What's going on here . . .

SetofAces

New Member
Jan 22, 2009
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SF Bay Area
Hey guys,

I just had the strangest phone call. Supposedly the son of the last registered owner of an '89 LX I just bought the other day for around $1100 wants to trade his car -- a '90 GT with some bolt-ons -- for my car. This is odd because he's asking $2500 on craigslist, and I get the impression that I might've gotten an even better deal than I originally thought. Or maybe not. When I bought the car, I was told that it had a motor swap from a '92 police interceptor -- but a crown vic, not a mustang. A little bit of research later and I discover that those cars -- I think -- have the 4.6 modular, instead of the 5.0 H.O. that we all love because you can throw (relatively) cheap bolt-ons for big gains. So this guy calls me and I ask him about the swap, if its the 4.6 or not, and he immediatley says "yup, you'd be better off with the 5.0." Yet, the intake says Ford 5.0 EFI on it, which originally led me to assume that it was a non-H.0. 5.0, as it feels slower than the last mustang I test drove, yet sounds kinda lopey and is loud as hell. I'm confused. This is my first mustang, so I don't really know my way around them yet, but could it really be a 4.6 modular with a 5.0 intake on it? Or is it more likely out of tune, which is why the power is so disappointing? Or, is it a non-H.O. 5.0 (which I'd love because I'd assume it wouldn't be as beat as as an H.O. 5.0 and the only differences are I think H/C/I which I wanted to swap anyways). I think this guy might just be trying to get over on me . . . oh btw, I have receipts totaling $2600 for rebuilding the tranny which came w/ the car and are less than 2 years and less than 10,000 miles ago, though I don't think he'd want the car just for the tranny with it running this weak unless it is a non-H.O. 5.0 and H/C/I swap = instant 100 hp. I'm confused.

Any thoughts?
 
the 5.0 and the 4.6 share nothing but the fact that they both have 8 cylinders.

if it is a non-HO 5.0 that sucks, they had different heads, crappy cam, crappy intake and a different firing order
 
Yeah, if I'm correct the H.O. and non-HO have completely different cranks in them, giving them the H.O. and different firing order.

Quick91LX is right. The 4.6 modular and 5.0 pushrod have nothing in common. No parts will switch over, the trannys aren't even swappable.

If I remember correctly the H.O. intake pulled air in from the passenger side of the car and the non-HO pulled in from the drivers side. Basically the intake was reversed.

pushrod (79-95) H.O. 5.0 :
93_GT_engine.webp

modular 4.6 w/ intake cover (pulls air in from front of engine):
2400030104_726426252d_b.webp

4.6 vs. 5.0 (4.6 is obviously much bigger)
motor-4.6-4V-004.webp
 

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Thanks for all the info guys.

I didn't think it was a 4.6 . . . unless the 92 crown vic 4.6 was different from the ones that found their way into 96-up mustangs. I just thought it was weird that the intake didn't say 5.0 H.O.; the intake comes in from the passenger side. What I thought was a lopey idle was in fact just a rough, low idle, a fact pointed out to me by my dad when I first showed him the car a few hours ago. He seems to think its caused by a vacuum leak, but the seller mentioned putting in the little short-ram type air filter just a day or two before I bought it. I seem to remember reading that ANY change to the intake beyond a simple k&n air filter needs to be accommodated by the computer/MAF or something of the sort, and I'm wondering if this could cause that big of a performance decrease. Another weird thing about the car are the headers; they seem quite small. Anyways my camera isn't working, so I'm going to try using the camera on my cell phone.
 
oh boy, welcome my friend, you have a lot more reading to do...
heres some tips.
no matter how many threads to read, nothing will beat experience, and the 5.0 is a good learning curve and this forum is awesome for help.
the maf can handle more than just an air intake change,alot more to be specific,the lopey idle could possibly be a cam but its its rough then you got other problems, buy ahayes manual and do basic tune up stuff,cap,rotor,wires,plugs,and check for easy to replace vacuum hoses first. vacuum leaks are anywhere from a 5min fix to 5hour fix god luck,....get some pics....:nice:
 
You got ripped off...

Sorryto be so blunt about it, but someone hacked in a crown vic non HO motor, and sold it claiming it to be something better. The truth is, that motor is more or less useless. You should have come here and asked the question before buying the car, not after.

I guess your best bet is to figure out the idle problem, and drive the car. In the mean time find a 5.0 (a Mustang 5.0) and possibly build a motor to drop in later.

WHy someone would do this is beyond me.
 
Welcome to the mustang world!!! As Makdaddymac said about the haynes manual, it is definitely a good start. From that, you could probably determine what engine is in it from where the spark plug wires connect to the distributor. Check your timing, check the spark plugs and plug wires, etc.

If the idle's off, i highly suggest going over to 5.0 tech and searching. There's a wonderful thread about idle issues, resetting idle, and messing with a bunch of crap that may affect it. Perhaps that may help.

Good luck
 
Idles could be someone put a 5.0 non-HO in with a standard firing order camshaft and then installed the plug wires using the 5.0 HO firing order

What's a non HO firing order supposed to be? I'd check that first
 
You got ripped off...

Sorryto be so blunt about it, but someone hacked in a crown vic non HO motor, and sold it claiming it to be something better. The truth is, that motor is more or less useless. You should have come here and asked the question before buying the car, not after.

I guess your best bet is to figure out the idle problem, and drive the car. In the mean time find a 5.0 (a Mustang 5.0) and possibly build a motor to drop in later.

WHy someone would do this is beyond me.

if the guy ripped him off why would his son call him and ask to trade the car for his gt? i mean anythings possible but somethings not adding up.

keep your chin up setofaces, it will work out, even if it is a junk non ho motor you can always swap it out for really cheap. keep us posted, and again, welcome to the forums, and to 5.0 mustangs, you'll get addicted really quick. :nice::nice:
 
Dont trade the kid, if he wants to trade ANYTHING for a non HO motored car, he's either on drugs or somethings REALLY wrong with his car...or theres a slight chance theres somethin special to him (sentimental) with the car you have. Ide be weary tho...but I wouldnt say you got ripped, you got a Mustag for 1100, put another 1000 in another motor and you got a mustang with a good motor for $2100!!!
Matt
 
True, I should avoid the word ripped off, just when I think of people swapping these motors in, it makes me wonder what the rest of the car has done to it. I would also be leary about the trade. Unless they truly think the car is special or has sentimental value, I'm not sure I would deal with it. Like stated before, build a motor up now and swap it in!