Hi everyone. I have always been a ls1 owner and recently added a 2001 GT today to my collection. I dont really care what brand the car is as long as it's American.

Anyway this car i got cheap with out test driving it. It needs a paint job (which i do for a living), but i also have some mechanical issues with this car. I havent done much ford work so hopefully you can lead me in the right direction.

Clunk! This car makes a VERY loud clunk from the rear of the car when you accelerate from a stop or slow roll. after the clunk it drives fine. *** up to another stop and it clunks when you accelerate. the harder you harp on it the louder the clunk.

Also the car has a LOT of play in the steering wheel. about 5 inches of travel in the "dead zone" before the tires get any turning action. There is a spot of steering fluid under the steering components (rack & pinion?) toward the pass. side,sorry about terminology.

What i have checked...

Under the dash i can rock the steering wheel back and forth slightly and i can see n feel the steering shaft has play in a connector sleeve thing, towards the firewall, unfortunatly this may only account for about an inch of travel.

As far as the clunk.With the car on the hoist... The pass. side rear tire can be pushed in and pulled out about a half inch. Also you can rotate the tire forward and backward 6 inches before the pinion seems to catch and rotate with the tire. I have verified the U-joints are ok.

This car needs a lot more work but these two problems are the only that make this car undriveable. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

 

Check the hoses from the power steering... there is a clamp on 2 of them that fell off mine. It caused the lines to rub through. Luckily I could sauder the holes.

 

forgot to mention... There is RED gasket rtv squeezed out around the differntial cover. I would suspect this to be aftermarket RTV.

 

As for the rear end. A few options come to mind.

1.) Diff fluid is low.

2.) Rear chunk is fucked. Thereby causing the slack and everything as well.

3.) You shouldn't have bought a "rustang" and kept to the trusty 'ole LS1.

 

the rear end is fucked. i got super dirty. <---that sounds dirty.

anywho, id show pictures if i was more sober and cpu savvy. Whats my best route here? the spyder gears are sheared. Do we rebuild our differentials or do we go get junkyard rearends?

 

I'd say just find someone who is selling their rearend (preferably with a better gear as well) and just pick it up.

 

First of all Welcome. Next, all the repairs are up to you and the size of your pocketbook. I like new parts but if you can't afford them then go used.
These cars love gears and that should be your first mod. (4:10's hint hint). Completly rebuild the rear end with a traction loc and new bearings all the way thoughout.

Steering issures, start at the steering shaft and "rag joint" and work your way down to rack and pinion, ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends, ball joints, and struts. Jack the car up and check each one of these for damage and wear and repair as needed. A little wear in each one of these can cause a total of 1/2 to whole turn of the wheel.

Good Luck

 

ok anyway i got the rear end ripped apart. sorry for screwing up this terminology. the spyder gears and side gears are sheared. i talked with a driveline guy and he's got an assembly for me which is the spyder gears side gears clutches and carrier fully assembled. My ring gear has some knicks on the backside of it, probably from the sheared teeth. since there is no knicks in the contact area of the ring gear can this be re-used? also i have not taken the pinion gear out yet. I cant see any damage on the contact area that is visible with the carrier out. Is it likely contaminated oil got into the bearings and wrecked the bearings? the bearings on the carrier seemed fine but im not experienced in this area.... suggestions please

 

put a new diff and new PS pump and hoses in it. put new bearings in the rear and and you'll probably want new axle shafts too. also replace the u-joints. once you're done with that, we'll go from there.

 

oh.. and check the rag joint on the steering linkage. Bet the rubber has disintegrated.

 

ok i rebuilt my rear end with a new carrier and 3.73 gears from 3.23... Lots of learning done in a few days. Thanks for the help guys.

Now i need to address the steering. this rag joint, is that below the knuckle where the shaft connects to the shaft that penetrates the firewall? there is like a sleeve thing that goes over the two shafts. that is loose and i can slide it up and down on the shaft. and i see about 1" of steering wheel travel before this engages. I see no rubber stuff around this. The only rubber things i see on the shaft is where it actually penetrates the firewall.

 

http://www.musclemustangfastfords.co.../photo_04.html

that's a pic of a stock next to an aftermarket solid unit. the big circle part is the rag joint. Play in the steering system is super bad. I don't know where you're missing a part but I think something is unbolted or busticated. Take a flashlight and really look at it and you'll see how it works. the steering shaft telescopes as part of the crumple zone in the event of an accident. The shaft should be able to do so but not flop around by hand pretty much at all.

 

The steel top joint is closest to the firewall and the "rag" is closest to the rack and pinion unit.

 

ok. I found that the inner tie rod ends were shot. The rack still has drips under it so that might need to be fixed in the near future. Anyway i am driving the car a couple days now and there are a few more issues to run by you guys.

when you are driving at a cruising speed and let off the gas, the car will downshift one gear and de-accelerate for a couple seconds. Then it will upshift to OD again. As soon as you give it any gas and then let off, it will do that again. I have no codes thrown.

 

you need my whole steering rack to tie rod setup. and my 5 speed and clutch and clutch pedal/quad/adjuster/cable

quit tormenting your tranny. You found a way to mess with it. Knock it off. Really though... have you gotten any reliable info on the status of the tranny? checked fluid, etc...

 

the tranny fluid is at correct level and smells good and looks red. It doesn't slip and shifts solid. It does this when it is warm. Does not feel like a mechanical malfunction, it is consistent duration every time it does this, seems like a "sensor??". I was hoping others have had this same issue here and could enlighten

 

seems like that's in the tune. Do you know if it's been treated to a performance ECU (computer) tune?

 

no idea... I got this car a week ago from out of state. The car was listed as "needs paint job", i paint cars proffessionally. These issues were not mentioned and the seller has been extremely dishonest about everything. So i basically am figuring all this out as i go. this car has been unbelievably molested, like all the plastic interior has been put back together and everything is loose. brakes were missing hardware, rear end was shot, steering rack leaking, tie rod end shot, a relay installed to turn cooling fans on with ignition switch (probaly overheats in summer), radio volume **** sparatic???, driver side rear tailights very dim, completetly bald tires (just put 4 new on), rear defrost doesn't work, a/c compressor isn't engaging, and im sure i will find more that needs to be done.

Anyway im stuck with the car so being mechanically inclined i will take it one issue at a time.

 

LMK what parts you need.

 

maybe a steering rack, some interior black plastic, maybe an aftermarket radiator, weatherstrip around front n rear glass

 

just to re-iterate.

When you are cruising the tranny is in OD. When you completely let off the gas the car will coast for about 1-2 seconds. Then it will downshift a gear for 2-3 seconds. then it will upshift back into OD. when you touch the gas again it will be fine untill you let off again and it will repeat. It is not a violent downshift, it feels like you manually turned OD off and then back on. This is not a huge problem but it is very annoying since Highway driving you let off the gas often to decelerate slightly due to traffic. any ideas are appreciated

 

bump

 

Why don't you cont the mechanic and get repaired completely. so that you are in a safe side. the car is not going to trouble you any more. so that it goes on smoothly k cool.