93' Vulcan, Want to Save this Car

[udyra]

Hello,

just joined the forum. I have A 93' Taurus, 3.0 Vulcan.
I'm the second owner, I bought it from my Uncle,
Mike Rozich. He worked for Ford 40+ years and followed
this car down the assembly line (Chicago assembly plant).

I'm an old fart, not used to these "new" cars. I'm a long
time Pontiac nut (GTO's Catalinas, Bonneville's... etc.).
My wife loves this car and I want to save it.

It died about 9 months ago. The tow truck driver said
the engine was shot. I let it sit, looking for another engine.
I cannot change this engine like I am able to do with
the older cars.

It has spark, compression, no water in the oil. I sprayed
starter fluid into the intake,, my Brother-in-law turned the
key to quick and the ether ignited making my arm/head
hairs crispy. No harm done.

I'm thinking it has jumped time? Is this an engine that
won't cream the valves/pistons if the timing chain goes?
I've researched the internet and I'm thinking, could it be
a crankshaft position sensor, or a cam sensor?

I'm in TN (6 years now), originally from the Chicago area.
Can't get much help/input from the local mechanics down
here. When I mention "Vulcan" they think I'm talking about
Flash Gordon.

I don't have a code reader, would that be my first step?
Somewhat familiar with that technology. Would it give me
codes just cranking the engine?

Thanks much for your curiosity to this point,
any thought's, input would be greatly appreciated.

Rudy

[major]

Where abouts in Tennessee are you, Rudy? A 1993 Vulcan won't have a cam position sensor or a crank position sensor. The piston won't hit a valve in these cars and the timing chain, from my knowledge (what I've seen personally) can go 400,000+ miles, although it will stretch a bit. My Vulcan Sable has over 300,000 on the original internals. If your getting spark to ignite your arm, maybe it's the fuel pump, distributor or inertia switch in the truck. On a '93 Taurus you don't need a code reader, just a paperclip. Look in the topic finder on this site and follow the instructions. All you have to do is count the check engine blinks and compare them to a code chart. If you do have to change the motor out, the good news are these Vulcans are everywhere. The better ones would be the 2000 to 2007 'U' code Vulcans because they have a bit more power and more than likely, lower miles. The block and heads are direct bolt in units.

[udyra]

Wow, thanks Major for your input. at least I now have a direction.
I'm in Jasper, TN about 20 some miles west Of Chatt. I thought about
the fuel pump, that's why I tried the starting fluid. I figured it would
run on the little bit of spray, all it did was POP. Will definietly follow up
on the paperclip diagnostics. My biggest unknown with an engine swap
is the electronics. How critical is the "brain box" and the wiring loom
already in the car? And does this motor have to drop out from the
bottom in a swap?

Don't mean to sound ignorant but this is totally new for me. I do have
a line on a 97' engine (3.0) but the intake is screwed up. From what I've
read, there was a change in 96' on intakes nd mine wouldn't fit.

Also, I dumped bout $600 into the A/C before the car bit the dust. That's
another reason I don't want to give up on it.

[loudsho92]

If you are not getting fuel starter fluid will not do anything.

To check for fuel first turn the key to the on postion and listen for the fuel pump. If you hear it go on then the pump is good. If not you either have a bad fuel pump, bad CCRM or Inertia relay.

[udyra]

Thanks Loudsho92. I will go over that again. I tried listening for
the fuel pump to kick in but the automatic antenna noise kinda
drowned out the process. The inertia button was depressed as it
should be, but I may try to bypass that in case it is the culprit.
Will let you know of my progress. I tried starting it again, got a
minor hit on trying to fire. Comparing it to an old school carb
car, sounds like it is out of time to me. I looked into the paperclip
idea but got a little lost. Autozone has a relatively cheap code reader,
may try that next. Thanks again for your input.

[sheila]

Have a helper stand at the fuel door (open) with cap off to listen (no smoking, lol) while you turn the ignition key to the "on" position.

[major]

The tow truck driver said the engine was shot? Did he tow it from a shop or was guy as smart as a boat anchor?
There are a lot of electronics on a '93 Vulcan but as long as you've got a good ground connection, battery power, plug fire and fuel it should at least create a few combustion strokes. As always, start with the simplest stuff first. Disconnect a fuel filter line (under passenger side, before the rear wheel arch) let it drain in a pan, empty the pan before you crank. Are you getting fuel at the filter?

[udyra]

Hi,
The boat anchor... I mean the tow truck driver picked the
car up on the road where it died, stopped by his station, then
delivered it to my yard. That's when he gave me the verdict.
He has a small yard with parts cars and claimed to have the exact
motor I needed with only 48,000 miles on it.. Well after hounding
him with cash in hand for months (6-8) he admits that the engine
was open (no intake) to the elements and no good. That's when I
started to investigate on my own.
Anyway, bought a cheap little plug-in tester (actron) and the best
I can figure is that the blinking lights are giving me a 13, 33 or
133 code? Looked them up to no avail. I have a problem with small
type and have to use a magnifying glass to read the instructions.
Also had a friend listen at the gas cap (Thanks Sheila) and he said he could hear the pump working. Will try the fuel test next.
Thanks again.

[udyra]

Hello, here's an update on my progress, been picking away at
this. I mentioned I had spark, came to find out it was momentary
and then would become erratic, most of the time it would cease to
spark altogether. Had the TFI module tested at AZ and it was bad. I've replaced that along with the ign coil, cap & rotor. The plug gaps were
all over the place, 4 read 55/1000's the other 2 were 32. Cleaned them
and regapped (will replace later if I ever get this to fire). The back
wires (1,2,3) were toast. Someone had replaced these and they didn't
match the other 3. I've got some nice used one's on for now (6 matching).
Still won't fire. So I bought a fuel pressure tester which reads 16, should
be 38-40. My next step will be to drop the tank and replace the
fuel pump.

[Lgbpop]

For the $15-20 it would cost for new plugs, it doesn't make sense to me to replace the cap-coil-TFI-rotor only to leave old plugs in. May as well put in new plugs.