96 GT possible problem areas?

[HankyGT]

Hey guys,

I'm about to pick up this 96gt 5spd this week as I'm getting a killer deal on it. Aside from usual synchro stuff with the t5/t45 trannies, are there any areas I should be really looking for on these cars? I'm not a total stranger to stangs as I've lent a huge hand in my friends 87GT from basic bolt ons, through nitrous, to a built 347 stroker on the bottle. So I got the basics, but the 4.6 is a new animal to me. I've heard the car run, fires right up, no stuttering or signs of the idle air control problems I hear of. Aside from that, is there anything I should focus on? Car is dead stock.

Heh, this should be a fun change in pace for me. I'm a musclecar guy who hated, then stumbled upon 4cyl 'imports' and I'm selling mine now. I drive a 92 Plymouth Laser AWD 5spd, same platform as the Eclipse GSX and Talon Tsi, which I have tastefully modded (farthest guy from a ricer ever, just addicted to boost) and runs religeous high 12s around 106. Cutting 1.73 60's on street tires

It's fun, but I love stangs and I like driving cars with some tq. I really wanted a 5.0 sn95, but the price is just too good on this 96, and it seems they can be very compotent runners, and the modular sound is really clean.

Here's some pics of my car, should be gone soon tho

thanks for the help!

 

[Skidzz]

First of all that is a tastefully done DSM. Second of all, the first thing you wanna check on the stang is the coolant crossover on the intake manifold, make sure it is aluminum and not plastic. The plastic ones break and it is a very costly repair. If it is plastic, try to talk the seller down more. Let them know that you know about the plastic intake flaw and try to get them to drop the price about $700 more. The 96-98 4.6s have plenty of potential and are relatively cheap to get into the 300 hp range. They are also the best looking body style IMO. Do a search on the PI swap, it is the best mod you can do for a 96-98 4.6. With my current mods and the PI swap and cam swap I'm having done this summer, I'll be pushing over 300 hp easily, and that's with about $1800 in mods and $1400 for labor from modular depot this summer. If you can do all the work yourself, you can probably get into the low 13s with under $3000 in parts.

 

[Enter Username]

How many miles are on the car?

Regardless, coming from a car that does 12s means you won't like the 4.6 npi motor.

Like Skidzz was saying, they're pretty much dogs until you do the PI swap.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Get a 99+ do not get a 96

 

[HankyGT]

Thanks!
I'll check that out on the car. The price is $4500 obo, its a red 96 with near perfect black cloth, 5 spd, with the silver 17s and 83000 on the clock. Its a GORGEOUS car.
Yeah, I know it'll be a tremendous drop in performance from my current ride, but thats ok. The car will make a much nicer daily and sound alot better
From what I've read/been told, the best thing is to use the PI or bullit intake with the non PI heads. Granted the PI has larger exhaust valves. I plan to put a full exhaust on this car, 4:10s, cold air intake and maybe a few other things (maybe nitrous if I have the funds) for right now, so it shouldnt be all THAT doggish. If you purchase one of those timing adjuster things, do they respond well to a bump like the 5.0s, say around 14 degrees?
Any work on the car, I can do myself, so parts cost is my only woe for speed. Ive torn 4cam v6s down the shortblock and rebuilt them, so a 2 cam motor with a timing chain cant be all THAT bad I'm buying this car cause I love the price, the car, and the milage, at least it'll be worth more than the DSM.

Thanks again!

-Tom

 

[Skidzz]

Thanks!
I'll check that out on the car. The price is $4500 obo, its a red 96 with near perfect black cloth, 5 spd, with the silver 17s and 83000 on the clock. Its a GORGEOUS car.
Yeah, I know it'll be a tremendous drop in performance from my current ride, but thats ok. The car will make a much nicer daily and sound alot better
From what I've read/been told, the best thing is to use the PI or bullit intake with the non PI heads. Granted the PI has larger exhaust valves. I plan to put a full exhaust on this car, 4:10s, cold air intake and maybe a few other things (maybe nitrous if I have the funds) for right now, so it shouldnt be all THAT doggish. If you purchase one of those timing adjuster things, do they respond well to a bump like the 5.0s, say around 14 degrees?
Any work on the car, I can do myself, so parts cost is my only woe for speed. Ive torn 4cam v6s down the shortblock and rebuilt them, so a 2 cam motor with a timing chain cant be all THAT bad I'm buying this car cause I love the price, the car, and the milage, at least it'll be worth more than the DSM.

Thanks again!

-Tom

The timing adjust is debated a lot in these forums. I don't think you will get a big enough increase in the 4.6 to make it worth it, but some will argue that. Also, unless you're planning on P&Ping those npi heads, swap them for PI heads. I have yet to see one person on here show any proof that NPI heads with PI cams and intake give equal gains to the full PI swap. And don't listen to people who say it's a dog and buy a 99+. Around here you still can't ever find a 99+ with decent mileage for under $10,000. The lowest I've seen was $9500 in the ad bulletin and it had 68k miles on it. I got my 96 with 55k miles for $7500 and with the mods im doing ill have just a little over $10k in the car total, and itll be eating stock 99-04s alive, for the same price. Not to mention it will look better

 

[DropTopPony]

The car sounds like a good buy to me! What kind of budget are you going to be on with it? A simple PI Intake/Cam swap will bring it almost up to speed with PI GT's for @200 dollars. Add a high flow mid pipe and a blower and you can have a nice fast GT for under 8,000 total. not bad. Oh and 83,000 miles is just breaking it in. These motors will last a long time if kept up. I'm the original owner of my 96 and the only problem i've ever had was a faulty IAC and that was a $40 dollar 3 minute fix.

 

[HankyGT]

Well today I went and drove it, I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase it or not. The car has/had a frozen ac compressor, and it was preventing the serpintine from turning, so the belt was undone when i drove it (very breifly since no waterpump etc), one thing that struck me odd, was that the car was near impossible to stop. I can't see how this could be related to the serpentine belt, but maybe it is?? Any of you ever lost the belt and lost brakes? I was thinking its a booster problem or something and if so, I dont think I want to get into that headache over a 4.6. I would rather try and find a 5.0 car that's easier to work on.
The stang sounded really clean though, I was very impressed. Any thoughts on those brakes?

My budget is whatever I get out of my DSM. I have a buyer lined up for $6500, I would like to maybe spend a TAD less so I dont hurt myself financially.

 

[dollarbill]

If it has problems like that then I would try to talk him down some more. AC compressors are expensive and who knows about the brakes. BTW I can beat a mostly stock 99+ now, just wait untill I do the Pi swap...

 

[MAXX RS4]

First of all, check the brake system. Check the fluid level and rotors/pads. Is the pedal mushy and does it go to the floor? I know when the motor dies while driving, the brakes are near impossible to use (is that the same as not having the serp belt connected?).

The compressor is a simple fix. No tools besides a wrench are needed and it's easily accessible. It took me about 1.5hours to swap it out and pressurize the ac system. I got a refurbished compressor on ebay for less than $50 shipped and a new accumulator (needs to be replaced when the compressor is removed) for $10 shipped.

Ask him to fix it or drop the price for it to be fixed.. Who tries to sell a car when the serp belt has to be removed for a test drive?

 

[HankyGT]

Heh, dunno, but I drove it. I'm just gonna run an a/c eliminator pulley anyways. I hate a/c and I never use it, I think I've used it once in my life driving an 05 GT 6hrs in 110 degree heat after standing in the sun for 8hrs working the display at a car show. But windows down is how I like to drive.

True when the engine dies it will have that effect, but when the engine is dead there will be no vaccum for the brakes. The pedal acted exactly like one would act if the motor was dead. Not sure if thatd be booster related or not. It's hard to troubleshoot the issue when its not your car yet. Otherwise I'd have had everything back to normal, and it'd be alot easier to tell.

Honestly I think I might hold out for this 95 GT instead. Same car, but has the 16'' ugly ponies, stock ride height, leather (not the biggest fan), and 110k instead of 83k. Same price I believe. I'll post up some pics of the 96 in a second.

 

[Azarello]

Well today I went and drove it, I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase it or not. The car has/had a frozen ac compressor, and it was preventing the serpintine from turning, so the belt was undone when i drove it (very breifly since no waterpump etc), one thing that struck me odd, was that the car was near impossible to stop. I can't see how this could be related to the serpentine belt, but maybe it is?? Any of you ever lost the belt and lost brakes? I was thinking its a booster problem or something and if so, I dont think I want to get into that headache over a 4.6. I would rather try and find a 5.0 car that's easier to work on.
The stang sounded really clean though, I was very impressed. Any thoughts on those brakes?

My budget is whatever I get out of my DSM. I have a buyer lined up for $6500, I would like to maybe spend a TAD less so I dont hurt myself financially.

Hey, that doesn't sound good. The dude might not have been keeping up on the car. That belt should of been spotted on a simple oil change. Anyway, I got a 96 gt, 5sp, black on vlack leather, with 100k, a new cobra clutch and a rebuilt trans. It runs great. I'm selling it for around 5k. Where are you from?

 

[HankyGT]

He had the belt off on purpose, as the a/c compressor was frozen up, the belt itself isnt bad. I am located in Northeast Ohio though. I'm not really lookin for any other 4.6 cars, this one happens to be real close and in nice shape. Here's some pictures of the car.

I took those today when I drove it. Any opinions?

 

[Venom_Nitrous]

Well today I went and drove it, I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase it or not. The car has/had a frozen ac compressor, and it was preventing the serpintine from turning, so the belt was undone when i drove it (very breifly since no waterpump etc), one thing that struck me odd, was that the car was near impossible to stop. I can't see how this could be related to the serpentine belt, but maybe it is?? Any of you ever lost the belt and lost brakes? I was thinking its a booster problem or something and if so, I dont think I want to get into that headache over a 4.6. I would rather try and find a 5.0 car that's easier to work on.
The stang sounded really clean though, I was very impressed. Any thoughts on those brakes?

My budget is whatever I get out of my DSM. I have a buyer lined up for $6500, I would like to maybe spend a TAD less so I dont hurt myself financially.

The powersteering pump assists in braking power. With the belt off, there was no power steer pump, so it would make the brakes very hard. It will be fixed when you put the belt back on.

 

[HankyGT]

Did not know the powersteering assisted in braking! Good to know! Cause this thing wasnt stoppin for anyone.

Now I gotta decide whether to pull the trigger on it or get a 5.0 variant. How do these computers take to mods? I'm going to thoroughly research the PI swap and what it involves.

Thanks for the help!

 

[HankyGT]

Could anyone elborate on just how that powersteering assists? I'm discussing it with my friend and the idea seems a little leery.

thanks!

 

[Dragstr05]

It is a good looking car, but I say get the best of both worlds and find a 94/95 with the 5.0 in it, or just be ready to do the PI swap right off the bat.

 

[COramprat]

The PS pump double as a brake pump. Put the belt on and you have no problem. The AC may just need a pulley swap. If the bearing have gone it probably seized up but the compressor could be fine.

Check My Garage for mods to my car...I'm pushing 230HP w/ 273TQ with the mods listed and a SCT chip and dyno tune.

Also, when I bought mine I had a bad carrier bearing...just made it a good time to do my gear swap.

 

[HankyGT]

So its only going 14.5 @ 95 with cams and the PI intake with a full exhaust and stuff?? I went 14.2 with a boost controller and a crappy 2.5" pressbent on my laser.

Maybe I will get the 5.0 :/

 

[blackfang]

Yup we have the hydroboost(sp) where our power steering pump acts as a brake booster.