New to mustangs 91 LX rough driving (and other) issues...

vladtepes

New Member
Feb 12, 2010
63
0
0
Have been pretty into cars for the last ten years or so.. unfortunately my previous interests were within the import world.. I used to drive a honda civic with a larger motor and nitrous.. it was reasonably fast but the timing belt went one day and i decided i was over it.. sold the car off and bought a 91 LX


MAJOR ISSUE

I have had the car for a little over a week and only really drove it twice.. it has several annoying issues that any old car would have... most of which im not really worried about... but it does have one major issue.. and including as much information as i have..

* at approximately 1700 rpms under light throttle the car drives like ****.. it sounds as if its missing and just driving poorly..

* at that same rpm under heavy throttle the issue is barely noticeable...

* at idle the rpms surge lightly (up maybe 300 rpms then back down)

* the car sat barely driven for approximately 8 months...

* the car as far as i can tell is pretty stock has 170k miles has headers and exhaust

I plan to change the plugs and do an oil change saturday when i get done work... just wondering if there are other things i should be aware of.. other things that are easy to check.. recommendations to remedy the problem..

SMALLER ISSUES

* heat doesnt blow very hot (but coolant was also pretty low.. filled it back up this morning will check to see if it goes back down)

* front seat sucks and back part wont come up far enough.. it may also have that lean that is typical with mustangs but the lack of adjustment is more annoying than the lean..

* cruise control does not appear to work

* center chrome looking map light thing does not light up

ive done some searching on the major issue but didnt really see anything exact.. any help would be really appreciated..

thanks
Anthony
 
  • Sponsors (?)


:welcome: to the Mustang world!

The fox cars 79-93 and more specifically the 87-93 (aero style) cars have many notorious issues. These include gangsta lean driver seats, broken ash tray doors, rotting quarter windows, non functioning power locks, sagging/slow moving/stuck power windows, rust issues, broken cowls and windshields from hoods blowing open, damaged torque boxes.. etc... however the reason these issues are so prevalent is also the same reason why these cars were so massively successful; they were cheap! A suggested MSRP of 13-14K for a 5.0L Mustang in 87-93 meant that nearly any one could afford one.The 5.0L Mustang truly should be considered a modern classic in that it ushered in the era of the modern day hot rod for the everyday man AND the modern day bolt on aftermarket. Today, a well restored/maintained and tastefully upgraded 5.0L can easily fetch you 10-20K on the open market. Not bad for 20+ year old cars. Stay the course with your new car. Make repairs and upgrades as you can afford to. Companies like 50resto and many others specialize it parts for our cars that make a fox mustang project much easier to complete compared to other classic cars. Some times it can be depressing thinking about everything you want to do to your car, but a nice cruise on a sunny day will make everything feel alright!

Enjoy! :nice:
 
Speaking of the major driveablity issue your'e having....first thing you should do is give it a tune up and pull computer codes!!!! And only use Motorcraft or Autolite COPPER plugs and only copper plugs. Do not, and I repeat, do not use platinum plugs!!! You will have problems and crappy gas mileage. Trust me, I'm speaking from recent experience. The first thing you should do to any car you just aquire is give it a thorough tune up. That way, you have piece of mind knowing that everything is fresh and new to start with. Then if you have driveablity problems after the tune up, you can look elsewhere. But just as important, you need to pull the computer codes. It may tell you exactly what your problems are. Get back to us after you do these two things and let us know what you find and we'll help the best we can.....
 
3 of the 8 plug wires were totally destroyed.. changed the plugs... wires.. oil.. and filter... and its pretty night and day.. idles smooth.. and definitely has more power.. going to grab an air filter.. forgot to grab that.. its funny.. the $90 i invested into this car is already MUCH more rewarding than the THOUSANDS i put into the honda... pretty happy..
 
3 of the 8 plug wires were totally destroyed.. changed the plugs... wires.. oil.. and filter... and its pretty night and day.. idles smooth.. and definitely has more power.. going to grab an air filter.. forgot to grab that.. its funny.. the $90 i invested into this car is already MUCH more rewarding than the THOUSANDS i put into the honda... pretty happy..

glad to hear your making some progress.. now I suggested bumping the timing up to about 14*, remove the air silencer, put a K&N filter on, and a set of pulleys and you'll see a real nice improvement.

OH and I can't stress enough how important installing a set of full length subframe connectors is. That should be one of the first mods you do.