A sign of aging, modding...?

[ill advised]

Back when my 5-speed was basically stock (see sig) and had about 200k LESS miles lol, I could just fire it up cold and go. I suppose that's not good for a car but let's not get off track here. lol No matter how "cold" the engine was, I'd have full power immediately.

Now I have to let it warm up pretty good before it will run right. When it's cold, I have to be really easy on the throttle or I might get some spuddering. Once it reaches a "happy" temperature: I'm wondering if this is just a sign of the car's aging, or if something is out of tune perhaps. If so, what can be done? Obviously it doesn't hurt to let the car warm up but I think there's a problem.

Any ideas?

 

[Boss 351]

Good tune-up lately? O2 sensors, check the TPS, etc... I don't know sounds like a sensor problem such as the MAF or something???

 

[billetunderwear]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I just wanted to tell you that you have a couple of beautiful cars there.

 

[jrichker]

Dump the codes and see what the computer says is wrong…

Here's the link to dump the computer codes with only a jumper wire or paper clip and the check engine light, or test light or voltmeter. I’ve used it for years, and it works great.

See http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/
OR
See http://www.dalidesign.com/hbook/eectest.html for more descriptive help
OR
See http://www.mustangworks.com/articles/electronics/eec-iv_codes.html

IF your car is an 88 stang, you'll have to use the test lamp or voltmeter method. There is no functional check engine light on the 88's except possibly the Cali Mass Air cars.

Codes have different answers if the engine is running from the answers that it has when the engine isn't running. It helps a lot to know if you had the engine running when you ran the test.

Trouble codes are either 2 digit or 3 digit, there are no cars that use both 2 digit codes and 3 digit codes.

For those who are intimidated by all the wires & connections, see http://www.actron.com/product_detail.php?pid=16153 for what a typical hand scanner looks like. Normal retail price is about $30 or so at Walmart.

 

[ill advised]

Thanks for the responses. Boss, I havn't checked the tps lately but my 02 sensors have less than 5k miles on them. It's been a while since I've done any real tuning so maybe I'm just overdue. jrichker, thanks for the links. I'll give them a good looking over when I get home from work. Wouldn't mind having a scanner anyway.

billetunderwear - thanks.