[AviationMX]

After picking up #3938 in Oct, I started eliminating various engine noises, replacing ignition components/fluids, and chasing a kind of delay in the throttle response at low RPMS.

The whining from the engine was easy enough, replaced several idler and adjuster pulleys and eventually the alternator. The alternator whine was the clutch but I replaced the unit after reading about the reliability of the original alternators. There was a post in another forum that had a link to the design of the clutch and mentioned to replace them at 50k miles.

Denlors Auto Blog » Blog Archive » Overrunning Alternator Decoupler – Clutch Type Alternator

Ignition tune-up was spark plugs street MSD coils, which returned some lost HP. But still had a tough time feathering the throttle and on some shifts, it felt there was a drop in RPMs although I was still on the pedal.

I also replace the fuel filter and cleaned the TB, but still had that strange flat spot. Read up on the accelerator by wire and tried some reset procedures, no change. Also, replaced the TPS just due to age, but no real change in performance.

When I changed the alternator I had to pull the TB, and that's when I noticed the gunk behind the butterfly. I thought I cleaned all that out from the front but after cleaning the intake side, I can now feather the gas in reverse and there is no drop when letting the clutch out in first or any other gear.

it's possible all these items helped but totally cleaning the TB was the best improvement. I would replace all these items anyway, but it would have nice if I had done that first...

 

[pwd72s]

Thanks for posting a good tip...

 

[Velocipede]

Double post. Sorry.

 

[Velocipede]

Also having recently acquired a 72k mile Bullitt, it was very flat and slow off idle. The previous owner attributed it to the FRPP hot rod cam he installed. While I get rough idle with a cam like that, the slow response and stumble didn’t quite gel with me. It took me all of 10 min to remove, clean the disgusting mess and reinstall. It’s like a whole new world. Thanks!

 

[B3NN3TT]

This is great - I've had that whine in my FEAD for a while now, and always assumed it was probably the alternator. Now I know what causes it, and how to test for failure. Thanks a million for sharing the article!

 

[AviationMX]

Sure thing, there are a couple of posts for 75k and up mileage Bullitts but I thought I would try to post what I've done and get some more advice from the board. I also replaced all the front/rear strut bushes and the control arms on the front. I had a bunch of thumping on rough roads. I debated on changing the tranny and diff fluids but did it anyway, no change in 1/2 gear whine but the diff was full of gunk, so I sprayed that out with brake cleaner and replaced the fluids with dealer provided motorcraft stuff.

I'm now hunting down the dreaded popping noise in the front end, it only happens when turning left, and in fact the last time it happened when the wheels were pointed left and I started the car (power steering came on). The LCA ball joints seem to be ok but I'll jack up and take a look at the struts, LCAs, and see if I can figure that out.

if anyone lives near Raleigh NC, I had a trip that took me around the I40 loop and noticed the hood flapping around at an undisclosed speed...you Raleigh people know what it takes to keep up in that traffic, but it really freaked me out, I guess its normal.

I did get some cheap kill mat from amazon and covered behind the rear seats and trunk, it made it considerably quieter. I didn't know the rear seats tops come out in case you need to stow something in the trunk.

If anyone has any other tips, let me know, this Bullitt is going to stay with me for a long time.