Jeremy; know the feeling about the battery tie down. I had a big hole under my battery when I bought my car. I removed the battery, cut out the hole to a square size, put a piece of sheet metal in there, riveted it in, and fiberglassed the whole shooting match. I have ordered a POR15 kit to seal it all in. Hopefully, it will not rust ever again. The POR15 is some stuff. Earl
Couple more weird things... The other day when I was parking the car I noticed I was in a "staff" parking space and figured I'd be better off moving it to another spot. When I got in the car I started it as usual and started backing up, and then this weird revving happened. it was independent of the accelerator because I pushed the pedal down as releasing it did nothing to change the revving I was hearing, and I heard the engine rev, separate from the other sound. I thought maybe I could turn the car off and that didn't work either. I had the key (the original) completely out of the ignition and I was still able to rev the engine with the accelerator and the weird revving sound was still there. I tried putting the key back in and "turning it on" as that has unstuck the "not shutting off" thing before. It didn't even sound like the starter was engaging. Just that high revving sound that had nothing to do with the accelerator. Any ideas? Another thing I've noticed is that when I release the gas pedal when I'm driving I sometimes (not always) hear a very light "clunk" sound. Should I be worried? I know the tranny needs an overhaul or replacement but I'm not sure how much I should allocate for that yet. I'm not sure what's fair. It is definitely something I'm not interested in doing myself. I've heard they are a very difficult thing to do. I'm sure I haven't got a gas leak at this point. I just need to replace the send. The fuel I was smelling was related to a faulty gas cap. Any leads on sends and what I should expect to pay for one would be greatly appreciated. With the exception of the experience listed above, I've not had any ingition/key problems while using the older key. I do worry every time I get somewhere though that I'm not going to be able to turn off the car. How much should I expect to spend on the ignition replacement? Is it something I can do myself or is it like a tranny? My books still haven't arrived. What octane of fuel should I be using? Is the cheap stuff good enough or should I go higher? I've been going about 200 miles on between 12 and 14 gallons of gas (consistently), with the cheap stuff. So between 14 and 16 miles to the gallon. Shouldn't I be getting something better than that or is that normal for these older cars? Hope I'm not annoying everyone with my basic questions. Regards, Paul
The ignition thing is an easy Do it yourselfer, no need to pay a shop that will only gouge you for every dime they can to do it. I still say that Lock Cylinder might be screwy but I would suggest changing both it and the Ignition switch. As for the revving thats most likely a binding throttle cable, something was probably causing the throttle to stick open thus causing the revving. Sometimes with Mavericks and Comets problems will snowball they may happen one at a time or simultaniously i've discovered this the hard way . Is the car your only source of transportation Paul? If not i'd park it for awhile til these glitches are taken care of as I stated before if your ignition switch is bad it could leave you stranded when you least expect it. As for the transmission be prepared to spend a lot, trannys aren't cheap and some shops will try to sell you stuff you don't need, a transmission never really dies I mean they can usually be rebuilt and often times thats much cheaper then buying a new one. I'm not gonna tell you you should try and do that yourself as thats a field I haven't even explored yet heh. Automatics especially are a pain for someone who's never messed with trannys before if you're gonna have a shop do it just be sure to shop around always get a second if not a third opinion.
r u sure u need a tranny replacement?? is it slipping??? That clunk when you let off the gas pedal is a $5 u-joint. Connecs the drive shaft from the tranny to the rear end. No big deal to replace, just make sure it gets done b4 u lose your driveshaft on the road. Your car doesn't have an electric fan does it??? that could be the whirring, but I doubt it does. Does it have power steering?? If you are low on power steering fluid, that could cause a sound that might sound like a whirring. Turn the steering wheel left to right and see if that changes the pitch of the noise, short of that, if your accelerator is not sticking, it could be a bearing gone bad in your alternator, Have you been turning the key to start with it running?? that whirring could be your starter not disengaging all the way from the flywheel, which will leave you stranded. Try and listen for the specific location of the noise. In a pinch, if your car will not shut down, you can yank the coil wire under the hood. The coil wire is that spark plug wire in the middle of the distributor cap, yank it, and the car will die. careful, it might shock you good though if you aren't fast enough
Check the blower motor switch and motor. If it is not shutting off, or the motor is going bad (bearings) it will make noise, and vary speed with the revs (load on the alt.). Give it a look. Earl
When I got the car it had a terrible shudder when slowly accelerating. I had the fluids changed (pressurized change) and the shudder went away. It does still slip a bit but it doesn't seem to be anything really, really bad. It does find the gear and go it just seems to look for it first. I have no electric fan, and I do have power steering. The fluid for that is fine. Does this mean it's the alternator? If your offer of guidance is still standing Jeremy, I would certainly appreciate it. I'll be starting school after the holidays but I think my weekends will still be free. I'd like to take care of that U joint as quickly as possible. The car IS the one I'm currently depending on. I live down the street from school but I have been getting to LA and back with this thing. Where should I look for the cylinder and swtich? My luck with finding parts for this has been typically a year later. People have stuff for the '75s but no the '74. I've only turned the key to the start position three times to get it to shut off when it didn't shut off on its own. I know this is bad but, it seems to be the only thing that worked. I know that if I keep doing it I'll have more stuff to replace so, it's pretty important that I get the ignition thing fixed. As for being stranded, I'm pretty much expecting that anytime. I'm not hoping for it mind you, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. I'm just hoping the car will let me keep going until I can fix things at a one at a time pace. Thanks for all the help people. Regards, Paul
Well, go buy a good set of tools. Paul I think the best thing for any beginner is to buy a good set of handtools. There is a sale at Sears on a Craftsman 246 pc. set for $178. That's a pretty good price. (I don't work at Sears) I think the sale ends today. (Sat.)
People read them when they can. I think it's a good indication that you've got people reading through everything when responses are being made two years after the original post. I do still have my Maverick, it is still running, I'm still not a gear head, the police did get away with damaging my headliner (I couldn't find the part in time to file a lawsuit), I did get the idler arm replaced, the fuel gauge still doesn't work, and I still have hopes of restoring it. A sale on tools that will work on this car, even if the post is that old, is still valid information because those tools would very likely work on other cars. Absolutely any newbie will benefit from not allowing threads to die. Sometimes even you old know-all types might learn something too. Of course, there is always the option of alienating and scolding anyone that does post a response. That way nobody will ever want to participate (except of course the know-all types). This is of course meant and intended to reach you in a light and kind way. Regards, Paul Fox
i thought it was intresting untill i was like reading.. have a good thanksgiving? aint it a bit early to be wishing someone a good thanksgiving... and then.. doh!
I never claimed to know it all. I think your superiority complex has fogged your brain. I simply ask, "why." If your too timid to post on a message board because of that, you need to seek help. This is of course meant and intended to reach you in a light and kind way.
Sorry I overlooked the date that it was two years ago. Sorry, I feel like a dumb dumb. I thought these posts were current. I would think posts that old would be automatically deleted by now. I am new to this, so forgive me or just disregard my message. Thanks.
I was just curious how they get back up. Do you log on, click on new posts, and for some reason, a 2 year old post comes along. Or was you searching for something and ran across it. Like I said, I was just curious. No need to feel dumb. This pales in comparison to the things I do.
dennis, i think this is what happens when someone posts a prob. and never comes back to let us know it is fixed and how it was done. i am bad about that myself. sometimes i thank them for the info. but never post that it is fixed. i have seen questions asked and the post falls off the " new post" list before anyone answers. i log on and go to "active topics" and click on "last 2 days".j.m.o ...frank... p.s. there is a 1 month old post on "new post" now that was going to be done "this weekend" and no reply from the guy that started the post.
