Stinky Stang

[plum819]

Ever since I purchased My 89 Notch 2 years ago it has had a rich smelling exhast smell. Had no cats when I bought it. Last year I redid the engine bay so of course I ripped out all the smog to make it look pretty. I also got rid of the EGR.
While the engine was out I did gt40 heads and intake,Long tube headers,off road X pipe. Put it all back together, runs good just stinks. Ran the codes. KOEO got codes 81,82, 84, 85 which I believe are expected with the smog taken off. Engine Running I got a 92, Fuel mixture rich, Fuel pressure high. I replaced the fuel pressure regulator.
The thing still stinks. Now I get a code 94 engine running, Secondary air system inop, which once again I beleive is expected with the air pump removed. Pulled the plugs, they look good.
My question is does the thing stink that bad with the smog and cats removed? My clothes stink of exhaust after I get done playing with it.Is this normal or is there something Im missing?

 

[wythors]

Put the smog stuff back on. I personally know three people that have gotten tired enough of the stink to put it all back together. Lack of cats and air pump = unburned fuel fumes coming out the tail pipe.

 

[plum819]

Thats not what I want to hear. Is there anyone out there running no smog,no cats that can help me out. Does it stink bad? I guess I'm gonna have to suck it up if thats the case.
Thanks for your input wythors.

 

[2vNotch]

This stink has been common in all 9 of my previous mustangs lol and it only gets worse with miles!

 

[bcam347]

you can use aftermarket cats with no air pump right?

 

[Noobz347]

I would get the car tuned.

 

[plum819]

Tune sounds good. I will start there and see how that goes. If that doesn,t help maybee I will look into cats. Can anybody back up bcam347 with the aftermarket cats with no smog pump? All I have read on here is if you run cats you need the smog pumps.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

I am putting a thermactor system back on soon and have chased a lot of codes trying to get rid of the stink at idle. No well running pre cat carb car would smell this bad - unless the choke is closed hot. I hope the cats and air pump freshen it up.

 

[jrichker]

Put the smog stuff back on. I personally know three people that have gotten tired enough of the stink to put it all back together. Lack of cats and air pump = unburned fuel fumes coming out the tail pipe.

He's right.

Either get a filter for your nose or fix the smog equipment....

Removing the pollution control equipment from a 5.0 Mustang is a bad idea. All you have accomplished is to make the computer mad and spit codes. The pollution control equipment all shuts off at wide open throttle, so the HP losses from it on the car are 2-5 HP. The catalytic converters may soak a few more HP than that. None of the pollution control equipment reduces the HP enough to cost you a race in anything but professional drag strip competition. I seriously doubt that you will be in the final runoff on “Pinks”, so leave the smog equipment in place and make sure it is working correctly.

Know what does what before removing it. Remove or disable the wrong thing and the computer sets the check engine light and runs in "limp mode". Limp mode means reduced power and fuel economy.

Here's a book that will get you started with how the Ford electronic engine control or "computer" works.

Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control 1988-1993 by James Probst :ISBN 0-8376-0301-3.

It's about $20-$45 from Borders.com see http://www.amazon.com/ . Select books and then select search. Use the ISBN number (without dashes or spaces) to do a search

Use the ISBN number and your local library can get you a loaner copy for free. Only thing is you are limited to keeping the book for two weeks. It is very good, and I found it to be very helpful.


If you removed the smog pump and still have catalytic converters, they will ultimately clog and fail.

Remove any of the equipment and you will not pass a full smog check, cannot title the car in an area that does smog checks and have broken several federal laws. Granted that the Feds are short on people to check cars, but it is still Federal law.

 

[jcgafford]

I am putting a thermactor system back on soon and have chased a lot of codes trying to get rid of the stink at idle. No well running pre cat carb car would smell this bad - unless the choke is closed hot. I hope the cats and air pump freshen it up.

i have all the smog equipment on and no cats. it stinks. cats are the fix. not the smog stuff. but the two go hand in hand.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

I'm looking for NEW high flow cats. Does Pypes make good products? I think I could have he muffle shop put their cats in my BBK X pipe for a lot less than a new BBK X Pipe with cats. There would probably be a T fitting and some smog pipe work of small diameter. Anyone have a clue on what kind of pipe and if the shops should have that size and kind of piping?

 

[Mstng93SSP]

I recently welded some Magnaflow high flow cats on my offroad H-pipe. It was easy. I just measured, cut the section out of the H-pipe, slipped the cats on and welded them up. Before the cats my car stunk too. If driving with windows down it brought tears to your eyes. I HATED the car with no cats. Now with the cats I welded in I have no smell. I will NEVER have a car without cats again. EVER. I do have all the other smog equipment still on the car but I think the cats will cure 99% of your smell.

Chris

 

[Fabbed4d88]

Pypes makes an excellent product especially for the price.

 

[jrichker]

Newer catalytic converters do not use the Thermactor Air System (smog pump) because they are designed to work with an improved computer system that runs leaner and cleaner
They add an extra set of O2 sensors after the catalytic converters to monitor the oxygen and HC levels. Using this additional information, the improved computer system adjusts the air/fuel mixture for cleaner combustion and reduced emissions. If the computer cannot compensate for the added load of emissions due to wear and poor tune, the catalytic converters will eventually fail and clog. The periodic checks (smog inspections) are supposed to help owners keep track of problems and get them repaired. Use them on an 86-93 Mustang and you will slowly kill them with the pollutants that they are not designed to deal with.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Important question. Coupe, or Hatch?

If it's a hatch, and an original 20+ year old car, then the rubber seal might be bad. Ever get water in the hatch when it rains? Mine was and my car stunk all the time. I changed it and it cut the smell down considerably. Installing a new hatch seal is about your cheapest start. Couple will suffer from the same issue...although not quite to the same extent.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

Jrichker, etc.
So why does the Mustang EEC IV run stinky rich at idle? Is it to keep the cats fueled up and hot? It seems if I can get an old Holley (on a different Mustang) to run leaner at idle with adjustment screws, the computer could too.

I think my used thermactor system parts came in the mail yesterday. Its a big enough box with the extra packing, but it does not weigh much. Certainly not worth taking off. Most drivers could use to loose that amount of weight, not the car.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

12.6 pounds is what the missing thermactor parts weigh. I received the two vac. valves, a Z bracket, two back flow valves, hoses, clamps, some bolts, the cross over pipe, the pipe to the cats and the air/smog pump. I still will need the cats, but I bet the racer's (previous, previous owner) sub woofer and amp weighed more than that.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

I went to get a replacement for one of the hoses off of the divertor valve (the bottom P shaped one), and Ford says they are obsolete. Their vintage parts place does not carry them, and they looked at their dealer network to see if there was one on the shelf somewhere. All the places struck out. Same story on the valves. I called LRS. They have the valves, but no hoses.

So I am repairing my "p" trap shape hose with a chunk of heater hose and metal insert. (Most of the straight tail was cut off.) I hope the silicone tube that goes to the cats is in good shape or the exhaust shop has some. It looks like Ebay or the salvage yard is the best bet for these parts. One salvage yard decalred the whole system exhaust (not emissions control that carries fresh air) and would not sell me any of it.

If I could get a hold of a heater hose catalog, I might be able to find something similar. But many places do not even know what a catalog is for. As many years as Ford used similar thermactor things, I can not believe someone is not making them.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

HELP! How do I test the pump before I put it on???? I got a package that included most everything, including an ugly pump. I was going to use a drill on the shaft to spin it, but there are three bolts in a triangle. Also, looking from the front, pulley side, is it supposed to spin clockwise or counter clockwise???? It turns fine bu hand, but I want to make sure it is better than just a core!

I had one on another 'stang that popped the smog pulley off the shaft while sitting in a parking lot. I found it 30 + yards away.

THANKS!!!

 

[7991LXnSHO]

I found that except for the water pump and tensioner pulley, it looks like everything spins clockwise. Thanks to Bullitt95 for the belt routing diagram since my sticker is long gone! I plan on using an old belt and a bench buffer motor to spin the air pump. That way I can test it before I put it on. I'd hate to find a bad bearing after it was installed.