'Stang might go Bye-Bye

[earleys94gt]

My water pump just went out again, second time in a year. Last time it went out the car got so hot it overheated and the car died. After about a half hour of cool down time, I could get it started and get home. This most recent time it occured at the track. The car didn't over heat, but the water pump is leaking like a sive. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think a water pump should go bad after one year...
Some guys at the Ford dealer at which I work agree that something ain't right. They said I could have spun a bearing or maybe did some damage to a/some piston rings. They said I should do a long block, when I was planning on doing just H/C/I (since my car also has a blown head gasket).
My dilemma is this, I don't have the money for a long block and I only paid $3000 for the car. Going off the fact that the car has 135,000 miles on it and the previous owner did not care for the vehicle mechanically (he put only BP 93 in w/o adjusting timing and he had two different heat range plugs in the car, and welded the cat-back to the underbosy). Should I just cut my loses and get rid of the car? That is the option I am leaning toward because the car has given me nothing but problems!

 

[94-302-vert]

Spend the $$ on some good head gaskets and swap those out... Then put another new $50 WP on from ford (summit)... and drive it for a while...

Remember you got a good deal on the car due to the problems so you have to expect some pain... I paid $4500 for my vert and I am still fiing problems some few thousand $'s and 1.5 years later...

 

[94Blue302GT]

351swapp

 

[urban96]

if you got a re-manufactured WP that might be the reason it went out so fast. i would get a new hi flow FMS one from summit. do a compression test if your worried about bad rings. also are you burning abnormal amounts of oil?

 

[earleys94gt]

Don't get me wrong, I love my GT (when it runs right, which is almost never.) The main problems are THE FUNDING, which seems to be never there when I need it, and the possible problems/complications that come with doing a long-block. From what I have gathered by looking/reading other forums topics, tuning a 94/95 is not exactly easy. When you get into doing long-blocks and increasing displacement, air flow, fuel flow, you are going to run into more problems then you can throw solutions at. Sure you could just do a "stock" rebuild, but what is the point of that? Sort of screwing yourself out of money and power doing that. A buddy of mine told me that I should get a Sportsman block and I'd be good to go, there again the Funding issue.

I guess I am just frusterated with the fact that I have had this car for 3 years now and have had nothing but problems with it. I know doing the whole motor would be VERY worth-while, but am not able to. To make matters worse I have little to no mechanical ability, so doing it myself is not an option. I see all these other Mustangs all done up around town and online and wonder what are they doing that I am not to get there Stangs to the point they are at??? I think in the 3 years I have had the car, it ran "correct" once. I just want to know why my car sucks! The fact that it is an automatic can't be the only reason, there has to be another explanation or a serious problem somewhere. Damn this is frustrating!

 

[Green 94 5.0]

Don't get me wrong, I love my GT (when it runs right, which is almost never.) The main problems are THE FUNDING, which seems to be never there when I need it, and the possible problems/complications that come with doing a long-block. From what I have gathered by looking/reading other forums topics, tuning a 94/95 is not exactly easy. When you get into doing long-blocks and increasing displacement, air flow, fuel flow, you are going to run into more problems then you can throw solutions at. Sure you could just do a "stock" rebuild, but what is the point of that? Sort of screwing yourself out of money and power doing that. A buddy of mine told me that I should get a Sportsman block and I'd be good to go, there again the Funding issue.

I guess I am just frusterated with the fact that I have had this car for 3 years now and have had nothing but problems with it. I know doing the whole motor would be VERY worth-while, but am not able to. To make matters worse I have little to no mechanical ability, so doing it myself is not an option. I see all these other Mustangs all done up around town and online and wonder what are they doing that I am not to get there Stangs to the point they are at??? I think in the 3 years I have had the car, it ran "correct" once. I just want to know why my car sucks! The fact that it is an automatic can't be the only reason, there has to be another explanation or a serious problem somewhere. Damn this is frustrating!

i feel you on the problems thing.....my car has more problems than i can shake a stick at, but when it does run right and i hear the v8 rumble and lope of the cam i forget just how much of a pain in the ass the car really is. just stick with it and everything will work itself out. aside from that, i didnt have much mechanical know how either when i got the car (just limited stuff), but now 4 years later ive done a motor swap, several blower installs, auto to manual conversion, multiple head swaps, multiple cam swaps, a few clutch changes, exhaust work, more intake swaps than i want to remember, etc.....get yourself a shop manual and have at it. it isnt as difficult as you think. you can save a fortune by eliminating the cost of labor from the parts you buy. good luck with it, and remember, we are always here to help out when possible.

 

[mackey]

What does a spun bearing or a bad ring have anything to do with a water pump?