Is my mark making full power?

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LincolnLog97

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Curious if my 97 Mark VIII LSC is making the full 290 horsepower claimed from the factory. It has 150k w/ no problems. Check engine light is on because the cats were gutted by the previous owner (no burning egg smell or anything like that). Even when I clear the check engine light my car does not feel nearly as fast as my buddy's 97 LSC w/ 84k. His does have a jmodded transmission and cobra mufflers which accounts for some of the quickness, but it seems his accelerates through the RPM's much faster than mine. He runs regular and I run midgrade, Is there a checklist I should do to to see if I have a bad sensor or something? spark plugs, wires, have been all replaced recently. I've seafoamed the engine, run injector cleaner through it, but still didn't seem to pick up any horses. He thinks my secondary valves might be sticking, but I've looked through many forums and can't seem to find anything related to that.
Thanks
 
Spend the extra for premium, it all equals out in the end and your mark will be happier. Been there done that more than I care to admit.


If your imrc's are stuck open/closed they'll throw a code so I doubt that's it. I'm unfamiliar with gutted cats and how that effects this particular car. Are the codes 02 related?
 
I had a 97 lsc that seemed faster than all my other MK VIII's. Only mod was Mustang mufflers (sounded good). I use only 93 in my cars, it's worth the few cents difference.
 
Jmodded transmission will make a world of difference on the feel of acceleration

Also:
IMG_20140423_165504834.jpg
 
I've been told and do believe its right that
You can lose power by gutting the cats.
The theory is that you create a lot of turbulence with the big open area right after the manifold and that effects the exhaust scavenging so you lose HP and tq.
 
Your car has a lot more miles obviously and after 90K cars need more maintainence in general... Has the mass air meter ever been cleaned? Have you checked for vacuum leaks? Having a check engine light on might make the computer withold power? Have the 02 sensors ever been changed? Have you had the check engine light code read? I think if all the 02's are still there it shouldn't throw a code for hollowed cats... maybe you have a dead 02 sensor?
 
His LSC will always seem just a little quicker. If no other mods have been made outside what was listed above, your base model has a 3:08 rear end and the LSC has a 3:27. The LSC should have dual exhaust also.
You should have the rear 02' deleted in the tune or install mil plugs to turn off the code.
 
Some are just faster than others. My base 97 Mark VIII with 179k beats my 98 LSC with 80k. Just change out your air filter, fuel filter, and spark plugs (Maybe coils also). Start putting in premium and see if your IMCRs open when you go past 3000 rpm. Other then that, it's up to mods to make your car faster.
 
mark0101 said:
Some are just faster than others...
Click to expand...

This is the truth! My '95 with 92k miles will run 0-60 between 5.7 and 5.9 seconds consistently (and that's with a slippy shuddery transmission!!!). I was lucky to get my old '97 LSC to do it in 7 seconds! And my '96 would usually do it in the low 6 second range. It is a well known "fact" that Gen1's are quicker than Gen2's. I think my '95 must have been built during a full moon or something. That thing is just abnormally quick!
 
Thanks for the responses guys. Just to clear some stuff up I cleaned my maf sensor last week. CEL doesn't come on till about 100 miles or so after it's reset and no, it's not quicker when I clear it. My plans are to install a K&N filter, and a fuel filter change and see what happens from there.

On another note I'm planning on doing the J-MOD sometime this summer. with the high miles my car has just recently developed a very minor shudder when it's under load in 4th gear (40-45mph). I've looked up this problem and it seems to be common. Previous owner says he hasn't changed the tranny fluid for 80k or so. How would I know if my trans is healthy enough for a J-MOD? The car shifts really smooth as it is, but I've also heard horror stories about people changing fluid and making their transmission inoperable. I pulled the dipstick last night and the fluid looks to be pink still. It has a slight odor to it but it doesn't smell "burning" or bad to me.
Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Leave the K&N out of there. Our Mafs/filter are pretty close to one another and there have been cases of the oil from the filter screwing it up. Besides, 95% of the time it's a waste of money.

Just get a regular ol' filter and leave it alone.
 
I've never had a problem with a k&n filter
I've had one in my 97 for 11 years now and being it came with the filter I've never had to buy one either.
My 95 has one too with no problems.
I am not saying that you will see a power increase on a stock motor just cheaper in the long run.
 
LincolnLog97 said:
Thanks for the responses guys. Just to clear some stuff up I cleaned my maf sensor last week. CEL doesn't come on till about 100 miles or so after it's reset and no, it's not quicker when I clear it. My plans are to install a K&N filter, and a fuel filter change and see what happens from there.

On another note I'm planning on doing the J-MOD sometime this summer. with the high miles my car has just recently developed a very minor shudder when it's under load in 4th gear (40-45mph). I've looked up this problem and it seems to be common. Previous owner says he hasn't changed the tranny fluid for 80k or so. How would I know if my trans is healthy enough for a J-MOD? The car shifts really smooth as it is, but I've also heard horror stories about people changing fluid and making their transmission inoperable. I pulled the dipstick last night and the fluid looks to be pink still. It has a slight odor to it but it doesn't smell "burning" or bad to me.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Click to expand...

If I were you I would pass on the J-mod for now and do a pan drop only. Put 4-5 new quarts of Mercon V in and change the filter. This will refresh the transmission but in the most gentle way possible. Clean the pan and the magnet + new filter.

I think a lot of horror stories are from people that have had flushes done...
 
If your trans pan magnet has shaving all stuck to it = No J-Mod
 
UPDATE: My local salvage yard had a 50% off sale last weekend so I pulled some coils, and a maf sensor out of a 97 continental. The car was running rougher and rougher everyday until the computer finally spit out a code for cyl. 2. I replaced the coil and sensor and all problems went away! Must be the transmission had nothing to do with the issues and although my CEL is still on, it has much more power and seems to be getting better milage too. Still looking on changing trans fluid but maybe it will be ready for a J-Mod after all
 
What is the CEL? Read the codes.... any box auto parts store can read them and clear.
As stated before my bet is a stuck IMCR, it will throw a code.
At 150k a trans fluid change can kill that trans.
 
Don't quibble on extra tranny fluid and drain the Torque convertor while you are also changing the tranny filter.
 
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