Howdy from Illinois

Post by **GPz11** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 1:33 pm

Hey Folks,

I've just picked up an '85 XR4ti that from Northern Wisconsin via Ann Arbor Mi. From what I was told, it belonged to a German fellow up North there. He passed away and his wife sold the car.

A college kid from Ann Arbor bought it and fixed some issues with it but decided to get rid of it. So I was able to pick it up from him.

It's in pretty good shape all things considered. Typical driver's seat and dash cracking issues. It's at a buddy's house right now till I get the title transfered and all that. I'll be heading up to Midwest Merkur for some tail light gaskets since they're leaking too.

The kid replaced the radiator and brakes. It still needs an exhaust so I'm going to look for a 3" system. My buddy drove it from Ann Arbor to Chicago without a exhaust. Kinda loud but it still got 26 mpg!

It's also got a weird running issue, when you're in first gear, it will rev just fine. However, when you're in 2nd gear or any other gear, (5 sp), it will rev to about 3500 RPM, hit about 10 psi boost and then kinda just get stucks there. You hear a fluttering type noise but it's like a limiter is kicking in or something.

My buddy verified that the wastegate is working fine.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Rooster · Post by **Rooster** » Mon May 03, 2010 1:37 am

welcome to the site... any pictures of your car?

Post by **GPz11** » Mon May 03, 2010 9:05 am

Thanks, yea, I've got a few but I've got to figure out how to post them.

IceColdMikey · Post by **IceColdMikey** » Mon May 03, 2010 12:57 pm

GPz11 wrote:Thanks, yea, I've got a few but I've got to figure out how to post them.

photobucket.com is one of the easiest ways. Host them there, and then use their links to post them here.

Post by **GPz11** » Mon May 03, 2010 7:30 pm

Pics from picking up the car in Ann Arbor. My buddy Graham went with and had the joy of driving the car back with an open exhaust and no radio. That's a buddy!

Working the deal

Stopping for gas

IceColdMikey · Post by **IceColdMikey** » Mon May 03, 2010 11:55 pm

Very nice! Looks like a lovely specimen.

whitelx · Post by **whitelx** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:36 am

could be blowing out the spark. check to see what the spark plug gap is. IIRC, it should be .034". Autolite 764s (and most of the others that fit out engine) come pre-gapped larger than we require so there is a good chance someone just tossed them in as-is without checking the gap.

Post by **GPz11** » Tue May 04, 2010 6:38 am

Thanks!

I've got a set of 764's sitting in my van waiting to be installed in the XR. The current plugs were at about .080 gap and it ran better when they were gapped to .030". However, the biggest change was plugging up the huge vacuum leak that was near the brake booster.

I've also got a O2 sensor to install that came up in the codes and also need to check the VAM. That came up in the codes too.

I'm picking up the exhaust with some other goodies this weekend.

Post by **GPz11** » Thu May 13, 2010 11:57 am

Well, some updates of what I've done to the car.

Replace the brake lines from the proportioning valve to the rear wheels
Replace the Oxygen sensor
Plug vaccum leak at vacuum tree near brake booster
Install belt for AC and recharge system with R-134
Install T-bird motor mounts - motor no loger sitting on crossmenber/ steering rack
New spark plugs & air filter
Cleared out all the codes
3" exhaust gets installed tonight
Used gas tank from Jeff at Merkur Midwest is out getting repaired and sealed up.

Post by **GPz11** » Mon May 17, 2010 8:41 am

Well, I've done a few more things to the car and found out a few things about it.

Replaced the Motorcraft PCV valve with a new Motorcraft PCV valve.
Removed the throttle body and cleaned it all up. Also cleaned up the IAC.
Set the idle speed and the TPS.
Removed the rear carpeting and dried the insulation. Of course it started raining this morning and I saw trails of water already. The taillight gaskets are on order.

I found a bunch of Rapido catalogs & Newsletters from the 80's. I also found a MOCA Merkur Motoring from March 1987, Volume One, Number One.

My car was originally owned by Aural Umhoefer of Baraboo Wi. He underlined a bunch of things in the Motoring booklet.

Does anyone know if "Star Plate" still exists? Evidently, that was the fix for "Cruddy Cladding".

It's kinda funny to read some of the Tech questions that was being asked back in '87. They seem like the same questions being asked now.

Post by **DPDISXR4Ti** » Mon May 17, 2010 10:33 am

Welcome...

How the heck were you able to drive that thing home without plates?

Post by **GPz11** » Mon May 17, 2010 10:41 am

My buddy who drove it back had the title and bill of sale with him.

So if we got stopped, we'd just show them the paperwork and say we'd just bought the car and are taking it home.

However, we had no issues other than my buddy going deaf from the open exhaust!

Rooster · Post by **Rooster** » Tue May 18, 2010 7:49 pm

nice car bring in it to carlisle....

Post by **GPz11** » Tue May 18, 2010 8:27 pm

Naw, as much as I'd like to be headed out there, we've got other plans that weekend.