?? about chin spoiler and MPG monitor in '01 LS

[Rick C.]

Howdy,
We have a '01 LS sport we just bought a couple weeks ago, it has 124xxx on it, body is very solid and straight. We were showing 24+/- MPG on the highway just the other day, now it won't do better than 18+/-. I shifted manually through the gears and can't really feel it go into 5th, the light indicates it is in 5th. At 60 MPH I'm at 1900 RPMs. The engine seems smooth and strong up to 5500 RPMs, which is where I got off the accelerator. Shifts seem smooth, but firm and where they should be. Could 5th gear just go out all of a sudden? I pushed the status button and saw no indication of a problem.
After buying the car I was checking the foglights, and noticed that a rectangular panel was missing from the chin spoiler, next to the fog light on the passenger side. It's obviously removable, why? What are my chances of finding one?

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thank you,
Rick

 

[jjcool00]

First, welcome! Second, you should probably change your coils and plugs - with motorcraft parts, not equivalents. Third, I'm not sure about the chin spoiler but some good websites to favorite are:

1. fordpartsgiant.com
2. tascaparts.com
3. rockauto.com

Those website should have diagrams and links to what you need. Maybe you can search there and find a replacement.

 

[joegr]

Your 5th gear is fine. That's the right RPM for 60 MPH. You would get an "E" in the gear display if there was a problem that big.
Are you resetting the average MPG display? (It gives you the average MPG since the last reset of for the last 1500 or so miles if not reset before then.)

 

[Rick C.]

jjcool and joegr,
Thank You for the welcome, I didn't think it would be the tranny. I had pulled put the owners manual and saw the part about setting the average mph, I just hadn't been on a highway long enough to set the cruise control. I'll get on that today.
Now the chin spoiler. this car is stock except window tinting, stereo(Bummer, I much prefer Alpine to Pioneer and I have thousands of CDs) and HID headlights. Am I correct in calling this a chin spoiler? Nomenclature is important if you want people to know what you're talking about. Is there a thread here that covers nomenclature so everyone's on the same page?
I thought about the coils and plugs, I did a thread search and see that the valve cover gaskets should be changed too. I'm leaving this alone until temps are up, like in May. Besides, the car runs great for now.
I do need fog light bulbs, jjcool00, what does it take to switch over to HIDs? I saw that in your signature.

Thank You for the help,
Rick

 

[G-RELL]

pics always help

 

[Rick C.]

pics always help

YES THEY DO!!! I've been trying for 2 weeks to get pics on here. Followed the directions on the how to post pics thread, power toys wouldn't download. It was for windows XL and that's all discontinued now I think. I have windows 8, I've posted pics on FB, other forums ( a woodworkers, ford truck and chainsaw ) never had a problem. I'll figure it out and when I do, I have a shipload of pics and a bunch of????

 

[LS4me]

HIDs are a Gen2 oprion. A previous owner must have added them.

The missing piece is called a tow hook cover/access door. They are EXTREMELY rare!!!!

 

[RigsLS]

... I've been trying for 2 weeks to get pics on here. Followed the directions ... I'll figure it out and when I do ...

There are more complex options when you are using the "Advanced" posting console. Able to upload
several pics in batch form from your hard drive to forum, as well as being able to remove an attachment (pic)


~ hope that helps.

... The missing piece is called a tow hook cover/access door. They are EXTREMELY rare!!!!

and should be molded in when doing front bumper rework,



might not get a tow hook in there but it won't come loose anymore.

 

[Rick C.]

HIDs are a Gen2 oprion. A previous owner must have added them.
Previous owner said he did.

The missing piece is called a tow hook cover/access door. They are EXTREMELY rare!!!!

Thank You, my brother is a body man and he had no clue what I was talking about, he needed a name, pic or to see it.

 

[Rick C.]

Thanks BigRig, Now with the use of 3D printers, you would think they would be easy. Time to start looking.
My biggest problem posting pics is sizing them, I'll keep trying, although I don't have much patience with computers, if their so damn smart, why can't they tell us what we need to do next? I try until I get frustrated, I get up and walk away. This way the 12 gauge doesn't come out and the wife doesn't make me buy a new 'puter:Bang

 

[FDR]

That's just the bumper cover (usually just called the bumper though), not a chin spoiler. That particular area is the lower grille, and as previously stated, that piece is the tow hook access panel.

This is an LS

This is a Mach 1 chin spoiler

This is an LS with a chin spoiler [mine]

 

[RigsLS]

... biggest problem ... is sizing them

Make it easy for you. Program called "IrfanView" @ http://www.irfanview.com/

So simply to use ... comes with a Thumbnail Viewer and Editor.




Use the Thumbnail viewer to browse your folders with pics.

Click the thumbnail to open the pic in the Editor.
- select "Image"
- select "Resize"

new size should be within 800X600 for .JPG extentions on this forum or else it complains "Image too large" when you upload here.
(for larger pics you have to host off site and throw an embedded HREF IMG tag to the pic instead, don't worry about that. Stay 800X600)

Once image is re-sized,
- select "File"
- select "Save As" (as to not overwrite your original)

save it to the Desktop or separate folder,
then post pic to this here forum.


So simple a jrant can ... I mean a caveman can do it. :shifty:


ANYHOW ... sorry, back to the topic of this thread, just trying to help. lot of folks have trouble posting pics.

 

[RigsLS]

... This is an LS with a chin spoiler [mine]

Does look good, might jump back on that bandwagon,
you said you had a way of doing it that retained the undercarriage plastics in it's in tact position, I recall?

 

[Rick C.]

LSFrank,
Very nice car, do you need that tow hook access panel?:shifty: As I said nomenclature is important especially if you want it right the first time. The chin spoiler does help the look, and looks like an easy install. Now my brother knows what I'm looking for, he said he'll check where he can.

BigRig, thanks again,
I'll get on this right away. Don't know why it is, but I can rebuild steam turbine generator and multi-fuel combustion generators, in power plants. Take one measurement, set a benchmark, and off that one measurement set up power three rail conveyor systems and robots in a car plant to within thousandths of an inch, but I just can't figure out how to get this little computer to do what I want. Nice rig you got there. Got a couple of friends that drive OTR,one goes into Canada often. Once in a while he gets lucky and gets a pick up on one coast and delivers on the other. He always has his fishin' gear and camera.

 

[RigsLS]

^ Rick, those tow hook access covers are indeed tough to come by, most will not separate a whole bumper for just the cover and the cover can not be bought as a stand alone item from the dealership, best luck may be someone that's parting out or a salvage yard, one of those u-pull-it yards, where you may get away with explaining at the check out counter, the bumper was damaged beyond salvage but you'd be interested in that cover alone. Definitely a though gig locating one of those but not impossible. You can see my pic above, I opted to have it molded in when I had some cosmetic work done of several LS parts. I once bottomed out the front end on a dip at a high rate of speed and later when I parked it, I found my cover knocked out of the bumper hanging by the two little fragile plastic break-way straps. When I experienced that, I know it had to be fastened in, so I wouldn't ever loose it.

The idea behind the cover is that should you need to get pulled out of a ditch, the towing company 'could' fasten a tow hook in there but if you look at it, it's just a bracket and no actual hook is present and in reality, no guy operating a wrecker is going to tell you, give me a few days while I locate a tow hook for this car. Not going to happen, he'd have a strap around your axles already, those guys don't like to be told how to do their jobs nor want to be bothered. They know you are at their mercy and that car is coming out of the ditch his way whether you like it or not, best to look away because it's not going to be pretty.



Thanks on the Rigs, I actually do OTR but I also find myself back home taking local gigs, hauling equipment around, even was called upon to take an instructor position at a local truck training school, get tired of it at times, either or ... trucking is indeed a lifestyle but one has to be able to hold up being away from home battling all sorts of craziness. Bloodied bodies in wrecks upside down to school yards of kids running up to the fences, signaling you to hang the big ol' horn. From trailers attempting to switch lanes on ice conditions without your approval to hot girls flashing some extra cleavage.

Ups and down ... for sure, but it works for me, love to slip-shift 13, tie in loads, running downhill with the jake on.

Thanks again, good luck with your search on the tow hook cover.

+1

 

[FDR]

Does look good, might jump back on that bandwagon,
you said you had a way of doing it that retained the undercarriage plastics in it's in tact position, I recall?

yeahbuddy



I'm looking for the pictures I took of the inside, but can't find them. I do remember them not looking like anything definitive without looking at the inside of your bumper at the same time.

Basically, take the factory plastic off and mount the chin spoiler to the bumper. I strongly recommend using bolts/washers/nuts+loctite or nylock nuts, as the supplied pushpins from the eBay spoiler weren't long enough. I found the spoiler hanging down in the middle after a 300 mile trip with a triple-digit jaunt or three... oops. Anyway, drill holes through the spoiler and bumper as needed. I have 6 new bolts and I think I used 2 factory bolts.

Next, you say "should I start cutting this brand new part or should I just skip the labor and cut dollar bills into snowflakes?" You fit the factory piece to the bumper (sandwiching the spoiler) and cut into both pieces as needed to get the factory piece to reach the factory bolts. I don't think I used any of the slot tabs; just cut them all off. Sandwiching the spoiler is the only reason it stayed on the car during that trip. Have the bolts go through all 3 pieces where you can.

I'll try to take more detailed pictures when it gets warmer (no touting Canadian supremacy, please). I think I'll start a build thread soon, too.

LSFrank,
Very nice car, do you need that tow hook access panel?:shifty: As I said nomenclature is important especially if you want it right the first time. The chin spoiler does help the look, and looks like an easy install. Now my brother knows what I'm looking for, he said he'll check where he can.

Thank you. It may not be the exact name, depending on vendor, but it's the right direction. Definitely not a chin spoiler though, haha. I'll trade you the cover for one of those Pep Boys bright annodized aluminum tow hooks... not. I think I did the spoiler in 3 or 4 hours, but I work slow. I have two cars and take my time. I also get sidetracked and start examining other parts to see how they work, how they're put together, etc. A determined person with skills could probably do it in under 2 hours. Less if you just skip the factory piece and use a bunch of zip ties to hold of the splash shield.

 

[RigsLS]

Got ya on the "sandwhich'ing" ... makes sense, seen others cut away at the original plastics with brackets to extend and such, looked like a nightmare to get done. May have to look into that next summer, that is a Stang lower lip, I recall. I'll find the details when I'm ready. Thanks!

 

[FDR]

Got ya on the "sandwhich'ing" ... makes sense, seen others cut away at the original plastics with brackets to extend and such, looked like a nightmare to get done. May have to look into that next summer, that is a Stang lower lip, I recall. I'll find the details when I'm ready. Thanks!

Mach 1 chin spoiler. Searching for a "lip" will bring you that ez-lip garage door molding (though it doesn't look bad when done right). $45 on eBay, $50-70 on American Muscle. I went with eBay because of the finish. The AM one looked shiny. eBay had both the shiny and the dull versions. The dull version matches the rest of the lower trim, accounting for fading