Common problems with a 99+ GT???? Please Help.

[190hpkilla]

Hello Everyone,

After having 4 nissans and 1 toyota I got bored of the 3 maximas i had and decided to try something new. A 99+ GT 5spd.

Before I jump into it I would like to know what to look for when buying a pre-owned stang. I will be buying one with high mileage.

I did drive 3 of them so far and liked it very much.

The only thing left to do is research on what to expect to break and how to take care of it in the future.

Thank you very much.

 

[jrc_03_gt]

They have a bad problem. They seam to have a little more torque than your nissan's, and they roast tires very badly! Poor tread life on tires. LOL !

 

[oogtdude]

great car..just make sure theres no tick left head

 

[190hpkilla]

I understand its a great car. On any forum their car is great but I need certain clues to look for in order to get a healthy stang.

 

[LS2 KLR]

I had 77k miles on mine before the new motor. I was going through multiple bottles a month for a year. The only problems I ever had was a fuel pump go bad and broke an upper control arm. I drove it extremely hard and was very surprised I couldn't break it.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

The most common problems that the 99-04 Mustang GT's have is the transmission. The transmissions grind and many owners have had to replace them because of this. Other than that, I don't think that anything else goes wrong with these cars other than some interior squeaks, fit and finish quality issues like panels not aligning right, and paint problems from the factory.

 

[ScottyG00GT]

You will have to replace your Idle Air Control valve sooner or later, which costs about 50-60 bucks for the part at NAPA and you can do the swap yourself in about 15 minutes (you'll know it's bad when the car won't idle).

The tranny problem is common with the mid-2001 and up 'Stangs. The old T-45 tranny, while supposedly less robust, doesn't have this problem to my knowledge.

I have driven my car to the 55k mile mark (45k of those are mine) and it has never been anything but 100% reliable (except for the IAC valve above). My Toyota Tercel that I had before, for all that Toyota reliability reputation, paled in comparison to the 'Stang in terms of reliability. Of course, the Tercel was a piece of crap to begin with.

One thing that helped with my customer satisfaction is I bought it as a trade-in from a Lincoln-Mercury dealer, and that is where I go for service. Ford expertise and prices, Lincoln-level service. My oil change costs 22 bucks; at that price I get a Motorcraft filter and the correct 5w-20 part-synthetic oil, plus they take only half an hour and dispose of the old oil for me; I used to change it myself on my other cars but at that price it makes no sense for me to . . . !

 

[jstreet0204]

To add a couple of things to the list to watch for.
Head tick, and piston slap.

The head tick problem I think came after 2000. The piston slap (death rattle) problems make it sound like a diesel on cold mornings.

 

[99SilverGT]

Going on 70k with my 99. Got it with 36k on the clock and lets see... what have I replaced out of necessity... IAC valve (big shocker there), factory motorcraft battery... Factory platinum plugs... think that about covers it!

I don't beat on it too bad and have no mechanical problems whatsoever. I agree about the tranny. T45 is supposedly weaker, but I can't even recall hearing of someone having a problem with one unless it was because they were running lots of HP and just flat-out broke it or were total idiots tried to powershift from every stoplight.

I DO think I'm running a little lean, I've had to start running 93 because of pinging, but I need to check my fuel-filter and if it comes down to it, a dyno tune would be nice anyways!

 

[cap42]

Let's see I've had mine almost a year now...seat belts suck 'Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me' for traction but that's my tires. Other than that it's been a very reliable car and I've beaten the hell out of it when it's nice out or at the track.

 

[mity2]

They have a bad problem. They seam to have a little more torque than your nissan's, and they roast tires very badly! Poor tread life on tires. LOL !

I'm with ya! No matter what I do, I think my rear tire is off of aligment. they just keep going bold one after nother for some add reason

To be honest, I havent had any probrem with mine(bought it with 21k miles, and she now have 32K) yet. Everyone talks about IAC valve. But I'm sure I will someday. Small oil leak from breather hose on driverside valve cover leaked. easy fix.
by comperason, 4.6L SOHC V-8 is mechanically very simple engine. It is no more complecatd then my ma's old 91 Corolla, which had 1.8L SOHC 4banger(that run 276k miles befor reverse gear went out). So as long as car hassrecieved proper maintenance, I don't see any reason any serious mechanical failer in the future

 

[MT1083]

I've had the idle problem. The biggest problems with the tranny's come on the 01's and newer. The t-45's seem to do alright. I would probably have a mechanic to take a look at the car to get his opinion to see how it was treated. Check for signs as to how the car was taken care of. Make sure there is no rust anywhere. Anyone who really takes care of a car will wash the sills on the inside of the door. Dirty water will just sit there and never be cleaned up and waxed. If this thing is clean there, most likely it was taken care of good.

 

[99prmustang]

i have had my 99 gt for almost a year now, jsut turned 51,000 miles and the only problem so far was the IAC. i got a new one from NAPA for 52 bucks and put it on myself in 10 min. i also had to grease up my rack bushing the other day making an annoying squeak noise. other than that i say go for it, you will love every second of the stang!

on the head tick, you guys say passenger side head, is it a liud tick or a slight tick? nad what does it mean when they tick?

 

[190hpkilla]

Im going to search but maybe someone can quickly explain the head tick and the piston slap? And how would I go about checking if it has it.

Thank you.

 

[TacBear]

I have trouble keeping the Chicks from hopping in my car, so I just lock the doors whenever I roll up to a stop sign or I drive slow through a Parking lot! Other than that I haven't had any problems.

 

[Black2001GT]

My 2001 has 65,000 miles.

Squeaky Drivers side window
AC Vents are broken

 

[2k3gt]

Only technical problems I have found with my '03 AOD GT (15,000 miles) are these:

Squeaky Windows (easy fix, just a recurring problem)
Tread Life (burnouts/patches = irresistible)
Tickets (both parking and moving violations, 'stangs are attention whores )

 

[190hpkilla]

Honestly I dont really care how much rubber you burn and how much more torque you have then my nissans and girls u get. I need problem with the car.

The fact that tranny is 'Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me'ty and all the piston slap bull no one seems to mention.

But thanks anyway. I guess thats the beauty of owning a stang is to fix it every week.

 

[Dan_Soprano]

Honestly I dont really care how much rubber you burn and how much more torque you have then my nissans and girls u get. I need problem with the car.

The fact that tranny is 'Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me'ty and all the piston slap bull no one seems to mention.

But thanks anyway. I guess thats the beauty of owning a stang is to fix it every week.

I have had my car almost 3 years and not a single problem yet. I have the dredded piston rattle, but it is only on REALLY cold days and once the car is warm it is gone. So your comment about fixing it every weekend is incorrect. I am pushing 400+ hp and 400+ lbs/ft of torque to the wheels and still running strong. Cars are like teeth, take care of the ones you want to keep.


P.S. Dissing on people in here doesn't fly too well. usually starts a flame war. Alot of guys like to joke around about burnouts and such. And it is true. we do have your nissan when it comes to torque. Just take it with a grain of salt. I hope you decided to get the stang. You may want to look at a newer one then 99 if possible. They are getting up there in age.

 

[MT1083]

I never had the head tick problem and I have an 00. Different guys have different problems. Like I said, the only problem I had was an idling problem and I seemed to have fixed that by just letting the car idle for about 15 seconds before driving. Hope you enjoy whatever you do!