Help with a 94 I might be buying

[sixt9coug]

Well I went to look at a 94 GT.5spd today. I like the car a lot and I will probably buy it, but it does have a problem. The car starts fine, runs overall ok but it does have an issue of concern.

- It SLIGHTLY hunts at idle
- It pings like mad under load
- around 3K rpm it falls on its ass. It almost feels like a soft rev limiter.

The temp gauge read less than half and there was no check engine light at all. I like the car quite a bit, and after a LONG search for a 5.0 this car has it all. Except this issue. I believe it to be minor, but I really don't know where to start on it.

Thoughts? Places to start? Keep in mind I don't have the car yet so troubleshooting isn't too easy lol. It has 138K miles on it too FWIW and is stock as a rock.

'lil help?

 

[88stang88]

Could be fouled out spark plugs and old gas?

 

[Chythar]

I would first clean the MAF sensor and change the air filter. A dirty MAF will give the computer bad data about the air coming in, which messes up a lot of things.

IMO the problems you've reported can be fixed without paying a fortune, the trick is finding the cause or causes.

We need to have a SoCal StangNet meet one of these days. There's enough of us.

 

[sixt9coug]

Thanks for the replies. I figure it isn't anything too serious. It's just tracking down the source. I have dealt with plenty of cars before, but all of them except for the two Rangers I've owned have been carburated lol. So there will be somewhat of a learning curve here. I know these 5.0Ls aren't too complicated though so that's good.

I'd be down for a meet. I used to go to them with the Cougar people except they are a typically much older crowd. Still met a bunch of good people and good connections for parts and tech though. I have a 1969 Cougar as well in case the screen name didn't give it away.

 

[toyman]

As stated it is likely nothing serious. I would give yourself a base line though with respect to a basic tuneup, spark plugs and wires, rotor and cap, fuel and air filter, oil change and filter, that sort of stuff. Probably the best $100 first spent.

 

[88stang88]

I would first clean the MAF sensor and change the air filter. A dirty MAF will give the computer bad data about the air coming in, which messes up a lot of things.

IMO the problems you've reported can be fixed without paying a fortune, the trick is finding the cause or causes.

We need to have a SoCal StangNet meet one of these days. There's enough of us.

+1 I agree

 

[SN95StangMan]

So we all agree...Party at matts house next Saturday.

 

[88stang88]

Man that's a long drive just for a party...we should find a mutual spot and go for a cruise and stop for food somewhere like hooters. Just my opinion.

 

[Chythar]

So we all agree...Party at matts house next Saturday.

*blink* *blink*

But that's cheating, you already know where I live!

I like the mutual spot idea. However, I think you're the farthest one out there Steve - most of us are at least in the LA/Burbank area.

 

[sixt9coug]

*blink* *blink*

But that's cheating, you already know where I live!

I like the mutual spot idea. However, I think you're the farthest one out there Steve - most of us are at least in the LA/Burbank area.

I'm also a Steve.

So the confusion starts.

 

[sixt9coug]

By the way, I'm probably gonna buy it. I don't think it's anything serious, and I haven't been getting my fingernails dirty lately (with grease anyway... I work with auto paint though) so it might be fun.

 

[Grn92LX]

clean the maf elements like already stated.

 

[Chythar]

OK folks, let's not clutter up sixt9coug's thread with SoCal meet posts. I made a new thread for us over in Talk.

 

[Zero_chance]

Like has been stated, a good tune up should always be a top priority when buying any car. A dirty maf is very common on our cars and can cause issues like youre experiencing. I'd also do a search on the infamous Mustang idle reset procedure. My car used to hun t for idle and stall randomly. I cleaned the MAF, reset the idle... no issues since. As far as the pinging, my car will ping on anything less than premium gas. I'd check the timing and make sure it isnt set a little too advanced for the grade of gas thats being ran.

 

[SableSal]

Hey Steve-o. Get some pics of that stang when you get it. I can't wait to see it! Glad to see you made it on the site. Corral.net is also another good site to look at. See ya soon!

 

[sixt9coug]

Decided I'm gonna go ahead and buy it. I struck a deal with the owner today and I'll go this weekend to get it. (no time during the week). I don't think the problem will be TOO bad and if it's a catastrophic problem, it's not like 302s are expensive lol

A couple of pics I took on Sunday when i looked at it. I paint so the front end will be redone very quickly. so WOO! im kind of excited. This will be the 10th car I've owned. They have all been Ford products yet it will be my first Mustang.

 

[88stang88]

Looks like a decent starting block! So will you have it in time to cruise on Saturday?

 

[sixt9coug]

Probably not. I think I will pick it up Sunday then I want to spend some time to work on the pinging issue. Who knows, if it isn't raining on Saturday I might just head out early and pick it up.

 

[sixt9coug]

Ok I bought the car!

Now I'm a little obsessive compulsive so I am in a state of worry but that's normal for me.

We got it to my buddy's house and started dicking with it trying to find the problem. We mixed 2 gallons of 100 octane into the current fuel to try to help out with the mystery fuel in it and I threw a little seafoam into the tank and the oil. We also changed the fuel and air filters. I also cleaned the MAF with some electrical cleaner too.

Now, we tried to set the timing. We pulled the plug out of the harness, and got the light out. Umm... It seemed WAAY off. After setting it to 10BTC we took it for a drive and it was still pinging and it was very slow to return to idle. It also seemed to idle high like that. We were a little stumped at that so we set it to roughly where it was before. You can't even read the marks on the balancer right now so I'm thinking maybe the balancer has slipped? I don't see any wobbling or anything hanging out of it, but is there another way to test?

It still has the weird stumble in it. There is a little bit of a surge at around 1700rpms and then if you get on it even moderately it just falls on its ass BAD around 3000rpm. Oddly enough, if you just ease into the throttle very lightly you can get it over 3000rpm without hitting that invisible wall. It pings mildly where it is right now but I swear it is like a rev limiter. I got into it a bit and it got to around 3K pretty easily, then it stumbled and fell about 500rpm before 'catching' again. Then it just stumbled and I let off.

There is still no check engine light on.

Thoughts where to go next? Fuel pump maybe? Plugs? Coil? EFI cars are still kind of new to me. I'm a bit stumped.

 

[toyman]

I think you have it pegged correctly with the balancer. The setting will not change unless you forgot to tighten the distributor or the balancer has separated.