Oh No. Is It Another One From Florida?

Sure is! What's up guys and gals? I'm Frankie and I'm the new/old owner of a '95 Mustang GT. When I was a teenager my momma bought a Mustang. Well, that Mustang stayed with my Pop for years after she died, then ended up in the hands of a few friends for a piece in a magazine, and now, by some weird turn of events, the keys are in my hand. Sometimes the only way to drive the car you were begging to take out when you were 16 years old is to buy it 20 years later.



I'll be here to pick some brains while getting this car back to its former glory. I'm also looking for a service manual I can download. Y'all got a PDF version floating around on this site by chance? I look forward to asking (and hopefully answering) a bunch of dumb questions.

Sweet thank you! I'm pretty psyched to have this car. It already has some nice work done to it like 18" Cobra wheels, off road x-pipe, 3.73 gears, Flowmasters, smog delete, EGR delete, etc.. My future plans are in this order:

1. Fix all the stuff that's wrong with it from years of neglect. I just got the AC blowing ice cold today ($50 charge and a $15 low pressure switch), now I just have to chase down rolling idle issues and my noisy power steering pump. 99% sure the car needs a new TPS. The car also desperately needs a paint job and some interior work. One of the previous owners rattle canned the roof and spoiler black, and the front seats and steering wheel are pretty wasted.

2. Suspension. Gotta make sure the car can handle before it can go fast! It's the stock suspension from 1995, so It's gonna get a complete overhaul and probably lowered 1.5".

3. Once the car looks good and handles well, then I'm going to start on the motor. I wanna do a standard GT40 top end swap, a small spray, and a Megasquirt ECM.

4. After the sprayed 302 gets boring I'm gonna find me a 351 and build a 408 stroker.

Somewhere in there I should probably replace the stock 5 speed. I understand they don't take too much power before milkshaking.

karthief said:

Sweet.
Just a note to help you out, there is a section in the 50 tech forums, technical thread/how to threads will help you out when it comes to your surging idle and checking codes.
There is also an interesting thread on a 12 second recipe by bob cosby.
The tech section is a perc here and was put together by many members that have been there done that and share the knowledge.
Good luck with your new found old friend.

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Awesome, thanks! I read the one on the surging idle and I've got a mostly stable idle now. Well, did until I fixed up the AC today, but I just need to let it relearn the idle routine again.

What's weird is that it'll idle at like 1500-2000rpm as long as the car is moving, even in neutral. Soon as I come to a complete stop it'll drop back down to 900rpm. The TPS doesn't read within spec on my meter though, so it's likely the culprit, unless these cars are supposed to do that? Is that deliberate for some 1995 emission control or something? It's pretty annoying with the loud exhaust on this car. Makes me look like I don't know how to dive a clutch. Ha!

I read the one on the power steering pump too, and that seems like an easy fix. I might get to that soon and see if that flush and fill does the trick. Mine sounds like the car has a supercharger right now and it'll drag the idle down pretty hard while turning the wheel if the car is cold.

Anyway, pretty stoked to have a car to work on again, especially this one. I sold my last hot rod, a '67 Camaro, 3-4 years ago. I've been jonesing to turn some wrench! I just picked up a motorcycle project though, so I'm gonna have to divide some of my attention to that too. When it rains it pours I guess!

Saberstang said:

Welcome to Stangnet. It's great to have you here interesting story by the way. If you have any questions feel free to ask everyone here is friendly and willing to help out. Sounds like some fun mods you plan on doing. Beautiful car you have there!

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Thanks for having me! Cool story on the car, right? It passed through a few folks over the years, and then a friend of mine who runs a hot rod shop in Seffner called me up like, "Hey, I have a proposition for you..." He ended up with the car in trade for some work he did on another car, and then sold it to me for a deal. It was great!

And thanks! It'll be much more beautiful once I get some paint on it though. The picture makes it look presentable, but it's pretty ragged looking. It has black interior too, which from what I understand isn't the most common. Is that right?

All Stock93 said:

Welcome!
Your car has a great story. Looking forward to seeing your progress

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Thank you!

Mustang5L5 said:

TPS is usually given way too much credit for what it actually does. Spec is rather large on acceptable idle voltage. It's 0.5-1.19v. The car takes idle voltage and sets that each time you start the engine. No need to set it to a tight number.

I'd run the codes and see if that gives you any clue as to the hanging idle. Could be a few things. If it is the TPS, you'll get a code for it.

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I forget what mine was reading, but I think it was less than .5v. Something like .018v. No CEL, but I just read your post and I'll check for any codes. So these cars aren't supposed to drone at 1500rpm while rolling to a stop? It's like clockwork. The second I come to a complete stop the idle goes back to totally normal. Sometimes the RPM's will even jump up between gears, instead of down when I disengage the clutch.

a91what said:

We have a entire thread related to the MegaSquirt ems, I will be happy to answer any questions related it as well. Including the pro and con.

https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/steves-megasquirt-tunerstudio-help-thread.888730/

I am Steve.

Welcome to and our happily dysfunctional group.

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Steve, sweet thanks! I'll be picking your brain once I get to that part of the process for sure. Appreciate it!

Mustang5L5 said:

Not typical for it to do it. Should drop to idle as soon as clutch goes in. On the fox cars there is a switch on the trans and clutch pedal that signals the car is in nuetral and idle strategy would change. Usually when something isn't wired right here, you get a code 67 and hanging idle. Is this an original 5-SPd car or a swap? If your TPS is truely not outputting correct voltage there will be a code.

With obd1, not all codes trip the CEL like later obd2. This system of codes is rather primitive, so you just need to take it upon yourself to regularly check them. I'd invest in a reader like an Innova 3145 which can usually be had for $25. Good tool for any 86-95 owner to have.

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Okay cool, it didn't feel like a deliberate feature. This car is a stock 5 speed car. I will put the meter on the TPS and report back voltages. I'd do it today, but some dummy (me) forgot his keys in the city last night.

There's a good chance that somebody has disconnected the CEL in this car because it should probably be lit right now. I'll short the OBD port and see if it throws any codes though, you know, as soon as I can unlock the car. Ha!

Hey guys, I'm back! Got the engine (mostly) idling right with the A/C cranking. It'll dip a little low, but it seems steady. I assume that's normal for these cars? I checked my TPS voltages.

Idling:

WOT:

I've read conflicting stuff on these TPS adjustments. Do I loosen it and twist it until I'm at .98-.99v or is that an old wives tale?