so i just picked up a 98 csvt a couple weeks ago and i wanna go through it and make sure its runnin tip top so im goin to do basic things like oil change plugs and wires fuel filter drain and flush radiator fluid. im sure theres a bunch of other things i can do to get this thing running mint any other suggestions? i dont mind taking things about and gettin dirty.
maintenance advice
- Thread starter 98svtdoyle
- Start date
im also thinking about cutting out the cat and res...advised or not?
At a minimum, these two items need to be addressed beyond normal documented maintenance:
1. The upper and lower intake manifolds (UIM & LIM) require periodic clean-out about every 50,000 to 100,000 miles. What happens is the combination of exhaust gasses rerouted into the intake system through the EGR valve and the oil vapors from the PCV system get together to build-up a sludge that slowly chokes-off the intake system. You can suppress / eliminate the need for future UIM/LIM cleaning by putting an oil vapor filter into the PCV circuit to snag the vapors.
2. The shift tower assembly should be sent to Terry Haines at HMS Motorsports to have what is called the "keyed" modification. The shift tower has a bolt that holds everything together on the inside of the transmission. This bolt is subjected to a lot of torque. The head of the bolt often breaks off leaving you stuck in a gear or neutral. The worst case scenario is that the bolt head gets caught between the gears and the transaxle case; the result is a hole is blown out on the case and you need a replacement transaxle.
Other things to consider are:
Don't beat on the car via slamming shifts or driving it so hard as to break traction to the point that the front wheels start hopping. The differential in the transaxle is extremely weak and the usual failure is broken spider gears. Often, the gears break out of the transaxle case and you need a replacement transaxle. The synchronizers, especially the third gear synchro, are not very robust. Abuse the transaxle and if the shift tower or differential doesn't get you, then the dreaded "third gear grind" will. Once grinding starts happening and you have verified that the problem isn't worn shift cable ends or misadjusted cables, you will need a transaxle overhaul to fix the problem.
The original factory claim was that the spark plugs only needed to be changed out every 100,000 miles. It turns out that this interval is too long and that they should be changed every 50,000 miles. Replace only with double platinum spark plugs.
The original lube used in the transaxle is automatic transmission fluid. Change that out and replace it with either Ford's newer "Honey Oil" or Royal Purple Synchromax. I'm pretty sure that Synchromax is cheaper than the Ford "Honey Oil".
Cutting out the catalytic converter is illegal. If you have to go through emissions testing, you will probably fail if you cut it out.
The car will get very noisy if you replace both the catalytic converter and the resonator with straight pipes. The drone will drive you nuts on long highway drives. The car will get horribly raspy in sound too.
If you want to mod the exhaust, there are two things at minimum that you can do to improve performance while avoiding turning the car into a noise machine:
1. Replace the factory y-pipe with an MSDS y-pipe. The factory y-pipe is horribly restrictive. If you have the skills, you can modify the factory y-pipe to remove the massive restriction. Check-out the Contour Enthusiasts Group (CEG) as there are pictures plus a "How-to" procedure on how to do this.
2. Replace the factory resonator with a straight-through cylindrical Magnaflow unit. The factory resonator is the other bottleneck in the exhaust. I forget the exact length everybody typically goes with but seem to recall it is around 18 - 22".
You may get some mild drone at highway speeds with the y-pipe & resonator upgrades but it will not be anything like what would happen if you deleted the cat and the resonator. Rasp will be quite minimal.
The rear mufflers have excellent flow so they don't need to be replaced unless you intentionally want to make the car obnoxiously loud.
thanks for all of that
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