[Shotimes] SHO is down... hope i didn't f' it up too bad...

[Ron DeReus]

Go have your battery checked as it may have some cells shorted; Sears,
Autozone, O'Reilly's, whoever, should be able to do this.  If you swapped
batteries and a different one worked, it doesn't sound like a problem with
the connections, but you could CAREFULLY try to wiggle the connections on
the original battery and watch the underhood light to see how it reacts.  (I
say carefully because when I did this, due to very similar problems to
yours, my battery exploded - new battery fixed my problems, and all I can
deduce is that fumes from the old battery somehow were lingering around the
top of it and wiggling the cable generated a spark that ignited it.  Not
fun.  Not much liquid spewed, so I'm thinking the acid had been evaporating
as it appeared to be the original factory battery.)

I also missed attaching a hose on the driver's side of the intake when doing
the same cleaning procedure last summer.  Next time I'll count how many I
disconnect!

Ron DeReus
95MTX

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
[mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Floyd E. Vasquez
Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 11:04 PM
To: shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: [Shotimes] SHO is down... hope i didn't f' it up too bad...


warning: long post outlining circumstances that left my SHO temporarily
inoperable.  any feedback will be much appreciated.

Saturday morning I decided I'd finally replace the plug wires on my 92 SHO;
figured I'd put some new intake gaskets on too, clean up the intake ports,
replace the plugs, etc. too.  Used the MN SHOnut 60K tape to guide me
through
the process.

By Sunday night, it was ready to try and start.  The battery had been up on
a
metal shelf.  When I put it back in the car there was not enough power to
turn
the car over.   Tried jumping it with my wife's car, no luck.  Put her
battery
in the SHO and it started.. wouldn't idle though, and it was spewing
antifreeze.  Shut if off and called it a night.

With fresh eyes on Monday, I realized that I had missed one of the coolant
hoses coming off the throttle body and another was a little loose.  Fixed.
Noticed that I had failed to connect a connector on the right hand side of
the
intake manifold, connected.  I had my battery charged during the day, but
still, it wouldn't turn over.  Lights in the car worked, etc., but not
enough
juice to turn it over.  SO, I hooked up jumper cables to my wife's car again
and this time the SHO roared to life.   It immediatley achieved a stable
idle.
I let it idle for a few minutes and inspected for coolant leaks - all clear,
and when I revved it, sounded better than ever.

So, I took it for a test ride.  Felt great, very stable.  I started real
slow.. after a block or so there seemed to be some type of electrical
event -
a momentary pause, a yellow warning light flashed on the dash, but the car
continued without a hitch.  It was night and my headlights were normal,
signals worked, and it felt amazing.  I drove 1 to 2 miles; near the end of
the ride I got into it a little and it was running great -smooth as silk
from
idle to 6000 rpm...

Came back home and parked in drive way, idle stable as can be, normal temp,
no
warning lights.. noticed LOTs of white smoke coming from under the hood.  I
shut off the car and opened the hood, lots of white smoke.. didn't recognize
the smell.  I had cleaned up with the intake manifold with intake cleaner
and
there was probably still some coolant hanging around the block - so it may
have been that stuff burning off.  I decided to put it in the garage and
finish the troubleshooting the today, but there was not enough power to turn
over the engine.  This time a jump wouldn't do it, so I just left it in the
driveway.

Today I had the battery checked, its fine.  I put it back in the car,
interior
lights are bright, key chime dinging, etc.  Turn the key and its like all
the
power is sucked out of the system.  won't turn over.  Ran the codes and got
114 and 116 (ACT and ECT out of self-test range).  I ran the test twice - 1s
t
time the fan was real weak; 2nd time the fan roared to life and the interior
lights were bright again.  Turn the key to start it up, and it shuts right
down.. no turnover.. lights go way dim..  checked the fuses.. all are fine.

And so she sits out in the driveway...  anyone experience something similar?

Floyd
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