TeamCapri
General => General => Topic started by: kupasoh on September 12, 2014, 05:48:30 AM
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I have a 91 na automatic with 54000 miles on it. I bought the car 6 years ago with 27000 miles for my son and it served him well through HS and College. I am now driving it and notice for lack of a better term some Squirelyness when the road gets a little rough. I have had new front struts put on 4000 miles ago but the Ford garage didnt change the rubber mounts. They said they were ok. I recently had it alligned and new tires and rims installed. This helped a lot. It is my understanding that the 91 na automatics did not have sway bars.
Is this just the way the car handles? Would a front sway bar help?
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wether it's a standard feature on a N/A-A/T, i don't know. but if it doesn't, there's no harm in fitting one, i think.
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I forget which models it was standard on, but I agree it probably wouldn't hurt to fit it to the car.
A front strut bar will also significantly improve handling.
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All manual capri's had anti-sway bars, and all automatics did not. Go figure! This means the handling of auto's is easily and cheaply improved by fitting said bar which is readily available from dying capri's. I don't recommend fitting strut bars unless you already have anti-sway bars fitted.
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Thanks
Now to find a sway bar!
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I may have one in my garage I'll check an get back to you. John
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If Sceeter doesn't I have some.
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Thanks for checking. Let me know. We just had the Capri out Saturday night. The new tires and allignment really helped. What I am noticing now is a really jittery ride over rough patches, you know the ones where they patch the potholes about 100 times before they do it right and repave the area. This may just be the way the car is but I have had many differnt cars and never felt one ride like this.
What bothers me the most is that I had a Ford dealer install new struts on the front last year, 5000 miles ago. Unfortunately they didnt put new strut mounts in. They claim that they dont do that unless they are worn out. We they are rubber and 23 years old, had I known they were not going to replace them, I would have insisted.
When I had the allignment performed by another garage, they said everything was tight. I just wish there was a way I could trouble shoot this without spending a lot of $$$. I dont mind spending money when you experience a result, but I hate changing things that are not broken.
Thanks again.
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Your strut mounts are probably ok, if they were bad enough to allow lots of play the dealer would have diagnosed that.
Check the air pressure in your tires, some places put 40+ pounds in, makes for bad pot hole response. Even at 30 pounds I feel every little bump in the road. These are light cars that don't have the bulk to even out rough roads. Try 24 pounds in your tires, better ride, just a little shorter tire life and a little worse gas mileage for improved road feel.
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Thanks for the idea on the air pressure. 24 seems very low to keep it at but I have never had a car this small before. It would be worth doing it for a while to determine if it helps the ride and rules out other possible issues.
I will give a try tomorrow.
Thanks Blueamber
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Check the bearings.
From what I've seen, you have to ask them specificaly to check the bearings or they asume the bearings are fine. Its more work to check them than most places want to do as a courtesy.
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I had a friend who put an exhaust on for me check the wheel bearings. I believe by grabbing the wheel and tire at 9 and 3 and 12 and 6 and checking for play. One checks bearings and the other checks ball joints, I think. There was no play in either side.
Took air pressure down to 27lbs today. This did seem to slightly improve the ride, at least the harshness.
I think I am going to take it back into the dealer that installed the struts and question them about it. They only have approx 5000 miles on them and seem very easy to push down. They only rebound one time though if I am looking at it right.
Thanks again
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I was talking with a friend about my Capri's ride and he suggested checking the engine mounts. He said it helped the ride of a different model front wheel drive car he had.
Does anyone have any experience with the Capri's engine mounts? Is there one that is known to cause issues/
Appreciate any info you may have.
Lou
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That will make a difference. Yes, all three powertrain mounts are known to fail or at least need tightening. You would feel it on accelerations from stop, maybe in the shifter. You could probably hear it.
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In my experience - the passenger side mount is usually okay. The front trans mount gets wobbly over time. The rear transmission mounts like to seperate/completely fail, it seems only when oil or trans fluid leaks on them though. The rear one is a chore to replace
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Thanks
The only one I could see on a quick check was the passenger side one and it looked pretty good. I started the car and rev'd the engine while watching for excessive movement and could not see any. I imagine the other two mounts on the trans are found from under the car?
Lou