Help! 1993 notchback, bad fuel mileage, stalls out.

[jackandsally89]

Just to let you know, I don't know much about cars. You'll have to use small, non-technical words with me.


Long story short...I thought Mustangs were cool, so when my dad and I went to go get my first car, i told him I wanted a Mustang. Ever since we got that one, which is his now, he's refused to buy anything but a Mustang. But the ones we get for me always fail!!!

First I had a 1993 hatchback 6-cylinder. It ran pretty well, was fast and had a lot of pep, but it had bad gas mileage. 144 to a tank, 12 gallon tank. The timing belt quit on me while I was driving...In the middle of an intersection. All last summer it kept overheating. I had to carry 2-liter bottles of water in it and fill it before I went anywhere. Then about two months ago, it blew a head, and my dad told me it would be cheaper to get a new car than to take the time and money to fix it.
Which is how I ended up with Sally [1993 Notchback].
I am planning on fixing up the hatchback, but I don't know what to do for that. My question is with the notchback.


It has bad gas milage. It has air conditioning, but I can't use it when I'm sitting at a red light, because my battery will go low and the car will stall. The air quits circulating for a few seconds when it JUMPS gears. Doesn't shift...JUMPS.
My dad says that one of the [4] cylinders is not firing...
He said that when we got the car and has since worked on it and says that the one that wasn't working is working now and another one has failed?
He also said something about the EGR valve being clogged or stuck open...
It also doesn't have much get-up-and-go-power like the other car did...It takes a minute to get going fast.
The timing belt on it also quit while I was driving.
The battery is weak but it still works.
We've changed the oil, he keeps up with my fluids. I've done minor maintenance to the car, put fuel injector cleaner in it.


So....
What is wrong with my car?
I know it's old, I know it's got a LOT of miles on it...180,000....
But there has to be something specifically wrong with it!



Please help a kid out...Someday I want to know everything about cars and be able to fix my own, but right now I'm pretty much clueless!




Thanks so much.
-Cheryl

 

[glowstang93]

"First I had a 1993 hatchback 6-cylinder."

1992 and 1993 only had 2.3 or 5.0's, no 6 cylinder.

 

[kevinspann]

Im not sure where to start....

If the EGR is clogged/syuck....replace it. Itll probably help the gas mileage situation quite a bit. And an 0xygen sensor isnt a bad choice.

A bigger battery would help.
Or a 3G alternator. But i dont think you are ready to do that yet, since you said you are clueless (nothing wrong with not knowing anything, at least you admit it)

A new timing belt was installed right? That was the first thing to go bad on my car too.

The trans issue almost sounds like it needs fluid.

It has 8 sparkplugs. Even if one isnt firing it wont kill the power like you would think. But if the transmission is slipping any the car will be agonizingly slow.

 

[jackandsally89]

"First I had a 1993 hatchback 6-cylinder."

1992 and 1993 only had 2.3 or 5.0's, no 6 cylinder.

my mistake.
like i said, i dont know that much about cars.
it wasnt a 5.0, so i guess it would be a 2.3

 

[jackandsally89]

Im not sure where to start....

If the EGR is clogged/syuck....replace it. Itll probably help the gas mileage situation quite a bit. And an 0xygen sensor isnt a bad choice.

A bigger battery would help.
Or a 3G alternator. But i dont think you are ready to do that yet, since you said you are clueless (nothing wrong with not knowing anything, at least you admit it)

A new timing belt was installed right? That was the first thing to go bad on my car too.

The trans issue almost sounds like it needs fluid.

It has 8 sparkplugs. Even if one isnt firing it wont kill the power like you would think. But if the transmission is slipping any the car will be agonizingly slow.

We've ordered an EGR valve so soon I will learn how to replace it.
I believe we've already replaced the O2 sensor. Maybe it was on my other car, but it sounds familiar.
Yeah, a new timing belt is on it.
My dad [who is a mechanic but doesn't really have time to teach me] checked the fluids recently and said they were all fine, including the transmission...ill have him check that again.

He said that one of the four cylinders wasn't firing...not spark plugs...

I've already had a transmission slip....It doesn't really feel the same but it could be. My hatchback, for three months, I drove with no reverse before it gave it out.



Thanks so much for your help.

 

[kevinspann]

Well the 1993 should have two spark plugs per cylinder. A coil pack could be a possibilty, or the crank position sensoer as well, but I am not sure.


As far as the trans goes, when its a little low on fluid itll slip, if its even lower it will do strange things shifting. but if he says the fliud level is fine, then ignore all that.

It could be a number of things in the transmission causing it to act strange

 

[POWER302]

My 93 4 cyl notch had a similar problem. it turned out to be that the spark plugs were very old "probably the stock plugs". The eletrode and ground strap had burned down so much that it made a huge plug gap that the coils were having a hard time sparking at lower engine speeds under a load, such as turning your ac on or flooring it from idle. It would just die New plugs with correct gap and car runs like perfect now.