kTa's Mark Hate

[kTaLgsTo]

Hey,

I'm new here, I bought a Mark VIII, it's quickly become the Mark Hate...
It had way more issues than I thought, I'll use this to document all the fun!

I got it home and did an inspection of the front end, it looked a mess...

I was wrong, it was a huge mess...

Finally got the wheel off, more mess....

Hands were too greasy to keep taking damage pictures.

Headlights don't work, started looking around, butt connectors for days... All messed up, not sure what the heck the previous owner was doing, they glued in these bulbs...

I built some brackets/pieces to fit new lights and got new HIDs installed, they work great!

I'll try to get pictures of the setup, it's a bit ghetto, used some fiberglass bonded sheet metal material I got from work.

 

[kTaLgsTo]

After an alignment, no more clunks, dings, or pops so I will call that a win!

But what else is wrong? Well the steering is not right, pretty sure the rack or the pump is having a hard time....

Transmission wasn't shifting right, bought everything for the J-Mod and rebuilt the valve body. Not great pictures this time because I was covered in trans fluid most of the time... Shifts way better! Apologize if anyone is offended by my garage koozie.

Now I have coolant bubbling out of the reservoir cap after it warms up and the usual destroyed bleeder screw, purchased a new one to replace the vice grip special. Hoping this isn't anything serious. Going to do a proper flush and replace the thermostat to see what happens.

 

[driller]

But what else is wrong? Well the steering is not right, pretty sure the rack or the pump is having a hard time....

...

Now I have coolant bubbling out of the reservoir cap after it warms up and the usual destroyed bleeder screw, purchased a new one to replace the vice grip special. Hoping this isn't anything serious. Going to do a proper flush and replace the thermostat to see what happens.

Try replacing the PS fluid. It may take 2-3 or more times to get rid of the old fluid completely.

As for the coolant cap, they are cheap enough to replace as well when you flush the coolant system and R&R the thermostat.

 

[kTaLgsTo]

Thanks driller,

replaced the cap already and it still boiled over, not over heating, hoses aren't tight like I have seen with head gasket in the past. Doing the thermostat and water pump while I am doing a flush.

I plan on tackling the power steering issues after the coolant issues, one problem at a time with the large amount of deferred maintenance on this thing..

 

[kTaLgsTo]

New overflow cap, thermostat, and water pump along with a few flushes and proper bleed of the system fixed the issue with the bubbling over. The heater in this car is insane.... super hot air.

Bought a gallon of power steering fluid, three flushes so far and it still comes out dirty. The steering is coming back to life a bit but still not great... Might need a rack in it's future.

The car just hit 111,1111 miles. I took it for a drive and gave it the beans, it goes pretty good first time I have went WOT. This will be a fun daily once it's sorted fully.

Next to tackle today is a vacuum leak, going to pull out my smoke tester and have a good look.

Long list of things to fix in the future:

Rear neon
Driver seat track
Air conditioning
Air ride
Telescope steering
Backwards wheels
Hole in rear bumper
Least importantly, probably get an SCT tuner for scan functionality and a bit of power boost.

And probably lots more I have not seen yet... If anyone has spare parts for any of the above and you've read this far, hit me up!

 

[kTaLgsTo]

When you own as many old hoopties as I do, this pays for itself very quickly.... None of that carb/ether spraying around the motor.

I am seeing a very slight leak around the IAC, is this little valve supposed to leak just a little? If not I guess I should replace it.

Otherwise I am leak free!

 

[driller]

Glad to hear things are sorting out.

If you aren't having any idle issues, I wouldn't be bothered by the IACV.

 

[kTaLgsTo]

Still had some issues with this car, it would randomly surge RPMs on the freeway or while coasting, then it would surge during idle as well.

Vac leak showed nothing but a small IAC leak, replaced IAC with new Delco one, no change.

Went to the yard and pulled a PCM out of another 97, had stickers all over saying, 'removal of stickers voids warranty'.

Mine out of my car has no stickers, it just has a bar code and 'rkk3', which is the code I assume.

Either way, new to me PCM fixed all my issues, car even feels a little more responsive... Can these PCMs be repaired??

Here is why I decided to change the PCM by the way.... IAC goes directly to the PCM:

 

[kTaLgsTo]

Took out the steering column to repair it since the telescoping feature was not working.
Pulled the potentiometer and installed a new old stock unit, re-greased everything...

Put back together, installed, it worked for about a day and quit working again... Boo... Guess I am taking it back apart this weekend.

 

[driller]

Still had some issues with this car, it would randomly surge RPMs on the freeway or while coasting, then it would surge during idle as well.

Vac leak showed nothing but a small IAC leak, replaced IAC with new Delco one, no change.

Went to the yard and pulled a PCM out of another 97, had stickers all over saying, 'removal of stickers voids warranty'.

Mine out of my car has no stickers, it just has a bar code and 'rkk3', which is the code I assume.

Either way, new to me PCM fixed all my issues, car even feels a little more responsive... Can these PCMs be repaired??

Here is why I decided to change the PCM by the way.... IAC goes directly to the PCM:

View attachment 828577414

A more common PCM repair is COP ignition or fuel injector drivers going bad.

There used to be a PCM repair facility on the web but I saw a while back someone said they had went out of business.

FWIW, I keep a spare around just in case.

 

[Rapple1031]

Sounds like my first mark viii experience. Bougth a 97 base. Nothing wrong with it when I bought it. But omg the first year and a half one thing after another. Air ride crapped out, front end, brake lines, and countless other things. But on the brighter side after the first year and a half I have done nothing but oil changes and drive it the past 5 years. Love it, so much so 2 years ago bought a near mint low miles 98 LSC. Other then the normal front end mostly trouble free. BUT having an idle issue with it sounding very much like your idle problem. And also doesn't feel like it has the get up and go as my 97. I have eliminated everything that could be wrong and assumed I had a small vac leak I couldn't find. But when it stops raining here I am going to swape PCM with the 97 and see.

 

[kTaLgsTo]

This thing is pretty much sorted...
I broke into the rear neon yesterday, decided I am not going to try and salvage it, but I am going to replace it with LEDs, I will document the process since it seems nobody has really tried to help the community in this way except for personal gain.

I also removed the steering column again and found one of the sliders on the potentiometer has come off track... Placed it back in it's correct spot and very carefully re-assembled. Everything works again!

 

[Rapple1031]

With the age of these cars I keep all that automatic stuff off. Driver memory, auto seat glide, reverse mirror, anything like that. At this age they are going to be problematic.
The neon in my 97 has never worked. Recently the one in my 98 with the original ballist doesn't work sometimes. There is a guy that sells replacement ballist if your sure the neon is good.

 

[kTaLgsTo]

Thanks Rapple, I did see the ballast as an option, I just feel getting rid of the neon and going with easy to repair and source LEDs is the better long term game.
Hopefully I can get good light dispersement with them...
And yeah I've turned off all the easy entry and memory stuff... Doesn't seem like the interior moving parts were designed to last in these... My 1989 LTD is still fully functional with all electronics and it's almost ten years the Mark viii's Sr!!

 

[kTaLgsTo]

Just a preview of what I am working on for the rear lighting....

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[driller]

Shouldn't it start from the center, then go outward?

 

[kTaLgsTo]

Bit hard to please...

The hazards do it, but I can't make it do it for the blinkers for some reason... oh well, I am pretty happy with it.

 

[kTaLgsTo]

I found a 66k mile Mark that was getting scrapped, pulled the seat motors and column. Now all my interior motors work again, for at least a few months... I hope

 

[slowmkviii]

Good score
Should have taken the whole car

 

[kTaLgsTo]

I didn't want a non running parts car... Been there done that

 

[BILLBOATS]

Try replacing the PS fluid. It may take 2-3 or more times to get rid of the old fluid completely.

As for the coolant cap, they are cheap enough to replace as well when you flush the coolant system and R&R the thermostat.

I didn't want a non running parts car... Been there done that

I didn't want a non running parts car... Been there done that

The pictures were worth a 1000 words. Your mark look to be a rust free solid mark. Once you fixed the problems you have just a couple left to solve. It it air ride or converted springs? Have you noticed the air ride is preforming well? You have a nice mark to drive soon. I have a 96 mk 8. Good luck and write back.

 

[kTaLgsTo]

@BILLBOATS thanks, it is converted to springs already but I want to put air ride back in at some point...

I tore apart the bad seat motors and found the gear responsible for the problem, has anyone tried 3d printing these? Does anyone have a scanner to try and get it scanned and 3d printed??

I am currently having trouble getting it off the metal gear, but I think if we could 3d print a strong version of it you could fix these seats indefinitely... It's a hard plastic running on a metal gear to turn it, eventually the plastic wears out. It's kind of a beast to get to, but there is an opportunity here...

Pic of the worn gear: