Why does my car lose power?

[mustang88]

here is the car, 88 mustang gt 5.0 5 speed with some mods.

here is the problem. well took my car out for a spin today and has alot of power in first gear that it should have but when you get to 2nd and up its like it loses power. you cant even spin the tires goin from first to second its losing so much,car bogs down.

now the car was sitting for 4 years and wasnt running in that time untill i got it. i have replaced the plugs ,wires, and cap and rotor and changed the oil and still has no power in 2nd and up. and put new gas in it also. what could be my problem??? maybe somthing needs to be cleaned? transmission? the transmission whines some so would that effect it? clutch makes some noise but works like new. Im curious to see what the car can do and cant really see that with how its running.

 

[IntenseBlue]

Don't want you take this the wrong way by saying you can't drive, but you might be shifting too early and/or too slow.

 

[maverick0716]

If the car was sitting for 4 years, I would change all the fluids in the car....all of them. As for the power problem, it might be something to do with the fuel system....try putting some fuel injector cleaner in the tank and see if that works.

 

[Foxfan88]

yeah if its been sitting for 4 years i would say do a full tune up

oil (maybe swap to synthetic if the motor is up for it)
plugs
plug wires
cap and rotor
o2s
fuel filter ( and fuel injector cleaner as stated above)
flush tranny and replace fluid
flush rearend and replace fluid

if you car has been converted to Mass air, you could also clean the MAF sensor.
you can clean the IAC solenoid, TB butterfly if its dirty, the injector harness plugs ( big white and black plugs near TB)

check TPS voltage and then adjust timing, if you run 87 i would keep it at 10degs.

you could advance it to like 13-14 but you would need to run premium....

i think if you do all this stuff you should notice a difference...

 

[Black1987Stang]

Yes i agree, def the fuel filter though, that things probably nice and varnished up inside too

 

[Darkwriter77]

The car is mad at you for having neglected it for so long.

I second the recommendation for full tune-up, fluids, and filters. After you've done all that and driven it around a bit, run a can or two of Seafoam through there and see how big a cloud of smoke you can pull out of there. It's probably just plugged up from 4 years of no lovin'.

 

[z2o_what]

The car is mad at you for having neglected it for so long.

I second the recommendation for full tune-up, fluids, and filters. After you've done all that and driven it around a bit, run a can or two of Seafoam through there and see how big a cloud of smoke you can pull out of there. It's probably just plugged up from 4 years of no lovin'.

IMO i wouldn't use seafoam...i put it in my car(sucked it in through a vac. line...with 180k miles at the time) and the car started smokeing after using it and never quit, so i rebuilt the motor.

 

[mustang88]

ill try all that stuff, as for shifting ive shifted at all dif rpm's trying to see if that was the reason and no help there.

the reason the car was sitting for 4 years was i guess the guy i got it from couldnt get it to run, he said it used to run real good and then it died one day but he didnt tell me anymore info on why it died.he just gave up on it and let it sit since late 2001 in his back yard untill i got it a couple months ago.the problem was the eec relay near the comp,it was all corroded and rusted inside. replaced it and it started right up.

the interior was all ripped up and half missing ,all the seats unbolted. headliner with rats nest in it which is out now, wiring hanging out from everywhere and garbage on the floors. i would say i am bringing the mustang back to life because it looks like it went through hell. i am coming pretty good on it.

 

[Foxfan88]

yeah, sounds like she had a rough life. Clean her up and do all that stuff and it should run well.

i mean think about it 4 YEARS! thats a LONG ASS TIME....

 

[90mustangGT]

Rats nest huh? Rats love to chew on wires and hoses and anything else they can get thier mouthes around. Maby the rat just chewed a ground wire some, but not all the way through, everything would be normal until the load and/or heat came into play then there would be a problem. This can be hard to dianose. Corrosion, rust, moisture... who knows. I'm kind of thinking this is fuel related though.

 

[mustang88]

im gunna get a new fuel filter and get some of the injector cleaner to ,maybe that will help out.