DEPERATE!!! Need help Please......

Hey Steve, The first thing I always think of when getting this sort of problem is to blean your Mass Air Flow Sensor. It is relatively easy to do and with the K&N it's quite possible that it is lightly coated with oil and dust.

I used Wynn's Throttle Body Cleaner on mine and a Q-tip and alcohol as a follow up. For the throttle body I used the same cleaner and an old toothbrush. Your dealership may have the kit made especially for this. Now that I think of, it is prolly time to do mine again.

Clean your K&N. The news in the grapevine is that they can cause as much crud as they prevent. I still ahve mine but hope to replace it eventually with something recommended by our (dear departed) Bill S, a Green filter. That is of course, completely irrelivant to your question.

As far as the gasket. Thyere are four bolts inside the fender well that you will have to remove at the top of the filler neck (where you put the nozzel) hopefully you will be able to pull it back far enough to slip one gasket off and the other one on without further disassembly.

Good luck! Oh, let us know how it goes ok!

Kate

I remember the name Bill S. from the past. Did he pass away?!? Sorry to hear that if it's so. :(

Mark

No Mark... he just left RAMFM He's still alive and kickin' :-D

Kate

| > I used Wynn's Throttle Body Cleaner on mine and a Q-tip and alcohol as a | > follow up. For the throttle body I used the same cleaner and an old | > toothbrush. | > Your dealership may have the kit made especially for this. Now that I | think | > of, it is prolly time to do mine again. | >

| > Clean your K&N. The news in the grapevine is that they can cause as much | > crud as they prevent. I still ahve mine but hope to replace it eventually | > with something recommended by our (dear departed) Bill S, a Green filter. | > That is of course, completely irrelivant to your question. | >

| > As far as the gasket. | > Thyere are four bolts inside the fender well that you will have to remove | at | > the top of the filler neck (where you put the nozzel) hopefully you will | be | > able to pull it back far enough to slip one gasket off and the other one | on | > without further disassembly. | >

| > Good luck! | > Oh, let us know how it goes ok! | >

| > Kate | > 98 Cobra Drop Top | >

| >

| |

Thanks Kate, I appreciate the advice. I guess I spoke too soon about the Check Engine light last night, for on my way to work this morning the dang thing came on. After work, I did clean the TB and the MAF, but the dreaded Check Engine light is still on. Guess I'm gonna have to take it to the dealership tomorrow. DRAT!!!! I hope it's nothing serious like a head gasket or something to that effect, because I did notice a little bit of water dripping from the passenger side tail pipe. It's not smoking though, so maybe it's not quite that serious. I did still feel a little hesitation and sputtering on my way home from work as well

Now, on to the filler neck gasket. Man!!! What I thought was going to be a 30 minute job, turned into nearly an hour and 30 minutes. I unbolted all four of the bolts inside the fenderwell plus the three just inside the gas cap door to free the neck. I tugged and I tugged to try to get it free from the tank to no avail and ended up having to drop the tank to get the neck free. The filler neck actually penetrates the tank roughly 5-6 inches and there's just not enough room to pull the neck free without dropping the tank. But, in short, it's replaced now and on my way home from the shop I filled up the tank and Voila'.........NO LEAKS. I'm a gov't contractor, and I work on a Navy base so I have access to the Hobby Shop where they have 4 hydraulic lifts and all the "real" tools a person could need. All in all, it wasn't really that bad.

Now hopefully I can get that blasted Check Engine light diagnosed before Saturday.

Steve

Nope.. don't do it YET. Disconnect the negative battery cable for at least 15 minutes. This will clear any codes it is holding. Water from the tail pipe could easily be your catalytic converters working... they are doing what they are intended to do.

After you cleaned the MAF, does it run any better? If not, then I would wait on clearing those codes until you do take it in.

Keep me posted, ok?

Kate

| >I used Wynn's Throttle Body Cleaner on mine and a Q-tip and alcohol as a | >follow up. For the throttle body I used the same cleaner and an old | >toothbrush. | >Your dealership may have the kit made especially for this. Now that I think | >of, it is prolly time to do mine again. | >

| >Clean your K&N. The news in the grapevine is that they can cause as much | >crud as they prevent. I still ahve mine but hope to replace it eventually | >with something recommended by our (dear departed) Bill S, a Green filter. | >That is of course, completely irrelivant to your question. | >

| >As far as the gasket. | >Thyere are four bolts inside the fender well that you will have to remove at | >the top of the filler neck (where you put the nozzel) hopefully you will be | >able to pull it back far enough to slip one gasket off and the other one on | >without further disassembly. | >

| >Good luck! | >Oh, let us know how it goes ok! | >

| >Kate | >98 Cobra Drop Top | >

It ran a little better, but it still seems like I get the occasional sputter. I was kind of afraid to spray the cleaner into the MAF so I just wiped it out with a clean cloth and hit the small wires with a dry Q-tip. It "Looked" clean. ????

Steve

Kate,

The cats don't make water. The engine burns hydrocarbons to form mainly carbon dioxide and water. The water is in the form of a vapor (steam) at the hot temperatures it leaves the combustion chamber. Carbon dioxide is a vapor at most ambient temperatures (and pressure). When the engine and exhaust system are cold, the steam is condensed to liquid water and it runs out your tailpipe. When your engine and exhaust is hot, the steam remains a vapor all the way out your tailpipe. So, since this condition changes with time (as the engine and exhaust heats up) you have to know when the engine and exhaust are cold or hot to make a wise determination. It happens on all internal combustion engines, those with cats and those without.

oh.

Hmm.. it may be that I misunderstood what hubs was telling me when he said that the cats convert the carbon dioxide to water. Thought he was pretty straight forward in his explination.

Then why do I see cars going down the road.. newish ones, with an occasional bit of water coming out of the tailpipe?

Kate

| | Kate, | | The cats don't make water. The engine burns hydrocarbons to form mainly | carbon dioxide and water. The water is in the form of a vapor (steam) at | the hot temperatures it leaves the combustion chamber. Carbon dioxide is a | vapor at most ambient temperatures (and pressure). When the engine and | exhaust system are cold, the steam is condensed to liquid water and it runs | out your tailpipe. When your engine and exhaust is hot, the steam remains a | vapor all the way out your tailpipe. So, since this condition changes with | time (as the engine and exhaust heats up) you have to know when the engine | and exhaust are cold or hot to make a wise determination. It happens on all | internal combustion engines, those with cats and those without. | | -- | John | ThunderSnake #59 | If you Reply, be sure and remove the " (DELETE_THIS) " from the email | address. | | | |

I would recommend ( I know it's a pain to R&I) wet the Q-tip with the cleaner and wipe it down good. As I recall.. I sprayed mine down just a little and wiped it gently, then used canned air to blow it out.

K.

| >After you cleaned the MAF, does it run any better? | >If not, then I would wait on clearing those codes until you do take it in. | >

| >Keep me posted, ok? | >

| >Kate | >

| >| >I used Wynn's Throttle Body Cleaner on mine and a Q-tip and alcohol as a | >| >follow up. For the throttle body I used the same cleaner and an old | >| >toothbrush. | >| >Your dealership may have the kit made especially for this. Now that I | >think | >| >of, it is prolly time to do mine again. | >| >

| >| >Clean your K&N. The news in the grapevine is that they can cause as much | >| >crud as they prevent. I still ahve mine but hope to replace it eventually | >| >with something recommended by our (dear departed) Bill S, a Green filter. | >| >That is of course, completely irrelivant to your question. | >| >

| >| >As far as the gasket. | >| >Thyere are four bolts inside the fender well that you will have to remove | >at | >| >the top of the filler neck (where you put the nozzel) hopefully you will | >be | >| >able to pull it back far enough to slip one gasket off and the other one | >on | >| >without further disassembly. | >| >

| >| >Good luck! | >| >Oh, let us know how it goes ok! | >| >

| >| >Kate | >| >98 Cobra Drop Top | >| >

| >| | >

Steve if I may be so bold, I suspect that your problem may be in the fuel flow sensor/regulator. If you needed to replace the fuel fill gasket due to leakage you are getting no vacume in the tank. Ford fuel systems are a closed/return back to tank system. The fuel flow regulator measures fuel pressure pumped from the tank and sends fuel to the injectors. If the flow is to high it sends the excess fuel back to the tank thru the return line. If the tank cannot maintain vacume due to bad fuel cap/ leaks etc. the the ECM will sense fuel starvation to the engine and kick of the light. The fix for this will be a computer diagnostic while the engine is under load to test fuel delivery.

Kate,

Read this:

The occasional bit of water you see coming out of the tailpipe from cars going down the road - is just that, but it's because the exhaust system (cat included) is cold enough to condense some water vapor to liquid water. It's probably not up to temperature yet.

This is normal. This is what happens when you buy a Ford!

If it's like the fox, it isnt too hard... and it could very likely be your problem.

eyeball the filler tube all the way to the tank, there's a bracket beneath too. all you have to do is pull the pipe out far enough to clear the tank.

go to lowes and gets some plumbers >silicon< grease to lube the gasket and the tube. cheaper there.

Yeah... selling the '82 GT that he bought a while back (only now it's race prepped). At least I think it's the same car... how many cherry 1982 GTs are still out there running around in Jersey?

He's dumping it for a '95 Cobra R too...

I'd say that's "alive and kickin'" :-)

JS