Larry's Engine

new 7/20/04

I talked with Our Beloved Leader today and He asked me to post an Inquiry for him.

Kirk says Larry's motor Sh!t The Bed and the car is sitting at a dealer in Fallon Nevada (Reno Area) awaiting further diagnosis. Larry is asking for any insight that any list members may have to offer as to thumbs up or thumbs down on this dealership. Fallon Ford in Fallon Nevada. All input is greatly appreciated.

Regards Eric Lehmann

Without getting bitchy, and I think I know Larry must feel now (I lost my ATX first day of MD convention and missed most of it) May I suggest the question for gentle conversation?

I had a car once and I put lights in the grill and the car had less cooling. Doug Lewis offered to put driving lights in my SHO grill but cooling issues gave me second thoughts.

A SHO driving to & from CA in a few days will see long term cooling issues Larry would never see commuting in Chicago or even on the track.

So I am wondering, in the nicest possible way, should gen 3 owners be more careful or better informed about risks of things that block air flow in the grill?

When one is at highway speeds, in July, at altitude, for hours, with the AC on MAX, our marginal cooling system has much reduced safety margin. At least on the track the ever changing high rpm helps move more coolant around, but at 3k rpm in OD on the highway for days one can bake an engine?

I hope Larry gets back on the road soon,

Tim

From my own estimations, the surface area of the lights that Larry (and I) installed is about the same as the surface area of the Furd logo that is removed from the front grill to be able to mount said lights.

Considering Larry cleaned and scrubbed his radiator thoroughly before leaving for California, and ended up placing in the show, I think that his car was probably able to cool as well if not better than many of ours can do right now.

If his car had overheating problems from grille blockage, I would presume that his brakes (outer fog lamps) and tranny (inner fog lamps) would have cooked long before his engine, as those areas indeed have more blocking them than they do from the factory.

I have a feeling his engine ate a secondary intake valve, like we've seen once or twice in the past.

Either way, until (or unless) it is proven that his car died from overheating, isn't it kind of a moot point?

-John Breen III

Will be interested to see what is found when the dealer looks at the engine. Larry first reported the problem to Brad Bender as overheating. Until then no speculation.

Chuck Mekbel

I could be 100% wrong (and often am wrong) and always paranoid. When Larry figures it out he will clue us in.

Tim

We finally made it home last night from the Convention. I want to take a moment and thank everybody who helped me and my family make it home safely. Kirk, Ron Porter, Paul Nimz, John, (still can't remember his last name) Tony Fullone, and those who I spoke with on the phone lining up alternatives to what I suspect will wind up a lunched motor. Brad, his friend Arthur, Eric, who bailed my ass out again, JJ and everyone else whose name is escaping me right now. I haven't yet had time to review the list, but I can tell you what it is not. The failure, whatever it turns out to be, has nothing to do with grill lights or valance lights. I had been ignoring a pesky Low Coolant light for weeks, based on the bottle being spot on and the Temp Gauge being consistent. The problem really began to manifest itself in the mountains. I had three people in the car, and enough luggage to do Europe for a month. (I had a baggie for my stuff, everything else was Heather:}- On the inbound leg to CA it never presented itself as unusual for the temp/grades we were climbing. Everyone was running just a tad warmer than normal. Was fine in CA including spirited driving at Thunderhill. Last session, again mostly due to heat soak and the condition of the track surface being so hot, I pulled off one lap short of the checker flag to conserve the car. It was on the return leg home that everything went to hell in a hurry. Climbing the mountains out of CA I started heating up rapidly. I shut off the A/C, turned on the defroster, and temp dropped. It was shortly after that things went totally south. As soon as I have a firmer grip from the Dealer, Fallon Ford, anybody in the area??, I'll let everybody know.

-- Larry E

Speaking of triple numbers, the mechanic who did my recent mods was very impressed with how quickly my SHO got up over 100. As he put it, "once you get the revs up it's just as fast as a 5.0 Mustang."

Not sure if that is a compliment or not...!

W. Gordon Finley

No Compression - enough said. I'm sad. working on getting a hauler to pick her up and bring her home for transplant. Who knows, maybe I'll find a fast engine??

-- Larry E

Ouch. I'll be curious to see what Eric (or whomever) finds when they tear it apart that's causing the lack of compression. As you mentioned, you were having cooling issues possibly related to low coolant levels, so it's hopefully not anything as cataclysmic as a failed weld or broken valves. Well, not that a cracked block isn't "cataclysmic", but it's almost more comforting knowing that what was fixed stayed fixed, you know?

I'm glad that the body is still together, it would be a shame to see such a clean and slick car go to the graveyard. I'm sure that whatever engine finds its way into the car will be scrubbed with a toothbrush before it goes in, knowing you. :-)

Best of luck, and if there's anything I can do, please just let me know.

-John Breen III

Contact Information