Adventures of Owning a Fox Body Mustang – Part I

"RightFootDown" (rightfootdown) 06/16/2017 at 11:24 • Filed to: None

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The good, the bad, and the expensive.

Although Fox body Mustangs are slowly rising in value, you can still pick up a relatively clean one for a decent price. Cheap, manual, rear wheel drive, V8. What could be better, right? Those were my thoughts exactly as I handed over $3800 of my hard earned cash and became the new owner of a 1990 Mustang GT. I’ve owned the car for a little over a month now and you know how many days its been running and driving?

Three.

Full story here on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! :

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The first of many breakdowns.

The first day that it was legally registered and tagged, I set out to send some rubber to tire heaven and let the bald eagles fly. Instead of converting more of my already worn out all-seasons to vapor, the Mustang promptly ran out of gas and died. I blame myself for this one, since I should’ve guessed that a 27 year old fuel gauge probably wasn’t too accurate.

After getting a ride to the gas station, I went back with a jerry can to fill her up with more freedom juice. I hopped in to fire her up. Click. Nothing. No big deal, I thought, maybe I ran the battery down from trying to crank it so much.

My girlfriend came to the rescue and I jumped the Mustang. Success! She fired right up. Girlfriend leaves and I’m off to continue my tire slaying mission. I immediately notice that the Mustang now drives like complete crap. It felt like it had less horsepower than a Miata running on two cylinders. Luckily, I was right near the shop I work at so I just left it in the parking lot and caught a ride home.

Saddened that my car would no longer leave 11s, I did some research. I came to the conclusion that the fuel pump may have sucked up some rust from the bottom of the tank. Since the previous owner had included a spare pump with the car, I decided to go ahead and put it in with the hope that it would solve my problem. The next day I limped the car into the shop and with the help of my techs friends, I managed to drop the gas tank without blowing anything up. New fuel pump goes in, tank goes back up, and its ready to go. I fire it up, excited that the Stang would live once again in all its glory.

Becoming more of a natural habitat

As you might be able to guess, the new fuel pump did absolutely nothing to solve the Mustang’s problem; but I did learn how it feels to have gasoline in your hair. So there’s that.

Will the Fox body ever live again, or did I kill it for good? We wait until the next paycheck to continue throwing money at it to find out. Stay tuned to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for more!

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Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > RightFootDown 06/16/2017 at 11:37

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Check the inertia switch (in the trunk) and the fuel pump relay. In my Fox it’s under the driver’s seat. It should click when you cycle the key.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 06/16/2017 at 11:40

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Came here to post the same. Used to be a yellow button to reset, if memory serves correct. They were fun to fuck with on friends cars in high school.

Gone > RightFootDown 06/16/2017 at 11:56

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Probably not the TFI, but check it out. It’s usually a binary issue though. Works or doesn’t.

Also check the vac tree for leaks and the TPS voltage (should be 0.75 - 0.98 range).

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever 06/16/2017 at 11:56

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Buddy of mine drove the fox and was new to driving manual. Killed it so hard it set off the inertia switch. I still give him crap for that.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 06/16/2017 at 11:59

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LOL! Thats gonna be a tough one to live down.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever 06/16/2017 at 12:00

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

TahoeSTi > RightFootDown 06/16/2017 at 12:23

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You also replaced the fuel filter right? could also be the fuel pressure regulator....my guess is the previous owner was having issues thus the spare pump. Other things to check: Timing? but make sure you pull the spout connector.....MAF check it and clean it but be careful a dirty or bad MAF can look like fueling issues.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > RightFootDown 06/16/2017 at 12:23

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Check fuel pressure at the shrader valve on the rail at idle and under a load. Stock nominal pressure with the vacuum line to the regulator hooked up is 39 PSI. 35-45 is within the acceptable range.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > RightFootDown 06/16/2017 at 12:54

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When I sold my 944 the guy texted me later in the day and was like “nothing on you but it won’t start, ideas?” And I sent him a couple but was honestly surprised because it had been pretty reliable at starting for me. After a couple minutes he sends me a message “how accurate is the fuel gauge?” And I responded, “pretty good except when it’s really low.” Not something I tried to hide but I forgot to tell him. I never heard from him again. So I hope he is still enjoying it and that it just ran out of gas.

Die-Trying > TahoeSTi 06/16/2017 at 14:05

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dirty injectors from sucking up trash at the bottom of the tank......