Motor Problems

[ccgetz]

Stock 95 GT 5 spd 176000 miles - I know nothing of its past, bought it form a kid for $500.00 cause he doesnt know how to work on cars.

OK, car starts no problem. Idles a tad rough, no big deal. revs up just fine

Oil is perfect, no water no nothing

Engine bay is dusty but no big deal

NO CEL

Coolant is obviously old, but full and no leaks.

But when you try to drive it horrible back firing and basicly not really realistic to drive.

There is also a wire hanging down near the manifold and oil pan that looks alot like a O2 sensor broken off.

I am thinking either:
timing chain jumped a tooth (176K miles. duh)
or
during a plug wire change the previous owner screwed up the firing order. (evidence of this on the engine cowl, firing order all written wrong in black sharpy)

I am curious to all your opions and ideas.

Thanks

Chris
95 Mustang Gt Vert

 

[fastgtfairlane]

i would check the plug wires to make sure that they are in the correct firing order first. it is probably something simple. i would also go ahead and do a good tune up. change out the plugs, wires, cap, rotor etc. it is probably something simple.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Its easy to jack the car up a little and take a look at the 02 sensors plugged into the exhaust too. If the wires are dangling, then that is an obvious problem as well...

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

Check the firing order, throw a timing light on and check your base timing, make sure everything else looks in order and nothing is unplugged. The timing chain jumping a tooth is pretty unlikely. Once they stretch out that much, they typically break first. It sounds like the previous owner had no clue and used the standard 302 firing order instead of the 5.0 HO/351 order. Make sure it's the 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 firing order and not 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8. Good luck, I wish I could find a 95 GT for $500!!

 

[Car Nut]

A good tune up, oil change, coolant flush, new O2 sensors, and cleaning the MAF sensor should fix things right up and it might run near perfect.

If you don't have any leaks, get the fluids flushed and filled as funds allow. Throw on some new radiator hoses and a new serpentine belt.

Lastly, clean the engine bay and check out the brakes for safety sake.

Sounds like a steal.

 

[reddy351]

That engine is prolly still good, with ONLY 176,000 miles on it.

 

[ccgetz]

Think I figured it out. Put the car up on jack stands. 1 O2 sensor broken in half, the other jsut flat missing.

should be an easy fix.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Awesome, might have been a great $500 investment!