New Guy With A Fox And Newbie Questions.

[Nitsua93]

Picked up an '88 GT to replace my current daily. It's pretty rust free. No rust to worry about on the strut towers or above the wheels. Has 88K on it. I'm going to rebuild the T5 soon and clean a lot of things up before I begin nodding.

Now for the questions! I have a slight wander in the front suspension from time to time which makes things a little sketchy when doing a pull. Is there anything common to go bad up there?

How do I know if my clutch cable needs tightened?

I've found an on/off switch under the steering column. Is there a reason anyone could think of why it's there?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

1. You have 88k on a car that's 25 years old. Front suspension/steering parts (i.e. inner/outer tie rod ends) are probably worn out. Take it for a front end alignment,...they'll advise you as to what is worn out on a car that "wanders" in the lane,...then you can replace what they diagnose as bad, and take it back to the shop for a real alignment.

2. You know if your clutch needs adjustment by where it starts to engage when you start to let the pedal out. If you have the stock N/A clutch cable still installed, you can give the clutch pedal an upward pull w/ your hand,...there is an auto adjuster that will do it for you.

3. It's probably a kill switch. Your previous owner put it there to allow an extra measure of security to keep the car from being jacked when parked in " suspicious surroundings"

Tell me more about this "nodding" you speak of,...is that some sort of practice where you eat a late lunch, and then get on the interstate w/ the heat turned up a little too high?

 

[95PGTTech]

Up front - everything. It's a 25 year old car. Get the front up in the air, check the wear pattern on the front tires and shake the front end down. A couple quick failure points that would cause a wander - play in the tie rods, steering shaft, lower ball joints, shocks, lower control arm bushings. If you don't know how to step-by-step shake the front end down to isolate specific faults rather than just guess and check throw parts at it, ask. Lots of really great help on these forums.

The OEM clutch cable can't really be "tightened" as it is not adjustable. If there is play in it (slop at the top of the travel before actuation), it needs to be replaced. There is a ratcheting mechanism on the OEM clutch pedal meant to tighten up that slack as the cable lengthens from age but they are horrible and rarely work, often breaking (the quadrant). This and the firewall adjuster should be replaced with aftermarket pieces (see: Fore). The clutch cable should be replaced with ONLY an OEM cable - aftermarket adjustable ones have the reliability of a Pontiac Fiero.

Is it clearly aftermarket? Usually this is indication of an aftermarket-installed security system. Trace the wires and decide if you want to keep it or go back to the OEM stuff.

 

[Nitsua93]

Thanks! The wires are extremely hard to trace because the seat will not slid backwards. It's a very tight squeeze to get under the dash. In the back seat I found a remote and under the steering column I found an impact alarm.

 

[Nitsua93]

3. It's probably a kill switch. Your previous owner put it there to allow an extra measure of security to keep the car from being jacked when parked in " suspicious surroundings"

Tell me more about this "nodding" you speak of,...is that some sort of practice where you eat a late lunch, and then get on the interstate w/ the heat turned up a little too high?

Haha I meant modding it's definitely not a kill switch. It's wired for an amp so I imagine may have had something to do with that.