New to mustangs, new to Stangnet. But learning fast and loving it.
Anyway...
My car is an '88 coupe with a '93 cobra swap (read: x3z computer, 24# inj, cobra upper/lower intake, gt40 heads). I blew a head gasket on that combo right after I bought the car, and decided to go through it a bit. Now the car is pretty much the same, but with a ford reman 306 block and a comp cam (.508/.531 final lift) and cleaned up gt40's.
this car will be a daily driver that I can take to the track on weekends if I want. I want it to have good manners.
Now for my concerns and questions:
I have been having trouble tuning the car (obviously. I'm new. that's a given). But I have done my forum reading and learned that getting these cars to idle properly is no easy task. After plenty of troubleshooting (tps, iac, maf, ignition control module, plug wires, fuel pressure regulator...) I had the car running pretty well. It would idle steadily and had decent power... FINALLY. But after a few times of having to bump start the car and having my battery always drained, I decided to have the alternator tested. It was bad, and I know how poor the performance of the stock alt is, so I got a 94-95 3g alternator and did that swap. After about 15 seconds of idle time with my new 130 amp alt, the car started running terribly and died. When I tried to restart it, it would fire right up sounding healthy, but immediately die instead of settling into an idle. After trying numerous things, I found that pulling the plug on the maf let the car idle and rev happily. So I took it for a drive, just out of curiosity, and felt the most power I have ever felt out of the car. Of course, the power was a bit intermittent and did not come smoothly.. but still I was interested. After doing some research, I found that although I have the 75(?)mm Cobra maf housing, the sensor is from the stock '88 5.0! Now i know that the Cobra computer and MAF in '93 were different from any other 87-93, and that the eec has the correct multipliers for the 24# injectors in the cobra. So here are my questions:
1) The car ran great when I first bought it, how would this be possible with the wrong MAF for the car? Is it possible that this one is communicating correctly with the computer, and I have another problem? I have heard that just because a car runs better when the MAF is unplugged doesn't necessarily mean the MAF is bad. Right now my thought is to just get the correct Ford F1SF-12B579 sensor. Any knowledge on this?
2) I plan on buying either a twEECer or quarterhorse tuner in time, and doing this thing right. Is there a MAF that would be easier to make adjustments with? Will my x3z computer give me problems when I try to tweak my tune?
Thanks guys for any help. I don't know how to thank everyone in this community enough for the knowledge I've already gleaned.
Also, know that I am on a budget.. I can't be spending 250 dollars on an aftermarket maf, unless it's a necessity. And to my understanding, I don't think i need to. Thnaks!
Anyway...
My car is an '88 coupe with a '93 cobra swap (read: x3z computer, 24# inj, cobra upper/lower intake, gt40 heads). I blew a head gasket on that combo right after I bought the car, and decided to go through it a bit. Now the car is pretty much the same, but with a ford reman 306 block and a comp cam (.508/.531 final lift) and cleaned up gt40's.
this car will be a daily driver that I can take to the track on weekends if I want. I want it to have good manners.
Now for my concerns and questions:
I have been having trouble tuning the car (obviously. I'm new. that's a given). But I have done my forum reading and learned that getting these cars to idle properly is no easy task. After plenty of troubleshooting (tps, iac, maf, ignition control module, plug wires, fuel pressure regulator...) I had the car running pretty well. It would idle steadily and had decent power... FINALLY. But after a few times of having to bump start the car and having my battery always drained, I decided to have the alternator tested. It was bad, and I know how poor the performance of the stock alt is, so I got a 94-95 3g alternator and did that swap. After about 15 seconds of idle time with my new 130 amp alt, the car started running terribly and died. When I tried to restart it, it would fire right up sounding healthy, but immediately die instead of settling into an idle. After trying numerous things, I found that pulling the plug on the maf let the car idle and rev happily. So I took it for a drive, just out of curiosity, and felt the most power I have ever felt out of the car. Of course, the power was a bit intermittent and did not come smoothly.. but still I was interested. After doing some research, I found that although I have the 75(?)mm Cobra maf housing, the sensor is from the stock '88 5.0! Now i know that the Cobra computer and MAF in '93 were different from any other 87-93, and that the eec has the correct multipliers for the 24# injectors in the cobra. So here are my questions:
1) The car ran great when I first bought it, how would this be possible with the wrong MAF for the car? Is it possible that this one is communicating correctly with the computer, and I have another problem? I have heard that just because a car runs better when the MAF is unplugged doesn't necessarily mean the MAF is bad. Right now my thought is to just get the correct Ford F1SF-12B579 sensor. Any knowledge on this?
2) I plan on buying either a twEECer or quarterhorse tuner in time, and doing this thing right. Is there a MAF that would be easier to make adjustments with? Will my x3z computer give me problems when I try to tweak my tune?
Thanks guys for any help. I don't know how to thank everyone in this community enough for the knowledge I've already gleaned.
Also, know that I am on a budget.. I can't be spending 250 dollars on an aftermarket maf, unless it's a necessity. And to my understanding, I don't think i need to. Thnaks!