Bought my first mustang

[truthautomatic]

I got a 00 GT 5 speed the other day. My last car was a bmw sedan and I have to say that its taking me some time to get used to my mustang. Clutch is heavy and vague, throttle reponse is weird, interior trim is falling apart and the backlight in my dash works when it wants to. Also the bushings in the rear end control arms are shot and my rear end is all over the place. Honestly what they say about ford quality is somewhat true...

But damn, this car has some power! theres an onramp near my house I like to blast up, the road it merges onto has a 35 mph speed limit. In my BMW I would floor it up the ramp, and by the time I merged onto the road I would be going around 35-40. Did the same ramp with the stang, and even without going full throttle I merged at about 55mph .

I cant really say I like the car. The little electrical issues and the problem with the rear end are pissing me off, makes it hard to drive on the road when your dash isnt lit up and the rear axle feels like it connected with a slinky. I got it for 3 grand and I dont think I could get aother car with near the amount of power this one has. The mustang is also a really simple car so unlike my BMW I feel confident I can do most of the work on it myself.

Ive always wanted a mustang, and now i finally got one. Ill probably be asking for a lot of help on the forums, so thank you all in advance!

 

[HuskerNation]

How much did you pick the car up for if you don't mind me asking? Depending on miles, but if that is the only problems, I hope you didn't buy it for more than $8000.

On that note, you bought an used car, you can't expect much, especially if you saw the interior was falling apart before you bought it. That usually means the previous owner didn't care for it much. Take the time, buy new trims, replace ALL of the bushings on the car (front & rear), do a tune up, make sure throttle body is clean from carbon buildup and you should have no problems.

Got any pics?

When I buy a used car, I do a tuneup even if the previous owner states its been done. I also expect to be replacing things within the first year of buying it, because you don't know what is true and what is not. Always have your cars inspected before purchasing by the way, and if the rear end is the way it is, I would stop driving it until its back to normal, or your really going to hate the bill if something goes wrong.

-Husker

 

[truthautomatic]

I bought the car for $3000, it has 152k and a clean carfax report. I figured id have to put some work into the car due to the price and mileage. Previous owner did nothing but engine oil changes, so this weekend ill be changing the trans and diff oil. Hopefully they have been changed at somepoint in the past. Good thing is theres lots of parts out there for our cars and they are easy to work on.

 

[N8Dogg98]

I bought the car for $3000, it has 152k and a clean carfax report. I figured id have to put some work into the car due to the price and mileage. Previous owner did nothing but engine oil changes, so this weekend ill be changing the trans and diff oil. Hopefully they have been changed at somepoint in the past. Good thing is theres lots of parts out there for our cars and they are easy to work on.

Nice looking car man. You can correct much of the Mustang's factory handling shortcomings easily. I'd recommend the following:

• Maximum Motorsports FLSFC's - $150 for parts, install costs between $100-$300
  
• Maximum Motorsports LCA's - $280 and easy to install in your driveway
  
• Lowering Springs - ~$200 (eibach prokit, H&R SS, etc...)
  
• New shocks/struts - ~$300 (I'd recommend tokiko HP's... inexpensive and they perform quite well)
  
• Steeda Tri-Ax shifter handle - ~$180

For around $1,000 that Mustang will feel like it handles better than your BMW did.

For speed, consider buying some rear gears (3.73's or 4.10's) and an o/r midpipe.

 

[truthautomatic]

Nice looking car man. You can correct much of the Mustang's factory handling shortcomings easily. I'd recommend the following:

• Maximum Motorsports FLSFC's - $150 for parts, install costs between $100-$300
  
• Maximum Motorsports LCA's - $280 and easy to install in your driveway
  
• Lowering Springs - ~$200 (eibach prokit, H&R SS, etc...)
  
• New shocks/struts - ~$300 (I'd recommend tokiko HP's... inexpensive and they perform quite well)
  
• Steeda Tri-Ax shifter handle - ~$180

For around $1,000 that Mustang will feel like it handles better than your BMW did.

For speed, consider buying some rear gears (3.73's or 4.10's) and an o/r midpipe.

Thanks for the advice! I got a good look underneath my car and the bushings for the upper control arms are shot, im not sure about the lower arms but everything is stock so i assume they arent much better.

Car already has flowmasters, nice and loud! What does an X-pipe do exactly?

Also I have a cracked intake manifold leaking coolant but its a very slow leak, is it okay to be driving the car with this?

 

[N8Dogg98]

Thanks for the advice! I got a good look underneath my car and the bushings for the upper control arms are shot, im not sure about the lower arms but everything is stock so i assume they arent much better.

If you buy uppers, I'd just get the stock replacements from MM. They are sold as an FRPP part, but definitely upgrade the lowers.

Car already has flowmasters, nice and loud! What does an X-pipe do exactly?

It's a midpipe. Stock your car comes with 6 catalytic converters... yes I said 6. A catted midpipe will include 2 highflow cats (one on each bank) and an off-road midpipe will not have cats at all. You can run an X or an H. Each has a unique sound and the power difference between the two is negligible. H-pipes have a much more bassy sound (I've had both and I prefer the sound of the H), while the X-pipe has a more raspy sound that screams at WOT. I wouldn't recommend an o/r pipe if it is your only mode of transportation as it will be really loud with the flowmasters, will drone like a mother f**ker on the highway, and the unburnt hydrocarbons stink.

Also I have a cracked intake manifold leaking coolant but its a very slow leak, is it okay to be driving the car with this?

I wouldn't. These cars came with a plastic coolant crossover that was prone to cracking and Ford eventually had to recall the part. I doubt it is still under Fords warranty, but it is worth calling a dealer about.

FWIW a replacement FRPP intake can be purchased from Summit racing for only $200 and it includes the aluminum crossover. It's a relatively easy fix that you can do in your garage or driveway with simple hand tools. Better to fix it now, than to wait until you're stranded on the highway and have to pay for a tow, or you run low on coolant and overheat the engine causing other damage. Also, make sure you buy the FRPP replacement manifold and NOT that Dorman POS.

 

[puma1552]

Looks like a nice car for the price, but don't blame the previous owners' lack of care on Ford...my '98 needs literally nothing, and when I bought it I let the stealership do a full inspection fully expecting to get raped up the butt and all they could come up with was a serpentine belt and a broken wheel lug stud, noticed when they took the wheels off to check the brakes. The only other thing mine needed was new tires and a 4 wheel alignment, which I did this past weekend, and now it runs probably better than any car I've ever had...including the E30/E36 cars I had (the E30 was rough looking but ran pretty good, the E36 looked great but cost me $8k in repairs over the four years I owned it, and when I sold it to get it out of my sight it still needed $4500 in work). Don't cheap out on parts either--try to keep everything Motorcraft under the hood--it'll show as time goes on, even if they are more expensive to start with.

Fix the intake/rear ASAP, you don't want to get caught with your pants down on those. Ford didn't do a recall on the intake, but they put out a TSB to replace/reimburse it, but only if the car was seven years old or less, so no luck there. Beyond that, I would take it in and have it inspected. Either way, do all the basic tune up stuff since you don't know when that was last done, regardless of what the owner/dealer told you. Do all the bushings. A new battery wouldn't hurt either. Personally I wouldn't touch the tranny...if it runs fine, leave it alone with that mileage on it. Unless you know the fluid was changed every 30k, which I almost guarantee it wasn't given basic interior panels are falling apart, I wouldn't mess with it...new tranny fluid can actually ruin a high mileage tranny.

 

[HuskerNation]

Personally I wouldn't touch the tranny...if it runs fine, leave it alone with that mileage on it. Unless you know the fluid was changed every 30k, which I almost guarantee it wasn't given basic interior panels are falling apart, I wouldn't mess with it...new tranny fluid can actually ruin a high mileage tranny.

I was going to say the same thing, but you beat me to it lol.