Revival of the '94 Escort...

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
5,365
Location
Staten Island, NY
Well *clears throat*
Time to stop lurking and start bringing OC back
12.gif


Just shoved into the backyard is a friends '94 Escort (1.9 CVH Automatic)

They call it an LX, which stands for Luxury Xperience?

Manual locks/windows, strangle yourself passive restraints, yet power mirrors, frigid A/C, and a mostly functional heated rear window

Got a whole 42,000 miles under it's belt

It's shall we say, aesthetically challenged?

In that Solo cup 90's teal
#90sclearcoatproblems

So the story goes like this

Last December, me and him put a heater core in it, so it'd be a useable winter transport

January rolls in, and he takes it on a road trip to Central PA, and slips on a patch of black ice

Caddy corners a tree stump

Luckily, wasn't hurt, and no airbags were harmed

Local shops told him $1,500 minimum, I say junk it there and Amtrak back

Turns out he had the top line AAA membership, which covers 300 miles of towing

165 of those miles later, it comes back to NYC and sits for 6 months on the corner of my block

After it'd damaged enough property values, money and time were allocated to making it viable again

He cracked the control arm at the weld, which bent the axle and sent it punching a hole in the back of the oil pan

Swapped the control arm (which is a pain because the oil pan blocks the bolt)
IMG_20160702_201414551_zpsoqeqjzta.jpg

Dad decided to lend a hand in removing the twisted sway bar link that'd only spin
In doing so he busted up his finger pretty bad, so work halts for a trip to the ER
Sway bar links...
mad.gif


Rolled it down the street and into the backyard to assess if it was possible to make it a whole car again

Dropped the exhaust (the accident conveniently snapped the converter to flex pipe bolts)

Manifold to converter nuts were a chore, but Kroil and a MAPP gas torch made it doable

Got the oil pan off, saw how there was no oil left, and all the metal chunks

IMG_20160704_151923646_zpsco57hxpe.jpg


Inner CV axle came apart when the axle bent, and stoved right into the back of the oil pan

Tried to remove the drain plug, it was cross threaded and stripped to a mirror finish

...I never liked that oil pan anyways
whistle.gif


Cleaned the oil pickup with some brake clean, because why not?

Until the hose came off and a spritz of brake clean got me in the eye (note to self, it burns)

WEAR YOUR SAFETY SQUINTS AT ALL TIMES

Not just when you think you need them, ALL THE TIME

A few days of rest later, Got the new pan all clean and dressed

New gasket, and some well placed Ultra Black, because there will be no leaks!

IMG_20160704_152801165_zpsadt6tsc6.jpg


Bolt it all together, and torque in sequence to spec (Thanks AllData)

Spin a fresh 400S on (Because if it's not genuine, I don't want it
smirk.gif
)
Real BITOG'ers don't tolerate overtightened, non gasket oiled, ADBV malfunctioning, no name jobber filters

4 quarts of the good stuff go in (WM Supertech 5w30)

I pull the coil plug and fuel pump fuse

Crank it over until the oil pressure light went out

Checked for leaks

Repeated this 5 times or so

Plugged everything in

Crossed my fingers, turned the key

And she fired first try, like nothing ever happened

I could hear all 88 angry horsepower resonating off the walls through the Genuine Ford Racing Manifold only exhaust system

No flickering oil lights, no rattley top end, no deep bottom end knock

It sounded just like I remember it did (A/C still works too!)

Guess the owner wasn't lying when he said he shut it off the second he finished crashing

I let it warm up, so the belt could wear the rust off the pulleys, and saw that the transmission still engaged

The verdict was in, this car's got a bright future
I promoted it to slightly above station car status

I received an axle and sway bar links today

So it's gonna go back together hopefully this weekend

Gotta find some hardware and a gasket to bolt the two studless exhaust flanges back together, and get it rolling under it's own power again

Now I assume you all came for those sweet internal engine pictures?

And you shall receive

IMG_20160704_163126584_zpsadvml1mw.jpg


IMG_20160704_151414469_zpskauk6cpw.jpg


IMG_20160704_152848458_zpso1mqglzr.jpg


IMG_20160705_203922088_zpsvy4yn650.jpg


It actually looks dirtier in the pictures then in real light
Those puddles in the rockers and drips off the rod caps look black, but the oil was clean?

Then again, that oil pan with hole was sitting for 6 months exposed to air and moisture and salt

One more OCI, and I suspect oil will be the least of the cars problems

That oil pan was a PITA to find, they don't make them new anymore

Luckily, found the good used one pictured on eBay for $50~

They even painted it for me, fine people of an online Salvage Yard in Ohio


Hopefully, soon the saga of the '94 Escort will conclude...

And it will return to it's life of running to the local store, running up and down I-95, sitting in traffic on the B.Q.E, all while making you feel like you're living within your means, and getting very respectable fuel economy

Seriously, this thing gets like 25 on a bad day, 30 MPG without really trying, odd for an automatic...
 
Great work here
smile.gif


Very good write up and pics too. Well done indeed. I had a 89 Ford Probe that was given to me by my mom. It was a LX version too. I wondered what that meant too. A very good car in fact. Basically a Mazda motor and transmission in it. I saw one just yesterday and I was shocked to see one.
 
Aargh-memories of my poor misspent youth, I personally had an '83 & an '85 1/2, my Mom had an '81 Lynx & a '94 Tracer wagon. Made me appreciate Toyota small cars & even a Cavalier or two...
 
You must live in Whitestone as that's the only neighborhood I know of where you can park a car for days on end without having to move it.

You did say NYC.

EXCELLENT write up.
 
Also, what killed my Mom's '94 1.9 Tracer was an intake seat dropping out of the head & imbedding into the piston-if I was putting $ into one, I would pull the head & stake those seats in-hers died with 90K on it. Love those Ford aluminum heads!
 
IIRC, the OP lives across the GG (ethnic slur gangplank or Veranzano Bridge) in Staten Italy (which always made me laugh).
I enjoyed the write-up but I agree you have to watch that CVH for dropped valve seats (common issue).....if you correct that issue the car should soldier on indefinitely.
 
Good thought on the strategically placed black RTV. I had a 93 and replaced the oil pan gasket twice after the dealer did it once and still had ooze. The dealer mechanic simply said, "Escorts and Tempos leak." Both used that type of cast aluminum oil pan. My guess is that it will not "flex" and form as good a fit to the bottom of the engine as a stamped steel pan would. Hopefully, the addition of the sealant will prevent that. If you ever notice substantial vibration while stopped at lights it is most likely a messed up harmonic balancer. Apparently, those separate sometimes.

Also, I like Poland Spring water. I buy a lot of it on every trip to NYC.
 
My sister had either an 89 or a 90 Escort,bought it brand new back then. She said it was one of the best cars she's ever had.
 
With the 1991 model year the Escort became a sort of Ford/Mazda hybrid. The engine was Ford (1.9L), transmission (at least the automatic) and suspension was Mazda. Interesting combination that resulted in a reliable, but boring, experience. The GT version had a Mazda DOHC 1.8L engine which gave it a little oomph. The Mercury Tracer was its corporate twin.
 
My girlfriend back in the day had a 2 door 94 Escort LX wtih the 1.9L 5spd. That litte car ran great after a new cap,rotor,plugs and wires when I first started dating her. She ended up trading it in on a brand new 1998 Chevy Caviler at a dealership while I was at work without my knowledge. I asked her how much they offered her & she said 500 bucks off her new car. I called them & offered them 500 cash & they said -- no. I missed that little car when it was gone & thanks for the post & refreshing some memories.
 
Originally Posted By: thorromig
My girlfriend back in the day had a 2 door 94 Escort LX wtih the 1.9L 5spd. That litte car ran great after a new cap,rotor,plugs and wires when I first started dating her. She ended up trading it in on a brand new 1998 Chevy Caviler at a dealership while I was at work without my knowledge. I asked her how much they offered her & she said 500 bucks off her new car. I called them & offered them 500 cash & they said -- no. I missed that little car when it was gone & thanks for the post & refreshing some memories.


Wow. If my GF traded in her car without asking me if I wanted to buy it, she probably wouldn't be my GF anymore...J/K...sorta..
 
Originally Posted By: thorromig
My girlfriend back in the day had a 2 door 94 Escort LX wtih the 1.9L 5spd. That litte car ran great after a new cap,rotor,plugs and wires when I first started dating her.


Something is off here. The 1.9L Ford engine has distributorless ignition. It had a single coil block and spark plug wires, but no distributor and thus no cap. That car must have had the optional MAZDA 1.8L DOHC engine, which did have a distributor. It was 127hp rather than the 88hp in the Ford 1.9L.
 
Well, it's coming along

Axle and exhaust are back together

Only problem is, when I pulled the remnants of the inner CV joint, I was not prepared for fluid

Does this automatic have a separate fill and drain for the differential?

It's a F-4EAT automatic

Anyone ever service one before?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top