PDOGG74

Hello Mustang owners, I am coming to you for some Mustang advice. I will give you a quick story of my car and if you have any questions I will be more than happy to go in depth. In November 2015 bought the used Mustang Mach 1 from a Nissan Dealership(good back story to how it got there) near me after doing intense research and coming to a conclusion that I could not afford 2003/2004 Cobra Terminator, I did not want a GT that I considered among the dime a dozen concept Mustang and the Mach 1 was in my price range and was not considered a dime a dozen type of car being that only 9,000 was ever made between 2003 and 2004. The car was in good condition and drove good, but being this was my first Mustang did not know what to expect and what not to expect. After my purchase did more research and took it to Chris at Excessive Motorsports. He told me from the catch that I needed to replace my clutch and I had leaks coming from my oil drip pan seal and rear pinion seal, which is normal for a car that has 110,000 miles on it. I did buy an after market warranty from the dealership and got the leaks fix at Sheehy Ford no issues. I had the clutch replaced ( EXCEDY 400 STAGE 2 ) by a friend who was pretty cheap and used his own tools and lift. A few thousand miles later, I replace the front rotors and brakes myself and since I have the car in the air I do a once over for leaks and noticed driver side axel seal small leak and small leak by my oil pan where transmission housing meets the back of the engine. So I take it to Sheehy Ford again (this all happened around March) and they started to work on it. Then I get the dreaded news, we found metal chunks in your oil pan. (There is more to it than that but like I said short story). They tear my engine down to find the source of the metal, it came from the bearing that is attached to my harmonic balancer and timing chain. Ford says I need a new engine, because my oil looked like a silver glitter show. The first engine was a bomb, it burned coolant and over heated. Now I just got the second engine and it is almost August, Ford has had my car since March (yes do the math). If this engine is good to go I get my car back and if it is not well I don't get my car back. Now which wolf should I feed, if the engine is good, should I just leave well enough alone and run from the car when I can afford to get a newer year and not do any upgrades or should I do what I want to do to the car and upgrade certain parts. I want to put in 4.10 gears, SLP 2 catback exhaust, BBT H-Pipe w/cats, BBT long tube headers, K&N cold air intake w/ the tuner and last but not least Hurst short shifter. Plus I love SN95 style of Mustang, if this engine is a bomb down the road, is it easy to put a new manufactured engine in her and keep Stanging (referring to keep trucking). Or should I just hold fast to my money and ride it out and save my money for my next car. So far I have done little minor upgrades, clutch, 8 in antenna, Saleen Staggered rim set w/ Nitto tires 275/315 17R, tint all windows and of course sub-woofer w/amp to stock radio. I am still new to Mustangs, coming from owning a Porsche Carrera 996 and currently owning a Porsche Boxster 986. I do have pictures of her in the gallery

Evil_Capri

I would probably be a bit hesitant, and make sure all is good before I started upgrading . . . but that's just my opinion.

And I have a '04 Mach. I've been 12.9 in the 1/4 mile on stock 3.55 gears and no tune, by the way. (Though I had some drag radials, catback, and some chassis/suspension modifications.) And my car isn't set up for drag racing, more so road rallies/twisties . . . For what it's worth.)

PDOGG74

I hear you, I called them today and they are still putting the engine back together, so tomorrow is the day of reckoning. I hope it is better than the last engine, they pretty much had my car since spring and its near fall. I hope September and October are warm months too for me to cruise. The engine is suppose to have 3000 mile warranty or 3 years which ever one expires first, so I guess I am going to wait for at least 1000 before I put on the mods. I forgot to mention I also put in Eibach Sportline Springs which dropped my car 2in all around and gives it a good stance not to mention improved corning as well. For me its not about making the car faster as in top speed lets face it, its a 2003 and they make V-6 turbos faster than our cars. So I want to make it look good and loud, so loud that in the morning my car is the neighbors wake up alarm. Plus dropping the 4.10 gears in and complete redo on the stock exhaust from beginning to end will open my car up and make it a little faster from the light to light situations that PONY cars find themselves.

Evil_Capri

If your main concern is light to light situations . . . . you may want to consider 4.30s. 4.10s (in a 1/4 mile situation) can be a bit slower than 3.55s with minimum upgrades as the 3-4 shift happens towards the end of the run. (EDIT Whereas 4.30s 3-4 shift happen earlier and will be closer to redline/trap in 4th vs. 4.10s. Regardless . . . hope everything works out!

Evil_Capri

Any updates?

PDOGG74

Mr. Capri you are right for me to hold my money and wait and thank you for finding interest in my story when no one else really cares. Below I have very long and detailed story of what took place.


Capri, I don't know were to start. I got my car back and OMG my engine is not straight yet. When I received the car two things off the bat was not right. One my shift handle that is held together by two bolts to the transmission stick, was so loose it flopped around as I shifted. When I took off the leather boot, the two bolts was so loose I could hand tighten them. I tighten them and notified the service supervisor of my find and he went to scold the person who put it together. The second thing is my idle was surging from 750 rpm to 1000 rpm in a slow beat type of manner. When I drove it and came to a stop light or stop sign, the rpm would hang right below 2000, then drop to 1500 and hold a second or two and finally drop to a 1000 and start surging again. Then the engine light came on and got a p1056 code. Told the dealership and they said that is your IAC going out or gone and that has nothing to do with the engine they put in. My thinking is, well my car sat for 5 months in the elements and it went bad or it was on the engine they put in the car and bad from the start and didn't replace it as they did their test and such. So I bought the IAC valve from them and put it on myself. The car acted a little better but did not get a code, but still very slowly surging now between 850 rpm and 1000 rpm and hangs at 1200 rpms and drops to a 1000 rpm. Then my A/C went out the next day, oh I didn't mention that when I first turn on the car and the engine is cold, it makes a shrieking sound that comes from the belt or bearings in the one of many pulleys that could be going bad. Yes did that the next day after receiving the car and it had a chance to cool down. I know they knew about it, but never diagnosed and or was not told about the engine or belt making noise. After the car warms up the noise goes away but if I gas the engine hard and or go past 4000 rpm while at idle it will make a little shriek noise again at that time and stops as the rpms goes go down. So got the A/C fix at Firestone and some of my car issues stopped. They noticed the squealing noise and put on a new serpentine belt, the squealing noise stopped. Once they put on the new A/C compressor, my car idled normal at 750 and not between 850 and 900. Plus the hanging of the rpms at 1200 stopped as well. Now I have A/C and I can drive longer and get on the highway. That is when I noticed my other problem, hesitation and loss of power. So much loss of power when I started off from the light and needed to make right, a Toyota Prius PULLED HARDER AND FASTER THAN ME AND I COULD NOT GET IN FRONT OF HIM, as I floored the petal, the car hesitated, stuttered and or misfired with low or no power. When I was on the highway in 5th gear going 70mph at 1800 rpms. I floored the gas pedal again and the car did nothing except shook a little as I felt it misfire once or twice but never gave me a code, I remained at the same speed and the rpms remained the same as well. Now I know something is wrong. I promptly took the car home and was in for the night, the next morning I was going check the oil and start doing checks on the engine. When I looked for the dipstick I could not find it, because the dip stick was broken off and down in the tube. Funny I did not give them the car in that condition 5 months ago. Plus the dip stick tube that has a bracket and normally bolted to the engine was not bolted to the engine. The brackett was there and the bolt was there too sticking out from engine where it screws in at, however the pieces were not bolted together. I was very upset from seeing that and now I can only assume my car has oil because the engine has not seized and my oil pressure gauge is reading normal. Then I go to pull the spark plug to check the gap and the conditions of the spark plugs which were new when I gapped them and put them in prior to turning the car in to the dealership, by the way I used NGK TK6 gapped between .48 and .50. When I pulled the first spark plug, I lost my mind and had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing. I pulled out a Motorcraft sparkplug 55E that was very worn and had an diode or the metal tick that sticks up and out very worn, to the point it had lost its shape. Then later my car started over heating and the bracket that holds the radiator fan to the radiator, started shaking and making noise when the fan came on. I left a long voice mail to the supervisor, and called him this morning. He stated to me already that he had ate all the labor to taking out the first engine and putting in the second engine and reminded me several times of that (the dealership bought the engine from this company that had this AWESOME WARRANTY, except the warranty starts after 501 miles is driven on the engine first. The first engine never made it 1 mile it overheated and blew white smoke from burning coolant. Basically the dealership had to eat the labor cost of working on two engines and I was constantly reminded of that). The supervisor said he will fix the oil dip stick tube, replace the dip stick, replace the sparks plugs with Motorcraft sparkplugs and see why its overheating and making the rattling noise. I will turn in the car today or tomorrow and give an update when I get it back. After our conversation the supervisor was not happy with me or with the situation that has taken place. The dealership has their own warranty that anything they work on has a 2 year parts and no cost labor for their work I believe, because they re-fixed my oil pan gasket and did not charge labor and parts for a job they had to do a second time. So we will see what happens next, as far as now any thing I want to do to the car is not on hold until I know the engine is good to go

Evil_Capri

WOW!! Sorry to hear and hope your situation gets sorted! (And curious . . . are/were your engines "true" Mach 1 5-Speed 4V, or a mix-and match 4V? Which the Mach kind of is anyway, but the 5-Speed was specific to the Mach.)

PDOGG74

Honestly don't know, I guess if this engine is not a bomb and can be fixed I will get the numbers to the engine and research it to make sure it did not come from another car that is not a Mach 1. As far as 5 speed, I believe my transmission is the same that came with my car. They only switched out the engine and not the transmission.

SpectreH

Wow, if they ever get your car straightened out, I'd never go back to that shop again.

Evil_Capri

I'm sorry, I meant that Machs with 5-Speeds had specific engine as it has a forged crank. Machs engines with automatic transmissions are more similar to Aviators and Marauders . . . no forged crank.

PDOGG74

Thank you CAPRI, I will inquire about the engine. Okay for all those who are responding and or reading and choosing to stay in the background, here is an update. Pretty much what I have been saying on the forum I put in a two page 7 paragraph format and emailed the service manager. Later that day I drove my car up to the service section, once the general manager knew I was there he greeted me and apologize for the troubles I been through and stated I should have never received the car in such a horrible state. Plus the service manager came out and was taking notes and taking pics of the broken dip stick (stick) and the non-attached dip stick tube. The general manager was very upset and I was told they will fix everything and make sure the car will be working in tip top shape before I get it. So this is their second chance to make everything right and for the first time I did not hear ( YOU KNOW WE AT LABOR COST, SINCE THE ENGINE WARRANTY PEOPLE FAILED TO PAY FOR LABOR). The first time they worked on my car, they did a wonderful job and there was no complaints only compliments, that is why I came to them again for a second time when my engine was showing trouble. Their star mechanic who worked on my car....... well they were very surprise that this was his end product of service and that he has never performed like this, so I was told. I believe everybody should be able to prove themselves when they know they made a terrible mistake. I am not here to bash anyone or any service just tell my story and listen to any good advice that is given (thank you CAPRI). The car is turned over to them and I will post about any updates, my MACH 1 SAGA continues.

Evil_Capri

Sounds good, step in the right direction it seems, and hope it works out!

LivinTheStangLife

wow that sounds horrible! hope they get it back in perfect shape. they either have the worst techs or the laziest. sounds like they basically half *** hooked stuff up the second time. as capri said make sure you know where this engine came from so you know whether you have a forged crank or not.

i have an 03 mach but when i found it 3 years ago it only had 6000 miles on it. only issue ive ever had is the harmonic balancer went out and by the time i noticed it dug into my timing cover pretty deep

i literally havent been on here in i cant remember how long. partly from having a kiddo and partly from back when they started messing with the app and it was never the same after that and i was never on my computer.

these cars are great! the 4v 4.6 will still run with the newer coyotes. stock they will be just behind the new 5.0s so with a little modding they run right with them or faster! and they are one of thee best sounding engines. i have an o/r x pipe and slp lm1 and everyone just about drools over the sound lmao

PDOGG74

UPDATE: Hello to all, this is an update and it gets really funny. They fixed the oil dip stick tube, fan shroud ( by the way they say they did not take out the fan, so I had to pay out of pocket and they didn't charge me labor only parts), and new motorcraft spark plugs. They said they don't know why the new IAC is giving me the high revving and hanging of high rpms. The did notice that if they run the engine with IAC unplugged the engine runs normal and idle is normal as well. Except I get a P1504 code and not a P1506. They said it might be two things; one the wire harness has a short or not grounded properly or two needs a new ECM. What ever path I take I will have to pay out of pocket because none of these things has nothing to do with the engine and was not taken out of the car. I wrote an email to the service manager stating that I had to unplug my IAC because the car would surge and or stay at 2000 rpms and I almost rear ended two vehicles, so unplugged for safety concerns. I feel as thought it its not the ECM, because I never had this problem before hand or an idle problem. I believe it is a wire harness short, but not due to ware and tare but from the wire harness being taken off the original engine and put on the first engine. Then was again taken off the 1st engine and put on the second engine. My car has had 3 engines in it and each time the wire harness had to be fully removed and put on more than a few times. I wrote out the long email to the service manager, only to find out he either quit or got fired. Back to square one on getting help with my car. I have my car now and its a shame I turned it in for one problem and got it back with a whole new problem. Everyone has their hands out for more money to look into it, does anyone have this same problem, if yes what was your course. I am today going to go to the dealer and get the vin code for the second engine and start doing my research on it and go from there. If its a 2004 engine could that be why I got the crazy idle, I know they did not remove the sensors of my old engine and put on the second engine. Would my ECM need an updated flash if it is a 2004 engine. Does anyone know or can help me in this question.

LivinTheStangLife

They are full of it. No way they didn't take that fan out each time. As for the pcm it should run the engine no problem. Only thing 04 had over 03 was 9 thread heads for the spark plugs. If this iac was on the engine that they were putting in it could be bad. I don't know how much part swapping they were doing for each engine they put in, whether the ones they were getting in had any sensors in them already or not. Sounds like a nightmare dealing with these guys

Edit* sounds like all the dealers around me, I was a tech for 6 years so I always got the dealers **** ups when people would get fed up and come to us lol

PDOGG74

First thank you for your reply, from what I am told (this is from the mechanic and service GM) they don't know or remember what was swapped and kept. When the original engine came out and they put the 1st engine in, they swamped out a lot of parts from the original engine. The 1st engine was a dud and the engine people refused to pay for the labor to pull out the 1st engine and put in the 2nd engine. The engine people stated, on page 19 of the engine warranty contract, the engine has to be driven 501 miles to enact the warranty. The 1st engine never made out of the bay from overheating, burning coolant and spewing out thick white smoke. So my car sat for 2 or 3 months out of 5 while the dealer fought with the engine people who they bought the engine from. I guess when the dealer wanted their money back or take them to court. They sent the 2nd engine but first they had to send back the 1st engine. That is when things got switched around and they sent the 1st engine back with some parts from the original engine and what ever they got off the 1st engine probably went on the 2nd engine. As for as the IAC it is brand new I bought from the dealership part section and installed it with a new gasket. As soon as I plugged it in it worked normal for a second or two and after driving a few miles started doing the same thing over again. I had the dealership and Firestone do a vacuum leak test and it passed inspection at both. So I believe its the wire harness and not the ECM. But I refuse to pay the money to pay them to find out its the wire harness. I am sure if its the dealers fault, they are going to say it was ware and tare and have me pay for it, so they can re-coop some of the money that was lost from labor for the engine people not paying them to take out the 1st and putting in the 2nd engine. Every time except one time, when I took the car back to have them fix it for something they messed up I was told, " YOU KNOW WE HAD TO PAY FOR ALL THE LABOR OF TAKING OUT THE 1ST ENGINE AND PUTTING IN THE SECOND ENGINE" which basically tells me between the lines as a customer, why are you complaining about the work we did to your car you should be happy you even got back from us in one piece. UPDATE: I went to the dealership to get the VIN number from the 2nd engine they said they don't know and don't have paperwork that has the vin number. I am asking you and anyone with knowledge, where can I look for the VIN on engine.

PDOGG74

UPDATE:

Here is the kicker, I have 135,000 miles and noticed that when the engine is cold I have power and no hesitation after driving for 40 mins and or the engine has fully warmed starts the hesitation and no power in the lower rpms. For example going 50 mph at 1200rpm in 5th gear. The engine misfires but not enough to cause an engine light. After doing research came to the conclusion I needed to finish my tune up. It has new sparks plugs, fuel filter, cleaned out the throttle bottle, MAF and last but not least put in new coils. After putting in the coils the car runs so much better as if I put in a new tune. No more hesitation and lost of power, purposely get stuck in traffic just to make sure the engine was nice and hot. Still no power lost or hesitation when stepping on the gas. Here is where its get weird, I decided to hook up the IAC while the car was running, last time I did that the rpms shot up to 2000 from 850. This time it stayed at 850 and did not shot up and when I drove the car around the rpms did not hang at 2000 or 1500 and slowly drop. In fact the idle rpms acted normal and when I was down shifting to slow down as soon as I push in the clutch if the rpms was at 1200 they shot up to 2000. Now when I do same thing to downshift and use the engine compression as a brake, the rpms do not shot up anymore. However with a new IAC I am still getting P1506 code. Thanks to Mr.Burns I am going to follow that link to figure out the IAC and will update so if anyone has the same exact issue hopefully they wont have to re invent the wheel. I have a year to figure out or I am not going to pass my safety or emission test for VA.

Spiderstang

Wow, you have been through the ringer. I agree, get it all done. But wait and see what's up. I can't understand why they just didn't get a crate motor and put it in. Quicker, easier, faster and reliable. No mistakes. Anyway, I have a 94 GT... Got it used, bought a service contract like you, had a few miner things done under the service contract. That was 16 years ago. I'm a few clicks from 300,000 miles now and it's still running hard and strong. That's my short story.. I love mustangs, this 94 was my fifth mustang. I guess you have to decide for yourself. But God willing, my next Stang will be a SHELBY.

PDOGG74

UPDATE: Okay no more issues, I do have a short in the electrical line to my IAC. I noticed that I had unraveled my line and that exposed my short when I connected the new IAC, so I rewrapped it how it was originally wrapped and have not had an issue since. I now have 146,000 miles on my car and it is running strong. I put on SLP 1 Cat Back Exhaust and OMG my car sounds good. Even though it has the stock H w/ cats and stock headers, it crackles and pops so good. If driving my car was a video game I would have got a perfect score when I entered the tunnel to get on the highway and I had to down shift for traffic it crackled and popped so good I got thumbs up from 3 drivers in their car. The other time is when I came off the on ramp to the highway in 3rd gear, around 4.5 rpm I switched to 4th gear at WOT and it makes this loud exhaust boom as I accelerate. I never heard a car make that before, I cant wait to change out headers to BBK Longtube and change out my H pipe to BBK high flow catted H-pipe. I know I will get more HP/TQ if I go X in all rpm ranges, but I love how the H-pipe has that old muscle car rumble. If you have any questions please ask and now this thread will be about me improving my car. So next is my front headlamps they are starting to turn white. I wanted to go with tint but VA law is so hard I will get a ticket and or not pass state inspection, so I have to go with black inserts or if I can smoked light and I will be able to inspection. As I go long I will put pics in my gallery if anyone is interested.

Rick Gonzalez

I only have JLT / CAI on mine & might add short throw shifter ?......but I think they did a pretty good job on them