Hello, My 1988 Turbocoupe recently developed a problem where the car won't start there is no spark. So a little more detail. The car was sitting for a while about 4 months and the battery went dead. Installed a new battery and turn the key on and the fuel pump runs and the engine cranks, however, the primary radiator cooling fan also runs when the key is turned on which it shouldn't. I'm thinking maybe the EEC4 may have failed or ignition module? The radiator cooling fan coming on when the key is turned on is strange. Has anyone seen or had this happen ?  Anyway, any help or suggestions would be welcome.

Trying to figure out the miss my car has at idle 
I’ve been told it’s normal and many turbo coupes have this issue 

Drives well otherwise just when I’m sitting still at idle it misses 

Already tried these: TFI, Plugs, wires, ignition coil, ECT, TPS, VAM

Compression is great 150 on all cylinders and did a leakdown test I don’t have a valve issue 

Timing is good and set at 10° BTDC with spout removed

I have looked all over and don’t see any vacuum leaks and it holds over 20” of vac at idle

Has a RR cam / roller followers so I don’t have a worn slider cam to cause problems 

Fuel pressure is great and it doesn’t ping or detonate in boost 

Only two things I haven’t touched are the PIP or ECU at this point 

I would add a video but I’m not sure how to attach it here lol

A friend took this Saturday, Sadly, I have to wait another year to do it again.

Yesterday, I bought 5 laps at "Hendrik laps for vets" and I got to drive my T-Bird around the Talladega super speedway!  It was GREAT FUN!

My fuse panel under the dash seems to be shorting therefore Im looking to buy one in decent shape. Anybody know where one could be found? Haven't had any luck finding any.

Good afternoon everyone. Looking for a blower resistor for my 88 turbocoupe. Is there a good substitute for the motorola SJ5783

Since it seems to be a slow time here, I wanted to share the most recent struggle I had doing something that should be mundane work on my Turbo Coupe.

It has been long past time since my rear axle needed to have its fluid changed. While I realize this is not vital, when you have a car that's 40 years old preventative maintenance becomes paramount.

I have done this several times in the past, and it was not an issue. This time was different.

(WORD TO THE WISE: Before starting this job, make sure you can first get the Fill Plug loose so it can be removed.) I did not.

I guess you can imagine what happened next. I loosened the cover plate, drained the oil, cleaned both surfaces of the housing and the cover plate, in preparation for the silicone applied as the gasket.

Then, at least I did one smart thing--I thought it would be a good idea to try to remove the fill plug.

It would not come out. I tried using a big breaker bar; using a Ryobi torque driver. It would not budge. I heated the plug using an acetylene torch. I spayed it liberally several times with Superzilla.*

None of these things worked. After a week of working with this part-time, I gave up. Instead, I drilled a hole in the cover plate, spot welded a nut to the inner side of it and installed an M10 bolt with a gasket, the end of which I cut off so it was flush with the nut. That's now my fill hole. The downside of this is you can't actually measure how much fluid is in there. I figured at some point I would take it to a garage, have them put it on the lift and then try to get that fill plug at least loose.

I could drill it out, but I don't think it's that vital to have.


*I saw this product advertised whilst watching an SEC college football game late one night (apparently it's big in the South). I visited the Superzilla website and was impressed. I wanted to rebuild a spare turbocharger, and I thought this might come in handy. Of course in the process of doing that, part of the housing has gotten wedged inside another part due to the extreme heat. It's recommended to apply WD-40 and pound on it until eventually you knock it loose. Since I have rebuilt turbos several times I've gotten used to doing this. But this time I used Superzilla and it came apart mostly right away.)

A couple of months ago i noticed my A/C belt had shredded. My first thought is always that the compressor locked up; but it seems to be fine. However, the AC belt tensioner looks like it suffered some damage, likely high mileage wear.

This is one of those things that had I had a "Back to the Future" moment, I would've purchased like three tensioners and two or three belts back then.

This tensioner is not easy to locate. I found one on Amazon and bought it, but then my money was refunded, they said it was out of stock. I have the original part number, but it doesn't cross over.

As for the belt have so far purchased three belt--two from AutoZone and one from NAPA--that don't fit properly. Having the right belt tensioner would probably help is one that I have as I said has been damaged.

Would someone mind going and looking at the belt number they have on their car (1987 TC) So I can track it down that way? Does anybody have or know where I can get another belt tensioner for the A/C belt?

As always, thanks for any help you can provide.

Hi everyone!

I've been absent a long while.  Still have my 88 Turbocoupe but haven't driven it at all in 2-3 years.  Life has been busy and it has a steadily growing needs list. Covid really threw me off of cars for a while too.

Apart from a tank of stabilized but probably bad 3 year old premium gas that needs to be drained and replaced, it needs tires.

I'm looking for recommendations.  The car gets driven fewer than 2000 KM a year, so the tires will age out before they wear out.  I don't drive aggressively.

MY THUNDERBIRD WONT START. The story is I was sitting idling and it randomly shut off and wouldnt start. It is not fuel related. Fuel to the rail and won’t start with any fluid. I have also confirmed power to the TFi and coil. as-well as testing the coils resistance, no issues there. I have also replaced the TFi thinking that was the issue. No change. Im also getting plenty of spark from the center cap wire. Cap and rotor have all be cleaned. Plugs, wires cap and rotor have less than 5000 miles. What are we thinking gentlemen?