New to the forum

[Gingershrek]

How goes it? So, new to the forum, second GTP. First was a 98 in about 2004/5ish. Now I have a 2000. It’s clean I’ll give it that. She needs a little work, namely oil pan gasket and cv shafts, then some tires. Interior is clean, electronics wise it’s completely functional. I’m using her to commute to work. 42 miles each way, on graves so if I break down, it’s middle of the desert! The only “mod” it has is a K&N intake, the filter when I got it wasn’t even worth cleaning, so I just bought a random one ots at deadzone. It does have a bit more surface area. Other than that I might eventually do wheels and a little throatier exhaust, but I’ve gotten to the point where I’m done modding and what not, just want a cool car, comfortable and reliable, but can occasionally put the boy racers in their place if they act up.

Anywho, back to work I go, or rather, watching ncis with my feet on the desk for the next 6 hours.

[bandook]

Welcome!

[Scottydoggs]

for the oil pan lean. try taking out the side bolts of the pan, one by one, clean the threads, then put new thread sealant on the threads and put it back, repate many times.

a lot of the time its the bolts leaking, not the gasket. if you got dots of oil on all the bolts down the sides, bingo. just clean the pan real good before starting on the job. brake cleaner and a rag or 5 is you best friend.

[Gingershrek]

for the oil pan lean. try taking out the side bolts of the pan, one by one, clean the threads, then put new thread sealant on the threads and put it back, repate many times.

a lot of the time its the bolts leaking, not the gasket. if you got dots of oil on all the bolts down the sides, bingo. just clean the pan real good before starting on the job. brake cleaner and a rag or 5 is you best friend.

That’s what I was thinking, but, it’s a bit more than a small leak. Also, it only leaks in the driveway. Lol. Sounds weird, but it’s the angle I believe. I park in the dirt here at the house, front end inclined, at work I park front end on an incline, never anything on the ground.


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[Scottydoggs]

thats a good one. make sure the oil pans not rusted out and leaking. id clean the whole engine up and keep a close eye on the leak and where its coming from.

[Gingershrek]

thats a good one. make sure the oil pans not rusted out and leaking. id clean the whole engine up and keep a close eye on the leak and where its coming from.

That’s the biggest on the to do list. The only other big concern is possible trans, but maybe cv shafts or wheels/tires. There is a random vibration, sometimes on accel, sometimes on decel, sometimes I’m neutral while rolling down the road, it’s seriously extremely random. More when turning left than right. It’s all over the place, but, I am getting 25.8mpg on the way to and from work, so that’s nice. Same mileage as the focus. But the focus I had to push very hard on the hills and that car was a huge pile of crap.

Here she is as well. Nothing special, but could use some nice wheels.




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[Gingershrek]

This just clicked in my head for some reason, the car sits extremely low. It does hit the bump stops and has next to no dampening. I wonder if the struts and springs being bad are causing the vibration. Ie- making the cv shafts vibrate due to incorrect angle.


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[FordMan77]

Is it lowered by chance? From what I can see on the pic the front end doesn't look to have the typical 4x4 gap of a stock GP. The rear spring usually sag in these cars but not the fronts. Maybe take a pic of the sides so we can see both wheels.

Either way, if it's not stock height then yes you can/will get vibrations from improper axle geometry. I have that issue on my 00 GT lowered on Eibachs. Been meaning to get engine/trans mount spacers in it.

[Gingershrek]

Is it lowered by chance? From what I can see on the pic the front end doesn't look to have the typical 4x4 gap of a stock GP. The rear spring usually sag in these cars but not the fronts. Maybe take a pic of the sides so we can see both wheels.

Either way, if it's not stock height then yes you can/will get vibrations from improper axle geometry. I have that issue on my 00 GT lowered on Eibachs. Been meaning to get engine/trans mount spacers in it.

Yeah, it’s definitely lowered, but I don’t believe it’s an intentional lowered. Just worn out. Can you describe your vibration? For instance, how bad is it under acceleration and uphill.


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[Scottydoggs]

if it only vibrates when your on the gas, and stops when you coast its the axle, if you can feel it on one side or the other. if its both sides then you need to swap both of em.

if it vibrates all the time no matter what, then id think the wheels need to be balanced.

push down on the fender hard, and let the car go. if it bounces three times the struts are junk. never heard of them causing a vibration tho. just rides like a boat.

[Gingershrek]

if it only vibrates when your on the gas, and stops when you coast its the axle, if you can feel it on one side or the other. if its both sides then you need to swap both of em.

if it vibrates all the time no matter what, then id think the wheels need to be balanced.

push down on the fender hard, and let the car go. if it bounces three times the struts are junk. never heard of them causing a vibration tho. just rides like a boat.

I got all that down. I think I’m about 21 years in on the automotive work. Lol. As of right now, she is about 1” off the bumps. They hit on big bumps. So I drive slow. It’s literally a random vibration. It is the most pronounced on acceleration. Sometimes at cruise, sometimes at coast. I need to get it up and see what is going on. At this point it’s just guessing and speculation. Unfortunately I’m on graves, so I’m asleep all day.


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[Gingershrek]

Sorry if that came across as rude, no intention to be. I know most don’t check the small stuff first. It is a bigger car, which means bigger feels and noises. The focus had two bad cv’s when I bought it. Replaced the driver, it was good, but hit 55 and it felt like it was going to fall apart. Replaced the passenger to find out the joints were good as well as boots, the carrier bearing had failed. It was violent at 55.


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[FordMan77]

Since it's just a DD I'd get a set of quickstruts for all 4 corners and go from there.

If you haven't already done this, jack the front end up clear of the ground and push/pull on the tires at the 6 and 12 o'clock position to see if you have any front bearing play. If there is slop then time for those too. Timken or SKF work good on these cars.

If you have a bad axle then Napa Gold axles seem to be a good replacement. Been running one on my pass. side for over 100K now and no issues.

[Gingershrek]

Since it's just a DD I'd get a set of quickstruts for all 4 corners and go from there.

If you haven't already done this, jack the front end up clear of the ground and push/pull on the tires at the 6 and 12 o'clock position to see if you have any front bearing play. If there is slop then time for those too. Timken or SKF work good on these cars.

If you have a bad axle then Napa Gold axles seem to be a good replacement. Been running one on my pass. side for over 100K now and no issues.

Yeah, I plan on getting it done next weekend. That’s the next time I actually time off. Just don’t have the time on graves. Pretty sure it’s not a bearing issue though. As per the quick struts, it does make life easy, but I’ll probably spring for some KYB struts and an oe spring.


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[Gingershrek]

So, I figured I’d try a little experiment as I plan on changing the trans filter and fluid here shortly. I added that little two ounce lubeguard shudder stuff just to see if there was any difference in the way the vibration reacts. Let me advise, I had no expectations when purchasing this.

What I can say is that it did firm up the shifts, not a huge difference, but definitely noticeable.

I’m going to prime the parts to get it back to stock height and ride quality.

Once that is done I will check the vibration.

Expect me to post up any and all findings. I will start a new thread for that. My goal with this is provide a detailed inspection/replacement advisory type thread. Just in case anyone else experiences a “ghost” or “random” vibration that cannot be determined.


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[Gingershrek]

Oh, another perk to working where I work. Car washes, as many as you need how ever often. Cars are always clean. Now if I could convince them to have employee shop days, I would be set.




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[Gingershrek]

Well, the cars issue is on the back burner for the weekend. Maybe. The slave cylinder in our hay truck went out and horses need hay. Unfortunately the gtp can’t tow our trailer lol. I could try her Camry but I don’t think that’ll go over too well.


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[Gingershrek]

Oh, and did some cleaning under the hood at work the other night, still a bit more to clean up but looks a whole lot better!


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[FordMan77]

That engine bay looks good! Nice job. I hate having junk all over my engines. Makes it much harder to pinpoint leaks of any kind.

[Gingershrek]

That engine bay looks good! Nice job. I hate having junk all over my engines. Makes it much harder to pinpoint leaks of any kind.

Yeah, going to pull the fire thing from the hood and clean it too. It’s bad.


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