move on the inner fender causing the terminal to briefly loose contact
that one took a little while to find

[zin]

Check the other plugs too, it's too easy not to, and fits Murphys Law to a tee.

Mike

[Dr. Johny Dodge]

just noticed you put the stock rn12's in it

next time you might wanna try the rn9's as there a little colder and will help keep the detionation bug away

I used them im my old log turbo motors with a 180 stat and never had detionation except the one time I had to put regular gas in it and I used to beat mine hard enough the swing valve casting would still be cherry red a couple on min afterwards when I pulled back into the driveway

there was this really big hill in front of my place .... - that casting was probably hot enough to be invissiable as I crested the hill

[RattFink]

All good tips, thanks everyone! I poked around under the hood yesterday and found the coil wire where it attaches to the cap is CRUSTY! I had a hard time pulling it off because it was rusted on! Some water must have sat in there. I just ordered a new cap and wire set.

[RattFink]

Phew, been a busy month! We closed on a house 07/07. I've been packing, painting, and moving! Things are getting a little more settled, so I've started playing with the car again. I'm chasing a misfire condition still. I'm going to start a new thread for that.

[zin]

I assume it's not just the "normal" "hiccup" at idle, which is caused by the computer interrupting the program from time to time.

That being the case, I'd start with replacing all the secondary parts, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, swapping them out one at a time, even if they are new. If there is no change, you just have a known good piece for your next tune-up, but you could very well find the problem piece, which I would promptly throw as far away from myself as I could!

If those pieces don't cure the issue, I'd then move on to the coil and it's wires and I'd try another, known to be good HEP. Also, check to see that the shutter wheel hasn't loosened up over the years, they are only held in place by melted plastic...

If that is not it, I'd be giving the Power Module the stink-eye, since it's what actually fires the coil and injectors for that matter, which could be another place to look if it isn't in the ignition components.

Just for S & Gs, double check the ground at the intake and fire wall, anytime weird sh!t is happening and involves electricity, my go-tos are fuses (if it's just not working), and grounds. Grounds can provide some seriously mind stumping situations, like working one time, then not at all, as was the case on a S-10 I was installing nitrous onto, the bolt I hooked my ground to for the electronic wide open throttle switch looked like it was bare metal... it was not, but did conduct just enough to fire the box once, then nothing!

Good luck, and congrats on the house, nothing better than "owning" your own place.

Mike

[RattFink]

Thanks for all the tips! Wiggled wires at LM, no change. Different HEP swapped in, no change. Replaced coil (Autozone had one in stock for cheap, figured it wouldn't hurt to have a backup if it didn't fix it) no change. I drove it to work today, 30 miles round trip. I didn't drive hard and stayed out of the boost. Sometimes it drives fine, sometimes it starts missing and falls on it's face. Anyway, I scoped out the secondary ignition, chocked the wheels, and made it misfire under load. Cylinder 3 waveform was indicative of a very lean condition. It is also throwing a code 51, but no power loss light. I'm thinking the 28 year old junkyard injectors have seen better days. More testing will be done. Also, I did find and repair a vacuum leak.

[zin]

The injectors would do well to be cleaned professionally, that is by someone who can disassemble them, install new screens and verify pattern, flow and balance.

We do tend to forget that they are the equivalent of a carb and do get gummed up, wear and loose performance.

Provided you can get them done at a good enough price, you won't need to replace them. On the other hand, if the right price for NEW ones can be had, that would be my choice.

I think you found your issue. That injector isn't performing and could easily do what you are experiencing.

As always, good luck to you!

Mike

[RattFink]

I may send them out to Mr. Injector. $16ish a piece to service them. I wanted to drive the car to Caffeine and Octane in Atlanta this weekend, but this misfire is stopping me. I was just out tinkering with it and completely lost two cylinders. Injectors 3 and 4 aren't firing at all. Voltage to them, but noid light is not flashing. Time to trace a certain tan wire to the PM and see what's up. It's very possible that this is my problem.

[RattFink]

Damn, both injector grounds from PM to injectors harness have good continuity. It's looking like the PM took a dump. May try to fit in a junkyard trip this weekend. Pull a part is showing an 87 new Yorker turbo hit the yard on 08/02.

[RattFink]

Progress was made last week. Turns out the wire that controls injectors 3/4 from LM to PM had a spread terminal at the PM. I bent the terminal back so it makes a good connection and the car has been running great! I've actually put about another 100 miles on it as the water pump went out on my daily driver! I've got a minor to do list, but want to take it to a car show in the beginning of September. My biggest issue now is figuring out a better PCV solution. I've haven't got on the car too hard, but the oil dipstick has popped out a couple times, causing a mess of oil on the front of the engine.

[RattFink]

Last week I ordered a new 3 way PCV grommet from Mopar, and got a better PCV system set up. They still make them apparently, they had them in stock at the Atlanta warehouse. $12.xx. I also double checked the ignition timing, and tightened up all the pins on the PM connectors. The car was running really good, then stalled out a couple times on the way home from work Wednesday. It also cut out a few times, and I watched the tach drop when it did this. I swapped in a different HEP and fixed a couple other minor things. Sunday morning I achieved a long time goal. I took the car to the Atlanta Caffeine and Octane car show. It is 60 miles round trip from my house, the longest trip I've taken in the car. Also, it involved me getting on the highway for the first time, probably the first time for that car in 17 years. The car performed ALMOST flawlessly. It ran beautify on the way there, but apparently 7:00 am isn't early enough to get a decent spot in the main show area. This show has gotten HUGE. Anyway, I got a decent spot, and explored the show. I didn't see another old school TD there. There were a handful of NSRT's, and one CRST, along with a few 60/70's era Mopars, and a HUGE amount of newer Chargers/Challengers. I did run in to a guy, who is actually local to me, that is into TD's. He had brought his 85 Charger to the show a couple months ago, but recently sold it. We exchanged info. There was a fair amount of traffic by the Charger when I was hanging around it, and there was always 2 reactions:

1) What the hell is this? I didn't know Shelby made Dodge's.
2) Me/My buddy had one of these back in the day and it was a blast! Holy cow, I haven't seen one of these in years!

Also, a lot of thumbs up on the way in.

The way home was almost uneventful. I laid into the throttle about halfway home and popped a boost pressure hose off! Pulled into a McD's and fixed it up. Very close to home it was acting funny. Almost like it was hitting fuel cutoff without much throttle. Hit the gas and it wouldn't get out of it's own way. Intermittent. I wonder if I have an overactive knock sensor?

Anyway, it was a fun morning none the less. Next step is to plumb an intercooler and really start working out the drivability bugs. Not sure the timeline on that. Just bought a house that is proving to need a little TLC and wife is 38 weeks PG with baby number 5!!!!!

[zin]

You've come a long way!

Over_boost is a very violent thing, so if what you experienced was not, that's probably not it. If it is, hook up your scan tool and see 8f the map/computer is reading correctly against a mechanical gauge. The maps mounted to the logic modules tend to collect water and go bad. This is why later yearshe moved them, and Mopar even made a retrofit kit for older cars...

Mike

PS congrats on #5, you must have much more energy than I! 👍😈☺

[OG_SRT4]

Tell me more about this retrofit kit please.