New Mustang Owner! 03 Gt

[Shouter]

I finally bought my first mustang. I have wanted one since I was about a day old. And FINALLY, here it is! It is an 03 GT with 110k miles. Premium Leather interior, Mach Sound system, but unfortunately the previous owner took out the original sub woofer, and replaced the head unit, and it doesn't sound that good.



Its very clean, only 2 spots to address body wise.

It's a 5 speed car, with a few things done to it. AccuFab throttle body/plenum, BBK cold air intake (I NEED to get a new filter, it has a Spectre on it...), Magnaflow exhaust, not sure what type of clutch, but it is not stock. It is heavy, but very streetable. Also has an MGW short throw shifter.


Also, it has an SCT Eliminator Chip installed, with the 7 way switch. I have ZERO idea about this tuner. What do the numbers mean? I am assuming each one is to store a different tune, but how am I to know which one is what?

Also have 2 small issues with the car. First, at random times while driving, or turning the wheel, the horn will make a very slight honk. Just a small beep. It does it every once in awhile, and while not loud, it bugs the hell out of me.

Second, the rpm's like to hang a little bit before coming down to idle. It revs down very slow, then hangs at 1000, then down to 500 and idles smooth there. Vacuum issue? Tune issue?

In closing, I am in love with this car, and I hope to become an active member of this community.

 

[Mineral4.6]

Sweet ride! No idea why the horn would go off at random... Wiring issue under the dash maybe?! As far as your idle I'm hoping to see someone more knowledgable then myself to chime in, have you tried cleaning the Throttle body and the IAC yet? Probably wouldn't hurt to clean the mass air sensor as well. If you do remember to use the correct cleaner for TB and Mass air.

 

[B.erazo712]

The horn when turning the wheel, most likely, is the wire rubbing against the steering shaft, which is metal, completing the circuit and going off. You just need to put some electrical tape on the wire. I'd take it to a mechanic for the repair due to the airbag, being tricky and dangerous to take off.

Also, welcome to the club! That's a sick stang! The addiction begins.

 

[Shouter]

Awesome, luckily my uncle is a mechanic, and while I have worked on cars my whole life, and can do about anything I need to, I do not like airbags, so I think I'll have him help me on that one.

 

[B.erazo712]

For your idling problem it could be the TB was never properly adjusted. Go to latemodelrestoration.com and search up tps sensor, and watch that video. If it's not that it could be that it's not timed properly, spark plugs getting old, fuel injectors are dirty, vacuum leak, fuel pressure regulator isn't working properly. That's the fun part! It's a guessing game.

 

[Shouter]

I'll definitely do that. The engine is spotless up top. A lot of new stuff.

I need to put in a new rear and front main seal, and a pinion seal underneath. That's about the only issues underneath.

 

[restomod66]

Welcome! Very nice looking find you've got there. As far as the hanging RPM's go I'd start off with cleaning the MAF & IAC b/c that's damn near free & will likely make the car run smoother. I noticed you've got 110k miles on the car which isn't a lot for these motors by any means but it's probably getting fairly close to a time where I'd be wondering about my timing chain guides & tensioner. These motors don't have many weaknesses but those would go down as one, and the other being the cheap plastic intake manifold that WILL crack. If the P/O provided paperwork that those two items were addressed then I'd sleep a little better at night. You can beat the snot out of these Mod Motors & they'll easily go to 200k miles so long as they're well maintained. Enjoy!

 

[03_TrueBlue_GT]

Beautiful Mustang man, it certainly is addicting to start modding them.

 

[1987stangman]

Looks like a clean GT! Hard to come by decent ones these days, at least around my area and for a decent price. As far as the horn deal I have never seen that happen before. Shouldnt be too hard to figure out though. Everyone else has already given you good advice on the idle hanging so I will add one more. You mentioned it had a SCT eliminator chip. Depending on which tune is currently active it could cause a slight hang in idle when coming to a stop, slowing down, etc. I have a SCT SF3 handheld and the 93 Race tune that Bama created for my car does that. It drives me nuts so I just stick with the 93 Performance tune. Not saying that is exactly your issue but you may want switch the chip off while you try to diagnose the issue.

 

[Shouter]

I took a couple pictures today of the car. Just a side shot and an engine bay shot.




Here is my stereo wiring mess....it had a Mach 1000 stereo in it, and the previous owner put a new deck in, and got rid of the amp rack, and subs in the back. It sounds horrible right now and I want to fix it. I have not looked in the doors to see if it has the stock speakers in, but it has the stock tweeters by the side mirrors. Also I believe the rear has been replaced with just 2 speakers. I have no idea how to fix what is going on here. Maybe you can help.

 

[B.erazo712]

Best bet, is your going to have to find a stereo wiring diagram, or color code chart. This might help?
http://www.mustangspecialties.net/mach 1000.pdf
http://www.mustangspecialties.net/mach 1000.2.pdf
http://www.mustangspecialties.net/mach 1000.4.pdf
http://www.mustangspecialties.net/mach 1000.5.pdf
http://www.mustangspecialties.net/mach 1000.6.pdf
http://www.mustangspecialties.net/mach 1000.7.pdf
Only thing i can find for the mach 1000 sound system, sorry

 

[Three50won]

In addition to all the advice, I'd say to also try cleaning out the throttle body by the blade. Sometimes aftermarket TBs get carbon buildup around the blade and causes the blade to not close properly. Otherwise everyone else gave you sound advice.

 

[Shouter]

I blew out a plug today number 2. It really sucks! I bought a kit to fix it, but am Leary because it's not a Time Sert Kit. But I've also heard good things about them. It would be hard to swallow the 400 dollar price tag on the time sert kit.