A Little "Gentle" Venting - 461 Words

[MehakGT]

Haven’t been around here for a while, and haven’t been paying that much attention to the car (apart from driving it to and from work).

So here's my current list of problems:

Tires: Basically racing slicks all the way around, no tread left on any of them, and once a week my front passenger decides to empty itself in the company parking lot.

Brakes: Rotors are almost totally gone, fronts are warped, and try to shake the car apart during hard braking.

Transmission: Overdrive is on its way I think. Cruising at 2k rpm she jumps all over the place, and every now and again disengages completely, after revving up to like 3000-3500 a couple times (while in drive) it kicks back in and engages. Jumps, kicks, bucks, and jerks.

Headlight Switch: Been gone for a while now, have to pull it out for full headlights, than slightly slide it in to get the interiors on, which takes some skill.

TPS: Feels like it's going to stall going from park to drive, or park to reverse (which is even worse).

Running Rich: I think, and I really don't know how to tell. Exhaust smells really strong, almost like I can smell the unburned fuel, along with lousy mileage. Am I right? What can I do to diagnose/repair it?

Air Conditioning: Hopefully nothing too major here. The fan speed switch stopped working today. The only time I get ANY thing coming out of the vents is when it's on the highest setting, otherwise nothing.

Squeaks: Driver side rear passenger seat, the upper part that folds down to get into the trunk, over bumps and rough roads makes a lot of noise. Front suspension doesn't sound good over speed bumps, more squeaks there. Driver side window when it's coming down (could be the insane heat we've had here?).

Fuel Pump: Whining like crazy, louder than a month ago. Noticed how bad it's gotten driving with the rear seats down. Almost died on me last Thursday. When I get on the gas, the car wants to stall completely, or it feels like I'm running on 45 octane and bogs out until I let off and accelerate slowly.

Water Temperature Gauge: Hasn't worked from day 1.

You know, I think that's all there is. Hopefully the new sparks plugs sitting on the work bench will help something when I install them with a fresh set of wires, but it's killing me how quickly these things have all come up. Should I get rid of the car before she totally lets go? I really hope the answer is no, because I love her and don't want to end up driving something else.

Let me know guys, because it just doesn't feel right driving her like this.

Thanks.

 

[Joes95GT]

Unless you do the work yourself and save a little bit of money, I am guessing that you have about 1000 bucks worth of work to do. If you have the money, then do it. If not, then good luck . Personally, I would sell it because of all the stuff it needs, plus it's an automatic. Sell that som' gun and get a 5 speed.

Joe

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

as joe asked can u do this work urself??

If so it all doesnt seem like a big deal, tires/brake are normal wear and tear and should be expected.. TPS is simple to fix, running rich can be figured out, a AFPR will help out there, But y is it running rich if u claim the fuel pump is no good?? thats kinda wierd..

Fuel pumps are pretty inexpensive and it will be a good time to upgrade to a 190lph for future mods. If you can do this urself (which it isnt hard) u will save urself some money.

I dunno about the other stuff.. Transmission ounds wierd... BTW how many miles do you have on her?? And BTW if ur shocks/struts are no good its always a good reason to upgrade to some nice drag shocks or road race shocks(depending onw hat ur thing is)..

I cant see selling it because of some minor probs...

My $.02

 

[Rootus]

Tires

Solvable, it's just money .

Brakes

Fronts are very easy, pull 'em yourself and take them to a machine shop or auto parts store, and have them turned. Then reinstall with new pads.

Transmission

Can't help you there. You do have enough fluid, right?

Headlight Switch

Not a big deal, replace the whole switch as a unit. Junkyard shopping.

TPS

That doesn't sound like TPS, sounds more like transmission again. TPS on 94/95 cars doesn't need any adjustment unless it's *way* off, and it'll trip a MIL if it is.

Running Rich

You've got an offroad pipe in your sig. Live with the smell, that's what you get with no cats. What mileage are you getting? I get 225 to a tank, about 18-19 mpg overall.

Air Conditioning

Can't help ya there. Sounds like a switch issue.

Squeaks

For interior noise, hard to say what'll fix it. Outside noise -- well, your car is getting old, and the rubber bushings are not so good anymore (as if they were ever good ). Some of them are a bitch to install, but I'd start buying urethane replacements. That'll help.

Fuel Pump

Easy to replace yourself, the only bad part is trying to thread the pickup back into the baffled area of the tank. Very helpful to have compressed air to clean off the top before taking off the lock ring.

Water Temperature Gauge

Been there, done that. The temp gauge & fuel gauge are a single unit. I bought a used cluster off eBay for $20 and swapped out just that module. You need to swap the whole module (including the antislosh module plugged into the back of it), might have to swap needles to keep them the same exact color. Very easy.

Should I get rid of the car before she totally lets go? I really hope the answer is no, because I love her and don't want to end up driving something else.

Hell no, don't sell her. She's not ready to let go, she just needs a little maintenance. Even if you have to pay $1000 to fix everything you've listed, you'd lose that much trying to sell her with all the nags. People will notice, and a lot of them will just run away from it because they see a hassle. Fix it up, I don't see anything major on your list (well, the tranny is noteworthy, but once fixed should be good for awhile).

Dave

 

[Joes95GT]

Just a thought about the transmission, it could be a bad torque converter because my aunts 95 T-Bird does the same thing but in 3rd gear. It grinds on the upshift into 3rd, and if you floor it in 3rd it pops out. I'm not an automatic kind of person nor do I know anything about them, it's just a possibility.

Joe

 

[yellow5.0cobra]

wow... YOU TEMP NEVER WORKED?!?!?

Never drive around in a car with no temp. How else would you know if you are running too hot or not?

I suggest you upgrade and buy an autometer gauge.

For your tranny, check your fluid level, not enough fluid will make it do what you said. If your fluid is BROWNish, something fried in your tranny.


Everything else can be taken car of with NEW parts, $$$ and patients.

Pete

 

[dstanggt50]

When I had my 87 GT auto, my overdrive was the first to go out, then it just got worse. Depending on how much work you do yourself, you may need to sell it,but if it was me and the tranny went out, I would swap a 5 spd, or put a perfomance auto, but thats just me. Good luck

 

[94Five0]

damn bro don't get so down. most of this is part of owning a 14 yearold car with a 16 yr old engine design.. thats what we're here for.

Transmission: Overdrive is on its way I think. Cruising at 2k rpm she jumps all over the place, and every now and again disengages completely, after revving up to like 3000-3500 a couple times (while in drive) it kicks back in and engages. Jumps, kicks, bucks, and jerks.
which takes some skill.

i had the same problem. bucks like a mutha ,disengages...5 bucks says its the trans range switch on the outside of the trannie near the linkage.. i wanna say 90% of all aode problems on the 94-95 GT are cause by that lil bastard goin out.( i think there was actually a service recall for it) got my 94 GT auto w/97 k on the clock an the trannie started goin south the next month after I got it. drove fine, but slipped in an out of gear. took it to the shop that rebuilt it and it wouldn't do it for them in any given amount of time. took it to my regular guys an they fixed it first time..no problem..sooo 68 bones later an the trannie is back in business..

jus do a good tune up, buy some maintence parts an get some of the key things addresed. specifically guages an engine issues..its the lifeblood of the car. and if its a daily driver, get the rotors fixed. aint nothin more dangerous than a 94 gt w/ bad brakes..

get a a code scanner to diagnose, or take it to a reputable mechanic. not really brain sugrery, jus a hassle. maybe look at procuring a second vehicle while the stang is on downtime

as for the bald tires..jus slow the hell down.
QUOTE]

 

[rd]

Haven’t been around here for a while, and haven’t been paying that much attention to the car (apart from driving it to and from work).

So here's my current list of problems:

Tires: Basically racing slicks all the way around, no tread left on any of them, and once a week my front passenger decides to empty itself in the company parking lot.

Brakes: Rotors are almost totally gone, fronts are warped, and try to shake the car apart during hard braking.

Transmission: Overdrive is on its way I think. Cruising at 2k rpm she jumps all over the place, and every now and again disengages completely, after revving up to like 3000-3500 a couple times (while in drive) it kicks back in and engages. Jumps, kicks, bucks, and jerks.

Headlight Switch: Been gone for a while now, have to pull it out for full headlights, than slightly slide it in to get the interiors on, which takes some skill.

TPS: Feels like it's going to stall going from park to drive, or park to reverse (which is even worse).

Running Rich: I think, and I really don't know how to tell. Exhaust smells really strong, almost like I can smell the unburned fuel, along with lousy mileage. Am I right? What can I do to diagnose/repair it?

Air Conditioning: Hopefully nothing too major here. The fan speed switch stopped working today. The only time I get ANY thing coming out of the vents is when it's on the highest setting, otherwise nothing.

Squeaks: Driver side rear passenger seat, the upper part that folds down to get into the trunk, over bumps and rough roads makes a lot of noise. Front suspension doesn't sound good over speed bumps, more squeaks there. Driver side window when it's coming down (could be the insane heat we've had here?).

Fuel Pump: Whining like crazy, louder than a month ago. Noticed how bad it's gotten driving with the rear seats down. Almost died on me last Thursday. When I get on the gas, the car wants to stall completely, or it feels like I'm running on 45 octane and bogs out until I let off and accelerate slowly.

Water Temperature Gauge: Hasn't worked from day 1.

You know, I think that's all there is. Hopefully the new sparks plugs sitting on the work bench will help something when I install them with a fresh set of wires, but it's killing me how quickly these things have all come up. Should I get rid of the car before she totally lets go? I really hope the answer is no, because I love her and don't want to end up driving something else.

Let me know guys, because it just doesn't feel right driving her like this.

Thanks.

So what is the problem, your car is running and you can drive it.

Thats better than than 4 out of the last 5 cars I could afford.

Seriously, all of that stuff is wear out parts, you will have to replace them at some time on any car, except a new on for the first year or so.

Just do one thing at at time. If you do not do this stuff yourself, this is a great opportunity to learn, or you may want to focus your energy on a lifestyle that does not cross paths with these type of problems, or has the income to just pay for fixing it.

 

[Rootus]

Wow... this thread came back from the dead...

 

[Green 94 5.0]

Wow... this thread came back from the dead...

wow, i was going to reply with a serious post until i read your post and looked at the dates.

 

[Joes95GT]

I think the guy's problems are over with. That may be just a guess though .

Joe