Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Forced Induction Big injectors no chip

Well, I got underneath and adjusted the side to side cable while my friend held the gear selector in nuetral. I adjusted it and put the end on the ball. After a few shifts the connector pops off the ball. I have to turn the cable and connector 45 degrees or so in the up position so mabey that is pulling the end off. But being a ball joint i wouldn't figure that mattered. I just cant get the end to stay on. I mean this isn't rocket science or anything. I push it on and it falls off after a few shifts. I did this many times and I know I have the cable set at the right length. War, the way you described your ends is the same type that I have. Did you have to bend the whole cable and end to get it to snap on the ball? Or was the end facing the ball perfectly?

There is a mounting bracket that bolts to the diff case and holds the cables in it.
If the cables are in the bracket then they should be lined up reasonably close to the shift tower levers. The cable shouldn't have to be bent, but the connector may have to be rotated to line it up. They do take quite a bit of force to push on and there is a black bushing in the connector that is somewhat flexible but still holds the connector onto the ball joint.
I would say that if you have to bend the cable 45 degrees then it probably isn't in its mounting bracket. Is the bracket present or missing?

well, the cable doesn't bend. I just have to rotate the connector to get it on. I just took it out for a spin and I can tell that it is still mis-aligned because in first gear it looks like it is in between first and second gears. It's the same for all the other gears also. It pops off everytime I put it in reverse also. That right there tells me its mis-aligned because thats the furthest that the gear sellector has to move to the right.

Now, when the shifter is in neutral between third and fourth gears it looks straight. Thats how I checked the length of the connector when I adjusted it. It maight still be a little off. It's not as easy as I thought it was going to be to do the adjustment.

Now the misfire is gone in the engine as far as I can tell. I took off the FMU because the S.F. chip wasn't made to use the fmu I believe. So I figured the car might run pretty good. I was wrong. Last night with the fmu on the car ran out of balls at 90 mph, just wouldn't go faster. Thats when I figured that the chip probably wasn't meant to be used witht he fmu. So this morning I took the fmu off and the car didn't just stop like it did last night but it has no balls.

When ever I get to about 3-4k rpm with half-throttle or so I get nasty backfire also. The car should be quicker than it used to but honestly I think I probably have only 100 HP or so at the wheels. Thats how slow it feels. I know the Zetec final drive is going to lose me some low end balls as well as my wide open exhaust (no cats). But even up high it is just a slug. I am pretty much lost. My brother said the back fire could be caused by a exhaust leak (we filled them at the shop), running lean (its possible, except it did it with the fmu set at 7:1 and S.F. chip, or the timing may not be right). I wonder if the timing chain skipped? Its really bad though and I have exhausted my limited knowledge on the subject. I really don't want to take it back to a shop. Its just to expensive to do and I do have a honda to get me around. How can I tell if the timing is right? Would it trow a cel? Right now the only light on the ddash is the ABS light. I have had it running for a while and no CELs since I put in the S.F. chip and the 30# injectors. Thanks alot for the help.

Its possible that you hurt something in the engine, but sounds to me like you may be running overly rich.

Is the SF chip tuned to use the FMU, or is it tuned to use a set of larger injectors?
If you used the SF chip and it was tuned for use with an FMU BUT you did not use the FMU then you could have hurt something.
I think vortech runs too rich anyway for protection, so I'd guess that you may have fouled plugs. Check out your oil and make sure it doesn't smell like gas. If all these things come out negative, then unhook the intake for the supercharger and put your normal intake back on, pull all the chips and reset the pcm.
The supercharger will still turn but it won't be hooked up and you can test to see if the engine goes back to normal during your drive. If it operates normally then you have a tuning/fuel/spark issue when the vortech is hooked up.

As for the transmission, make sure you are pushing the connectors all the way on. You should see the ball joint pop through the connector once it is all the way on. Then you can take and adjust the linkage by popping out the orange retainers, center the stick with the trans in neutral, then pushing the clips back in. The only way the connectors wont stay on is if they are damaged or not pushed on all the way. Remember, they are a [censored] to push all the way in.

Tom

Tom,
I just took a plug out and it looks good. Then I smelled the oil and it does seem to smell like gas a little. It doesn't smell like straight up oil I don't think. I had my lady smell it and she said it smelled like oil. Then I told her to get closer and she said it smelled like gas. So what kind of damage is this? Anyone interested in buying a SVT?

edit: I did have a 19# injector that was stuck open for about 20 miles. Could this cause gas in the oil? The engine isn't blowing smoke either, it sounds real good at idle too. The last thing I know is the cars clock is all goofy, is this a sign of faulty chip or ecu? Sometimes the clock reads military time, sometimes it reads normal time. and the pats light flashes like crazy and then just stops. mostly it flashes all the time though. I am just getting ready to do a compresion check on all six right now so hopefully this reads out right.

An injector stuck open or leaking will put gas in the oil. The oil will then be too thin and not lubricate as well, plus it has harmful vapors. Doesn't seem so bad if you only smell a little gas, I'd just change it soon to be safe.

If all six plugs come out looking good and the compression test is fine then you have nothing to worry about as far as the engine.
The pats light flashing randomly is a sign that something is up with the chip or the way the chip is put in, i.e. not seated correctly.
Again, try running the car in a normal fashion without the SC hooked up so you can see whether or not that improves it or not.

War,
Ok, I did change the oil, i put in mobil 1 5-w30. I am nearly positive its a chip issue. I just took it out and the thing pulls all the way to 7600 rpm, I don't hear pinging or backfiring. When I let off the gas it pops a little but thats probably the unused fuel that is stuck in the combustion chamber. It used to rip the tires all the way through 1st even when I babied the clutch. now I really don't know how the car is supposed to feel. It has a lsd and zetec final drive so mabey it won't rip the tires. but it is still not nearly as quick as it used to be. Tommorow I will have the 19# injectors fixed at the fuel injection shop and put them + the vortec chip back in. If that doesn't make it run good than something else is wrong. Thanks alot for all your help warmonger.

No problem.
Remember, you have the tires and the lsd, AND its been how many months since you last ran it? Isn't it the dead of summer now??? That may be an indication. Were you boosting when you ran it to 7600 and how did you manage that without a chip?
Either way you have an A/F problem and you might as well put it back to stock vortech settings and start from there again.

tom

Yeah, I was boosting when I went above 7000 rpm. I did have the 30# injectors as well as the S.F. chip that was tuned for them. I just think its runnig extremely rich right now. Even when it idles there is a real rich smell coming out the exaust and the brandnew muffler tips are coated black. I might have to wait a couple days for 1 19# injector because the shop doesn't have one on hand. They are testing all the injectors now so I should have 5 good ones and then I'll get the other one. In the meantime I'll fix the shift linkage. I'll keep you posted. Thank you.

Brandon Stone

Whoa. Good luck with that man. Sounds like you have a serious A/F issue. Hope all works out with the 19# injectors! I'm new to this, so please don't laugh if I'm wrong, but aren't 30# injectors a bit extreme? I've been looking in the 3L forums, and seems like people there think the 24#s are excessive. I am sure you have all the proper documentation, but if you want a copy of the Ford service manuals regarding gearshift linkage, let me know! I have the entire Ford line from 1997-2003 on DVD, and I think I can pull off a copy in PDF format for you! Again, good luck!