Still Slow

[trinity_gt]

My 225hp 89 LX with 273s feels faster from a stop than my 260hp 02 GT with 373s and a 93 octane race tune. The reason is the torque band is down low on the 5.0s. The 2v 4.6 is an absolute dog down low. They don't really start pulling until you rev them to about 3500 - 4000 rpm.

The two engines definitely have different characters. The pushrod motor was rated 225HP@4000 and 300ftlbs@3000 where the modular was 260HP@5250 and 300ftlbs@4000.

That one thousand RPM difference in torque peaks really seems to be noticed by some...

 

[tobynt]

Your right...its not a good GT, you got one that was built on Monday after a holiday weekend. I will buck up and take a hit for the team. I'll give $500.00 to take this car off your hands so you don't have to deal with it anymore.

 

[40oz]

If I really thought there was a problem with my car, I wouldn't be posting on an internet forum about it, I'd be taking it to a dealer to be looked at. In person. By a professional. Who has seen 100's of cars just like mine.

I don't understand why people think you can solve their problem over the internet based on vague descriptions like "it doesn't accelerate very fast in 5th gear."

Now that said, not all Ford dealers are the same. I've dealt with one that was part of a nationwide group that owned all kinds of dealerships, and those guys were useless. But I could tell after five minutes in the waiting room, just listening to how they treated customers.

 

[LarsD]

This is way too subjective. You need either a dyno run or two to show rwHP and/or you need to take it to a track and get a 1/4-mile time for it. A bone stock PI GT making 260HP at the crank is not really a fast car; many grocery-getters, family sedans and SUVs are making much more HP and are faster nowadays. Maybe your car is performing exactly as it should.

And a 1990 LX? Slower than a stock PI GT and I highly doubt they were capable of sideways-in-third-gear-smoking-the-tires type performance given that back in the day they ran 15-second quarter mile times stock, a full second behind the PI GT.

This^^^

Take it to a track and make some passes. Even if you don't drive it all that well, the numbers can tell us a story. You can learn a lot about your car by being able to make hammer down passes on a closed course as opposed to doing it on the street where you have to pay attention to traffic/peds/cops etc.

 

[Mindcrime]

Your right...its not a good GT, you got one that was built on Monday after a holiday weekend. I will buck up and take a hit for the team. I'll give $500.00 to take this car off your hands so you don't have to deal with it anymore.

Is that all in small unmarked bills?

 

[Mindcrime]

If I really thought there was a problem with my car, I wouldn't be posting on an internet forum about it, I'd be taking it to a dealer to be looked at. In person. By a professional. Who has seen 100's of cars just like mine.

I don't understand why people think you can solve their problem over the internet based on vague descriptions like "it doesn't accelerate very fast in 5th gear."

Now that said, not all Ford dealers are the same. I've dealt with one that was part of a nationwide group that owned all kinds of dealerships, and those guys were useless. But I could tell after five minutes in the waiting room, just listening to how they treated customers.

You ain't seen these con artist dealerships in Houston, Texas or you would certainly try to figure this out on your own, or with the help of all the guys here who know more about these cars than you might think. They own them, drive them, break them, fix them, and love the cars they work so hard on. It might not be so easy to figure out on the internet, but when you take a vehicle to a dealership to get a water pump changed and it costs you $1100, or maybe an injector and egr valve for a cost of $1400 you start to rethink your strategy a little. Unless of course money is no object...then you just bend over and take what you get.

 

[Mindcrime]

This is way too subjective. You need either a dyno run or two to show rwHP and/or you need to take it to a track and get a 1/4-mile time for it. A bone stock PI GT making 260HP at the crank is not really a fast car; many grocery-getters, family sedans and SUVs are making much more HP and are faster nowadays. Maybe your car is performing exactly as it should.

And a 1990 LX? Slower than a stock PI GT and I highly doubt they were capable of sideways-in-third-gear-smoking-the-tires type performance given that back in the day they ran 15-second quarter mile times stock, a full second behind the PI GT.

Trinity,
I thought I had the dyno thing set up, but it fell through. I never heard back from the person who was gonna do it. I will check around and find another place.I will let you know what the results show.

 

[Devcon]

Just go test drive another new edge mustang, 5psd thats in good running condition. Turn off the AC, and traction control, slow down to about 5 mph, and jump on that bitch!

 

[40oz]

You ain't seen these con artist dealerships in Houston, Texas or you would certainly try to figure this out on your own, or with the help of all the guys here who know more about these cars than you might think. They own them, drive them, break them, fix them, and love the cars they work so hard on. It might not be so easy to figure out on the internet, but when you take a vehicle to a dealership to get a water pump changed and it costs you $1100, or maybe an injector and egr valve for a cost of $1400 you start to rethink your strategy a little. Unless of course money is no object...then you just bend over and take what you get.

Well, you are the one with the problem, not me. You do the math.

Houston is a big town. There's got to be 5 or 6 different Ford dealers in Houston. Surely someone else in Houston has taken their car to a Ford dealer and can recommend one.

 

[wmburns]

Reading through this thread. IMO, some good points have been made. Some not so good points....

My 0.02 worth.

My car is a STOCK 2000 GT manual with the stock 3.27 rear end. Nothing special. Doing a 3000 RPM clutch dump lights the tires up for several seconds. Never done a 5k clutch dump but based upon what happens at 3k, I'm afraid it could get away from me.

The shift to 2nd starts the tires to spinning again (not as long).

What does yours do?

Try this. From 2nd gear and a rolling start, rev up to 2k RPM and then floor it. What happens?

Repeat the 2nd gear pull but start from 3500 RPM. Is there a night and day difference? If this doesn't snap your head back, then maybe your car is down on power.

Reminder. This is the tech section. Normally ppl are looking for help to fix/work on their own cars. There's no doubt about it, paying a professional to work on your car can be $$.

How you view car repairs is a personal choice. If $1100 for a water pump seems expensive (it does to me), then learning how to do the work yourself will save $$.

If on the other hand you just want to drive it, then repairs are just a fact of life.

I personally would never go back to anyplace that charged $1100 for a new water pump on a Mustang (was there "additional" work done at the same time?).

My recommendation. Tune up and compression test. If you can change spark plugs, you can do a compression test. The tool can be rented. This will give you some idea of the overall health of the motor.

How's the gas mileage? Does it use oil? Does it use coolant?

opcorn:

 

[Mindcrime]

Reading through this thread. IMO, some good points have been made. Some not so good points....

My 0.02 worth.

My car is a STOCK 2000 GT manual with the stock 3.27 rear end. Nothing special. Doing a 3000 RPM clutch dump lights the tires up for several seconds. Never done a 5k clutch dump but based upon what happens at 3k, I'm afraid it could get away from me.

The shift to 2nd starts the tires to spinning again (not as long).

What does yours do?

Try this. From 2nd gear and a rolling start, rev up to 2k RPM and then floor it. What happens?

Repeat the 2nd gear pull but start from 3500 RPM. Is there a night and day difference? If this doesn't snap your head back, then maybe your car is down on power.

Reminder. This is the tech section. Normally ppl are looking for help to fix/work on their own cars. There's no doubt about it, paying a professional to work on your car can be $$.

How you view car repairs is a personal choice. If $1100 for a water pump seems expensive (it does to me), then learning how to do the work yourself will save $$.

If on the other hand you just want to drive it, then repairs are just a fact of life.

I personally would never go back to anyplace that charged $1100 for a new water pump on a Mustang (was there "additional" work done at the same time?).

My recommendation. Tune up and compression test. If you can change spark plugs, you can do a compression test. The tool can be rented. This will give you some idea of the overall health of the motor.

How's the gas mileage? Does it use oil? Does it use coolant?

opcorn:

There is no part of this car that can snap your head back. Period! When I do what you recommended, it just does not have that crisp, responsive acceleration. In neutral the engine seems to rev real well, but under load it feels bogged down or sluggish. I am wondering if my catalytic converter is clogged up or obstructed somewhat? Would it cause this sort of poor performance while maintaining decent mpg? I am averaging about 19 mpg over the last 3 tanks of gas hwy/city combined. On a car with 29,000 original miles. Cats are not overly hot though...
And I certainly want to do this myself as opposed to taking it to a shop. Part of the issue is I work so much I do not have time to get alot done. Still, I would much rather learn what I can and try to work on my own car. I have never known alot about cars. But I do know some stuff, and I am fairly smart so I feel confident I could do alot of my own repairs as long as it does not require specialized tools or diagnostic equipment. (The expensive repairs were on my F-450 Flatbed. I generally only use this truck to pull my horse trailer, or haul hay so it had to be fixed or I could not take my horses to the vet, or get hay home.)
Thank you for your input, I appreciate all the help and the fact you took the time to offer assistance with my problem.

 

[wmburns]

I am wondering if my catalytic converter is clogged up or obstructed somewhat? Would it cause this sort of poor performance while maintaining decent mpg?

Clogged cats can cause poor performance.

So could excessive EGR flow.

So could poor engine compression.

So could a dirty MAF.

So could clogged fuel injectors.

So could contaminated O2 sensors.

So could a bad IAT sensor.

Get the point? The above is just for example. Some are less/more likely than others to cause your symptom. It does rule out some items knowing the gas mileage is good and low overall mileage.

 

[Mindcrime]

Clogged cats can cause poor performance.

So could excessive EGR flow.

So could poor engine compression.

So could a dirty MAF.

So could clogged fuel injectors.

So could contaminated O2 sensors.

So could a bad IAT sensor.

Get the point? The above is just for example. Some are less/more likely than others to cause your symptom. It does rule out some items knowing the gas mileage is good and low overall mileage.

Already replaced injectors, fuel filter, IAT sensor, air filter, plugs & coils...Leak down test to be done over the weekend if I do not have to work. Cats and mufflers being replaced as we speak. Will check out o2 sensor, and MAF as recommended