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  1. #26
    FEP Senior Member
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    Dec 2016
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    Grand Rapids, MI
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    Anybody have any input on the belt question?

    I am getting a little tripped up on the serpentine belt. Can anyone inform me about the difference between the dealer and factory installed A/C? I see two different belt routings for the 3.8. One has the A/C compressor mounted on the top left of the engine with P/S pump on the lower left and everything driven from one belt. The other has the A/C compressor mounted down on the lower left of the engine with the P/S pump on the upper left and the A/C is driven off of the P/S pump with its own separate belt. Are these the difference between factory and dealer installed A/C? The car is a Squire and it is pretty loaded so I would be surprised if it didn't come with factory A/C, but I don't know how these things were built. The engine in this has the A/C compressor driven by a separate belt from the P/S pump.

  2. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by KevinVarnes View Post
    I am getting a little tripped up on the serpentine belt. Can anyone inform me about the difference between the dealer and factory installed A/C? I see two different belt routings for the 3.8. One has the A/C compressor mounted on the top left of the engine with P/S pump on the lower left and everything driven from one belt. The other has the A/C compressor mounted down on the lower left of the engine with the P/S pump on the upper left and the A/C is driven off of the P/S pump with its own separate belt. Are these the difference between factory and dealer installed A/C? The car is a Squire and it is pretty loaded so I would be surprised if it didn't come with factory A/C, but I don't know how these things were built. The engine in this has the A/C compressor driven by a separate belt from the P/S pump.
    On my 86 LTD with factory AC, the AC compressor is below the PS pump on the left ( driver's ) side, and driven by the PS pump with a separate small belt.

  3. #28

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    That's how my 87 cfi 3.8 cougar was as well.
    2 1986 cougars (both 4 eyed and 5.0)
    1 1987 cougar

  4. #29
    FEP Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
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    Hmm. So is the A/C compressor mounted up high and everything driven with one belt the dealer installed A/C or did they just have two different versions and the compressor mounting location has nothing to do with dealer versus factory? Seems strange. I am looking at the belt routing diagram on page two post #41 in the service manual picture that shows the two different A/C belt routings.

    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...eir-3-8L/page2

    Maybe I am just overthinking this. So it looks like there are three different main drive belts. There is a 77.5" 6 groove belt that is for cars with no A/C. There is a 80.5" 6 groove belt that is for cars with factory A/C. Finally there is a 96.0" 6 groove belt that is for cars with dealer installed A/C. Looking at the picture from the post linked above it would appear that the compressor mounted high up above the power steering pump would use a longer belt so I can only assume that is the dealer installed compressor location. Therefore the car I am buying must have factory installed A/C and I am just going to get the 80.5" belt. Thank you to all for coming along with me on this journey.

  5. #30
    FEP Senior Member
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    Dec 2016
    Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
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    Finally flying out tomorrow morning to go get this thing. Wish us (me and my 10 year old son) luck on our 2200 mile journey back!

  6. #31

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    Awesome, good luck and have fun!
    -Randy
    '83 Mustang GL notchback - 351w - T5Z
    '84 Mustang GT350 20th Anniversary Hatch #2808 - 302 - T5
    ''92 Mustang LX Hatch - 2.3t - IRS (in progress)

  7. #32

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    Good luck man.

    Be careful if you run up north threw the desert. I live in utah, we had some guys i worked with drive a truck out to Oregon and the truck died in the middle of nowhere with no cell service.

    If ya run through i-84 and idaho and get stuck, let me know. It would be a 2-3 hour drive for me, but i wouldn't mind helping out. Let us know if ya need anything along the way.
    2 1986 cougars (both 4 eyed and 5.0)
    1 1987 cougar

  8. #33

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    I did what you're suggesting -- I brought with me radiator hoses, belts, and a water pump, plus tools ( including jumper cables ). I didn't have to use any of them. One thing I would recommend getting is a few door striker bolts. All of mine, including the liftgate, were bad -- the plastic bushing was cracked/missing, etc. I replaced all but the two passenger side doors, and both of those cracked and separated while driving, and the racket from the doors vibrating sucked.

    For a quick fix, wrap the striker bolts in electrical tape. Especially if you still have the broken plastic pieces or if they're about ready to go, a few wraps with electrical tape works awesome.

  9. #34
    FEP Senior Member
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    Dec 2016
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    Grand Rapids, MI
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    I appreciate the offers for help. We wound up taking 90 across and then 29 down to 80 over to Michigan. Overall the car ran and performed very well. The only issue we found during the trip was a leaking valve cover gasket that was a bit difficult to diagnose. The first day we left Seattle and made it about half way across the state to Ellensburg before traffic would allow any sort of driving above 65mph. It was then that I saw puffs of smoke in the rear view mirror. It wasn't from the exhaust. Clearly something was burning and getting pushed under and out the back of the car. I figured it was either motor oil or trans fluid. Something was dripping onto the passenger side converter and burning off. I had tools and spare parts, but no floor jack to get underneath to see what was going on. I decided to stop and get a hotel room for the night since it has already been a long day. Unfortunately finding a repair shop open on Saturday in Ellensburg is a little challenging. I saw a Valvoline IOC so I pulled in to see if they could look at it. My guy Fernando in the grease pit could not find anything other than a leaking trans pan which I knew was not the cause. Armed with that information (or lack thereof) we stopped at Advance and picked up a jug of of oil and trans fluid, checked the fluids one more time and hit the road.

    Pretty much if I kept it at 70mph or below it was fine and wouldn't smoke much if at all. It would occasionally start smoking for a while and then stop. I wasn't too concerned and kept checking the fluid levels frequently. I finally noticed the oil level go down a little bit on Sunday morning and from that I surmised it was the valve cover gasket. I would have thought it would mostly burn off on the manifold, but apparently it found just the right path to get down to the converter.

    Finally yesterday late in the afternoon in Iowa the smoke increased to an almost constant. Fearing the worst I stopped west of Iowa City and got boy some dinner while I assessed the situation. There was plenty of oil dripping from the converter and rear pivot of the lower A-Arm. Either the leak got worse or it had just accumulated enough to where it couldn't burn it off as fast as it was leaking. By this time all parts stores were closed so I wiped what oil I could off and we made our way to Wal-Mart in Iowa city to get some reinforcement oil and some RTV. I did my best to stuff some RTV between the valve cover and the head, but between limited access and everything on the engine being 5 billion degrees I don't know how much good I really did. I cleaned everything off, topped off the oil, we said a prayer and we hit the road towards Chicago.

    The next two times we stopped for gas I cleaned everything off and I didn't see any more smoke. That could just be because it was dark though. Luckily it was late so traffic in Chicago was nil. My big concern was needing to pull over in Chicago while people sped by me at 95mph. No such drama.

    Everything else works great. The passenger window needs the usual Ford power window motor bushing repair and I think the last time I put the driver's window up I head that side go. No big deal. The car is extremely clean and was well cared for. A/C (still running R-12) works great.

    I'll try to post some pictures later. We got home at about 430AM and I had to come to work today so I'm sure I won't make it for very long tonight.

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