I'm new to the forum and wanted to say hello. I've already found a lot of great information here. Currently I have a green 98 gt 5 speed that I have been driving for about 5 years. I really love this car and it has been relatively trouble free. The only major problem this car has had was a bad through out bearing that was replaced under warranty. Its now around 86k miles and I want to keep it going for years to come and possible make some performance upgrades (probably gears and later the pi head/intake swap).
Recently I have installed a K&N air filter, replaced the fuel filter, run some injector cleaner through the fuel system, and ran a bottle of sea foam through the intake to clean out any built up carbon in the cumbustion chambers. The sea foam and air filter (done at the same time) definately gave me a seat of the pants impression that it was running a lot better.
The major areas I still want to adress are the ignition system, possibly cleaning the injectors, and the exhaust.
As for the ignition I would like to pull the plugs and re-gap them or replace them as needed, I know Ford claims they should be good to 100+k but it would be nice to have a look. I'm a little concerned as I have already read about problems w/ stripped threads or a lack of adequate threads. Is this something I should leave to a profesional or just leave alone for a while? It would also be nice to have the plug wires checked out as I have heard these distributorless ignition systems can be fairly hard on them.
As for pulling the injectors I have heard that there is an O ring in there that is easy to damage or accidentally drop into the fuel rail (and not easy to get out). Again is this a project worth persuing right now- I know couple of local tech's that can give me a hand with this stuff.
As for the exhaust I recently noticed a small hole on the back of each muffler and plan to have this checked out and probably spot welded in the near future. Some aftermarket exhaust mods would be nice in the future but I want to keep the original exhaust in good shape for at least the next year or two. I'm also curious as to how long those cats tend to hold up.
Any input on these issues would be greatly appreciated, this car is my daily driver and I want to keep it running strong for years to come.
Recently I have installed a K&N air filter, replaced the fuel filter, run some injector cleaner through the fuel system, and ran a bottle of sea foam through the intake to clean out any built up carbon in the cumbustion chambers. The sea foam and air filter (done at the same time) definately gave me a seat of the pants impression that it was running a lot better.
The major areas I still want to adress are the ignition system, possibly cleaning the injectors, and the exhaust.
As for the ignition I would like to pull the plugs and re-gap them or replace them as needed, I know Ford claims they should be good to 100+k but it would be nice to have a look. I'm a little concerned as I have already read about problems w/ stripped threads or a lack of adequate threads. Is this something I should leave to a profesional or just leave alone for a while? It would also be nice to have the plug wires checked out as I have heard these distributorless ignition systems can be fairly hard on them.
As for pulling the injectors I have heard that there is an O ring in there that is easy to damage or accidentally drop into the fuel rail (and not easy to get out). Again is this a project worth persuing right now- I know couple of local tech's that can give me a hand with this stuff.
As for the exhaust I recently noticed a small hole on the back of each muffler and plan to have this checked out and probably spot welded in the near future. Some aftermarket exhaust mods would be nice in the future but I want to keep the original exhaust in good shape for at least the next year or two. I'm also curious as to how long those cats tend to hold up.
Any input on these issues would be greatly appreciated, this car is my daily driver and I want to keep it running strong for years to come.