Just bought a 2000 GT with a Kenne Bell and a "damaged engine" today, NEED INPUT

Gearhead91

Member
Sep 23, 2003
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16
New Jersey
Just bought my second stang today. A 2000 GT with 70K miles and Kenne Bell with 5K miles on it. Spotless car and caught the local seller freaking out thinking he blew the motor. Still runs fine with very slight miss. I bought the car still with track numbers on the windows at the right price!

I scanned it and it came up with a P0302 engine code : #2 cylinder misfire. You think he blew the rings or something easy like a plug, coil, injector? Very very slight miss with very little blue smoke.

Any ideas guys? Thanks for the input!:flag:

No pics get. Got home and was dark out.
 
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If you're getting blue smoke I'd be surprised there isn't a problem with a piston ring... could just be some blowby exacerbated by the Supercharger. :shrug: Probably not a serious engine problem, but you might still have to dig into the bottom end.
 
Blue smoke == oil control issues which is never good. Do a compression test on all cylinders. If you have access to the equipment (rent?), do a leakdown test as well.

The factory hypereutectic pistons are brittle and have fragile top ring lands that can easily snap if the engine detonates. It's possible the engine is hurt, especially if the miss is hard and persistent. If the ring land broke, the plug may have telltale witness marks (e.g. the gap may be closed down) because of the metal bits bouncing around in there.
 
+1 on compression check. (Do all of the cylinders) A tester is a quick, inexpensive means of insurance. I've always looked for the worst case scenario first in an attempt to salvage everything I can. Good luck.
 
Sounds like the last engine in my 97. The previous owner bought it in the same condition (still has the residue on the rear bumper from the burnt oil). The guy bought it after it started smoking and it still ran like a bat out of hell. It took about three weaks before two of the pistons came loose and destroyed the block and heads. Definitely the neatest broken pistons I have seen. They resonated, cracked and eventually shed an outer chunk. Cool stuff if its not your science experiment.
 
If the car really is "spotless" and only has 70K on it I wouldn't consider parting it out.

If the engine is terminally hurt, remember that PI engines are a dime a dozen in salvage yards. Just replace the motor and fix the issue in tune or blower setup that caused the original to break.

Seems a shame to waste a low-miles, spotless New Edge because of a cracked piston...
 
When the engine gave up in my 2000 GT, I did the Windsor to Romeo swap. Used a salvage Romeo motor from a 2004 Crown Vic. The motor had 35K miles and cost $800.

Runs great.

In my area, I found the salvage Mustang Windsors going for a premimum. More $$. More miles. Older. Hence the reason for the Windsor to Romeo swap.

I wanted a low mile unit, so I paid a little extra. I could have gotten the motor for less.

Tons of PPL have done the Windsor/Romeo swap. It's not hard.

Also note, there are many ppl out there willing to buy a car with a hurt motor to use as a "project". So there is a ready market out there. I agree with above, too nice to part out.
 
It would be a damn shame to part it out. In my area, these motors are easier to find than the old 5.0s. Cant remember who posted it above, but remember that these motors where put in a whole lot of vehicles other than Mustangs. This makes it easy to find one on the cheap. The best part is that you can go as far as your mechanical ability will allow. Remove your blower, manifold, pulley set-up, and other external goodies and throw it on another motor. Search a bit, buy another motor for it and enjoy having a clean car. Its always a shame to see good cars torn apart. :nice:
 
Did a compression check. No. 2 barely moved the gauge. Looked in cylinder with mini cam and saw slightly melted piston on the edge with some oil seepage. Acually found missing spring in that coil too. Replaced spring, now cylinder fires and now runs like ass. Gotta check my options now, but def not parting. Too nice and complete. Time to check the salvage yards....
 
When you're re-building things (i.e. replacing the engine etc) make sure you devote time and effort to searching for the cause of the destruction of #2 otherwise you might end up hurting the new motor the same way.
 
The owner got greedy at track and ran a 10 lb pulley with a race tune with race gas. He said he was running 11.90's all night. I'm all for getting a dyno tune when I swap the blower on my other car. I have a sct x3 flasher setup on my na mustang, and I'm wondering if I can get a dyno tune flashed with my x3 for the blower instead of the flip chip. Not sure if it works with the boost a pump.