got my first mustang

[black9D5]

Hi everyone im new to the whole forum thing so sorry if this is in the wrong place. But i sold my truck and bought my first mustang its a 95 black gt with black interior with a 5 speed. got 82,000 miles and picked it up for 4 grand im 17 and love working on cars but im no expert mechanic im just learning things. thats why i came to you guys. i have this weird pinging noise coming from the motor when you get on it, sounds like spark knock maybe, but it does it really bad in first gear and gets quieter the farther through the gears i go. i was wondering if anyone might know what it is? question #2: im looking to do my first mods. any suggestions? i drive it to school and work everyday but i just want it to be a weekend warrior type car. maybe take it to the track on the weekends. i dont drag on the street cause i dont even wanna take the chance of wrecking my car or getting a ticket and drag racing the legal way is just as fun

 

[revhead347]

Very nice choice in Mustangs, and a very fair price. You have come to the right place. The people on Stangnet are very friendly and helpful.

For the pinging, I would pull a spark plug and check the coloring. If you are getting a little pinging in an otherwise stock car, it probably just needs a tune up, so start there. You might want to do a spark plug change, and go ahead and change the big filters, like the air filter and fuel filter. If that doesn't do it, I would check to see if a previous owner has over advanced the timing in an attempt to get more power out of it.

My first mod for a 5 speed car is always a shifter. A nice shifter makes a huge difference in your driving experience. Most people recommend the MGW shifter, but I personally have never used one.

Kurt

 

[black9D5]

timing was at 21 degrees i turned it down to 14. already put in a K&N filter, and fresh oil change. spark plugs look like cheap $1.50 spark plugs. maybe replace with those E3 spark plugs?
Ive also heard people say gears is the best first mod? opinions on that kurt?
thanks for helping sorry for all the questions

 

[black9D5]

also if i turn the steering wheel sharp the car shuts off. any solutions to that?

 

[JonezySN95]

As far as your timing put it any where between 12-14. You said yours is at 14 now so the way you test if it got rid of the ping is drive it at 35-40 mph in 4th gear and floor it. If it pings then retard the timing a lil more and repeat until it stops. As far as upgrades seeing how you are 17 you probably aren't rolling in doe (just a guess) I would stick with the cheap upgrades that you can feel a difference with. Gears (373's), a cam (anything up to a 498 lift), and/or an intake manifold (cobra/gt40/explorer are all about the same). Explorer is the most common since you can pretty much pick one up at the junk yard. As far as your stalling issue it sounds like your power steering pump right off the bat but it could be many different things. hope this helps you some and congrats on the mustang.

 

[Chythar]

When you changed the timing, did you pull the SPOUT connector? If the timing was jumping all over the place when you set it, the SPOUT was in. The timing should not have moved at all unless you turned the distributor.

 

[HISSIN50]

Congrats on the new ride!

I would also pull codes just to ensure there are no clues hiding there. Also inspect the MAF wires. The wires might have hair on them already, and air-filter oil might migrate onto the wires and cause issues as well.

Good luck.

 

[black9D5]

Will try this when I get outta school today and yeah I'm not rolling in dough lol but I get paid about $1000 a month

 

[VibrantRedGT]

Put high octane in the tank and if it still pings adjust the timing lower again until the pinging subsides.

The stalling issue is infamous. It's could be a TPS issue. Do your research on this. You may have to take the TPS and drill out the holes. Put a multimeter on the two wires and with the key on try to adjust the TPS until its exactly .94 -.98v. It's tricky but once at this setting the idle is usually rock solid. Also check for vacuum leaks-coroded, cracked lines, trace them all, this could be your stalling problem.

 

[revhead347]

21 degrees, jeez, that's rough. Skip on the E3 plugs, they are cheap Chinese gimic garbage. I had to buy one for a chain saw one time, because that's all the store had. The manufacturing quality was so bad on it, it wouldn't even screw in. I measure it with a vernier, and the plug itself was out of round. Nothing beats the copper autolites (which are coincidently about the cheapest) plugs for performance. They are about $2/plug and both Autozone and Advance carry them. Just don't let the parts guy talk you into something more expensive. Be clear that you want basic Autolite plugs and nothing else. If you can't find those, get some basic NGK plugs. The NGKs are usually a little more expensive, and not quite as good, but they will do in a pinch.

Gears are a great mod, and really effect the pickup of the car. They are pretty expensive because you are going to have to pay to get them installed. it's a tough job that requires special tools, and tight measurements. Most people opt for the 3.73s for a basic street car. 4.10s would give you a little more pickup around town, but they make the engine rev up a little higher on the highway which effects your gas mileage and makes it noisier to drive. It's a personal preference thing. You're looking for around the $600 range with installation. There are a lot of choices in brands, but the original Motorsport ones are guaranteed to work. I know there are some other brands that are ok, but there are a whole bunch of them that aren't very good at all. The motorsports are guaranteed to work well, and they run about $20 more or the same as all the other brands.

Kurt

 

[KamiKaziDK]

+1 on autolites. And what do you want to do with the car down the road? Do you want to make it a drag racer mostly, a balanced street car, a weekend warrior track car? If you do a lot of freeway driving 3.73s or 4.10s might not be your best choice either. Do you want different wheels on it? How much tread is left on the tires? make sure you take care of your basics before jumping into performance