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  • SN95 4.6L Mustang Tech

shaky at low RPM, please help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter ian7654
  • Start date Start date Oct 26, 2005

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 26, 2005
#1
  • Oct 26, 2005
  • #1
today my car started shaking at low RPMs i can hear a difference in the exhaust too. am i miss firing? could a spark plug have backed out maybe? it gets smoother as the revs climb, but i can still hear a difference in the exhaust. any ideas? i am praying that it will go away, but i don't want to leave it alone and let it get worse.

this isn't very specific i know, but any advice would help. thanks!
 

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 27, 2005
#2
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #2
bump
 

Dark Knight GT

I can't get it up......ok that didn't sound right.
May 26, 2003
3,653
2
56
Ozark, Missouri
Oct 27, 2005
#3
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #3
How many miles are on the vehicle ? Also, have you had the SES light yet ? Off the top of my head, I don't know for sure what the problem is, but it could be a slight exhuast leak. I would double check my exhuast just to be sure.
 

timeless2

Vi Veri Veni Versum Vicus Vici
Admin Dude
Nov 29, 1999
1,366
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the Shadow Gallery
Oct 27, 2005
#4
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #4
IAC?
 

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 27, 2005
#5
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #5
94,XXX miles on her. no service engine light. the exhaust does smell more like gas (unspent fumes?).

what is IAC? maybe that's a dumb question. thanks for the help.

i'm gonna take her ot a garage saturday and hopefully not get screwed over.
 

timeless2

Vi Veri Veni Versum Vicus Vici
Admin Dude
Nov 29, 1999
1,366
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Oct 27, 2005
#6
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #6
ian7654 said:
94,XXX miles on her. no service engine light. the exhaust does smell more like gas (unspent fumes?).

what is IAC? maybe that's a dumb question. thanks for the help.

i'm gonna take her ot a garage saturday and hopefully not get screwed over.
Click to expand...


Idle Air Control valve. It controls the air/fuel mixture and flow that makes up your idle speed. Do you have any codes pulled on it? Head to Autozone and they'll scan it for free.
 

Dark Knight GT

I can't get it up......ok that didn't sound right.
May 26, 2003
3,653
2
56
Ozark, Missouri
Oct 27, 2005
#7
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #7
ian7654 said:
94,XXX miles on her. no service engine light. the exhaust does smell more like gas (unspent fumes?).

what is IAC? maybe that's a dumb question. thanks for the help.

i'm gonna take her ot a garage saturday and hopefully not get screwed over.
Click to expand...
You could be running a little rich.....but if were anything serious, I'm pretty sure you would get the SES light. As I said before, you may have an exhuast leak. I would double check just to make sure. It wouldn't hurt to clean the IAC either, as that sometimes relieves the problems.

Note: There are tons of threads concerning the IAC, and if you do a search, I'm sure you will come up with some of them. The IAC is a little shiny valve attached to the front of your upper intake, and it has one hose that leads to your induction tubing, and has an electrical connector to it as well. It is held to the upper intake elbow(that little part with the horse on it) by two small bolts.
 

timeless2

Vi Veri Veni Versum Vicus Vici
Admin Dude
Nov 29, 1999
1,366
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the Shadow Gallery
Oct 27, 2005
#8
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #8
Dark Knight GT said:
You could be running a little rich.....but if were anything serious, I'm pretty sure you would get the SES light. As I said before, you may have an exhuast leak. I would double check just to make sure. It wouldn't hurt to clean the IAC either, as that sometimes relieves the problems.

Note: There are tons of threads concerning the IAC, and if you do a search, I'm sure you will come up with some of them. The IAC is a little shiny valve attached to the front of your upper intake, and it has one hose that leads to your induction tubing, and has an electrical connector to it as well. It is held to the upper intake elbow(that little part with the horse on it) by two small bolts.
Click to expand...

ian7654:
Here is a pic of its location (this is from a Bullitt, but you get the idea):
 

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 27, 2005
#9
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #9
thanks guys! just got back from a mid-term so i had that on my mind all day. i'm gonna go check this out beore i head to work. i guess i'll drive over to autozone tomorrow.

sorry about asking an old question, i don't want to be a super noob. thanks again
 

timeless2

Vi Veri Veni Versum Vicus Vici
Admin Dude
Nov 29, 1999
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Oct 27, 2005
#10
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #10
Don't worry about posting questions. Everyone was there once.
 

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 27, 2005
#11
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #11
it all looks like it's there, but i do remember the guy i bought it from mumbled something about having the idle lowered. maybe that has something to do with it...

off to work for now.
 

hognutz

New Member
Nov 12, 2002
1,940
0
0
albany, oregon
Oct 27, 2005
#12
  • Oct 27, 2005
  • #12
Check for vacume leaks cracked lines etc, IAC will cause you idle to hunt as happend to me but I am not sure if it will make it rough. plugs are easy to pull if you have a little magnet tool. if you know how to read plugs that would let you know if one of them was not buring correctly. make sure the plenum and tb are snug a

I am not sure if the plugs have been changed but at 94k if they have not I would just do it as preventative. I did mine at 61k. they were all firing but the electrodes showed significant wear. I was hunting down a smell in my exhaust. the plugs and air to oil separator in my pcv line did help it.

my rule of thumb is I am too cheap to pay shop rate so start simple and work you way up with advice from people.
 

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 28, 2005
#13
  • Oct 28, 2005
  • #13
hognutz said:
my rule of thumb is I am too cheap to pay shop rate so start simple and work you way up with advice from people.
Click to expand...


i like that rule


ran pretty smooth on the way home from work, but i don't think the shake is gone. maybe this is the car gods telling me to clean out my engine bay
 

topless98gt

Adhesive Feces
Mar 31, 2005
182
0
17
Arlington, TX
Oct 28, 2005
#14
  • Oct 28, 2005
  • #14
ian7654 said:
i like that rule


ran pretty smooth on the way home from work, but i don't think the shake is gone. maybe this is the car gods telling me to clean out my engine bay
Click to expand...
Be careful when you clean out your engine bay...I did that today and my car STARTED shaking at low RPMs. I'm a little concerned.
 

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 28, 2005
#15
  • Oct 28, 2005
  • #15
topless98gt said:
Be careful when you clean out your engine bay...I did that today and my car STARTED shaking at low RPMs. I'm a little concerned.
Click to expand...


really? i'm pretty sure i won't mess anything up, i'm just wiping dust and dirt off.
 

topless98gt

Adhesive Feces
Mar 31, 2005
182
0
17
Arlington, TX
Oct 28, 2005
#16
  • Oct 28, 2005
  • #16
ian7654 said:
really? i'm pretty sure i won't mess anything up, i'm just wiping dust and dirt off.
Click to expand...
Oh, I sprayed the whole thing down
 

ian7654

New Member
Sep 9, 2005
34
1
0
Lakeland, Florida
Oct 28, 2005
#17
  • Oct 28, 2005
  • #17
topless98gt said:
Oh, I sprayed the whole thing down
Click to expand...


oh. well i hope you didn't mess anything up. one of my friends told me i could just spray it off with a hose. i didn't think that sounded right...
 

topless98gt

Adhesive Feces
Mar 31, 2005
182
0
17
Arlington, TX
Oct 28, 2005
#18
  • Oct 28, 2005
  • #18
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?p=5616043

They said I just got water in the coils and it's arching. I'm gonna do that night test tonight to see.
 

lover

Founding Member
Oct 8, 2001
264
0
0
Atlanta, GA
Oct 28, 2005
#19
  • Oct 28, 2005
  • #19
I had that problem in my 89GT. It would shake at low rpms, but would taper off a little a higher rpms. It was a fouled spark plug. One little fouled spark plug made it feel like it was something major.
 
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