Kind of a dumb question, considering I just got the car, and haven't driven it yet due to snow on the roads, but I can't find anywhere in the manual or maintenance schedule anything about when to change the plugs?

You can tell I've been doing more reading than driving.

Also, I saw the notice to pull up the clutch pedal every 6,000 miles to 'adjust clutch plate'. Never heard of that before.

Cheers

 

Montrose,
All Ford gasoline engines built for the last 8 to 10 years can go up to 100,000 before changing plugs. I just replaced the plugs in my wifes 98 Explorer with 92,000. The gap of the plug was .010 wider but it didn't seem to effect the way it ran or the gas mileage. Personally, I would change them about every 50,000. Simpley because the threads can sieze in the head if left for to long. As far as your clutch goes, that is how the cable stretch is taken up and set the proper pedal freeplay.

70Mach1Owner

 

Montrose,
All Ford gasoline engines built for the last 8 to 10 years can go up to 100,000 before changing plugs. I just replaced the plugs in my wifes 98 Explorer with 92,000. The gap of the plug was .010 wider but it didn't seem to effect the way it ran or the gas mileage. Personally, I would change them about every 50,000. Simpley because the threads can sieze in the head if left for to long. As far as your clutch goes, that is how the cable stretch is taken up and set the proper pedal freeplay.

70Mach1Owner
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Thanks for the explanation re: plugs and clutch adjustment. My newest car prior to this is a 95 Volvo (which we still have), and it needs plug changes I guess more frequently. Must be good quality plugs to last that long, or else the engine runs so cleanly they last.

 

Thanks for the explanation re: plugs and clutch adjustment. My newest car prior to this is a 95 Volvo (which we still have), and it needs plug changes I guess more frequently. Must be good quality plugs to last that long, or else the engine runs so cleanly they last.


[/b][/quote]



Montrose,
It's all about ingition technology. Todays cars don't have coils or distributors like they used to. Today's high energy ingitions are completely electonic with no moving parts to wear out or replace. Couple that with today's platium plugs they can run for years without any service.

70Mach1Owner

 

Where did you see the notice about "pulling the clutch pedal up" ? That's what you did on my 1990 Mustang to adjust the cable tension ? However the 05's have a hydraulic clutch and no cable to adjust , that I know of ...

 

It's in the 'owner maintenance checks' section of the Owner Information Guide that came with my car. This is a Ford of Canada publication, so I don't know if the page numbers are the same as yours. It is page 16 of my Guide, just before the section that begins the 3,000 miles service record/fill in the little forms for each service.

Under the bolded section 'At least twice a year (every spring and fall)', the last item states - "Pull up clutch pedal to adjust clutch plate every 6 months/10,000 km <6,000miles> (manual transmission Mustang only)".

 

It's in the 'owner maintenance checks' section of the Owner Information Guide that came with my car. This is a Ford of Canada publication, so I don't know if the page numbers are the same as yours. It is page 16 of my Guide, just before the section that begins the 3,000 miles service record/fill in the little forms for each service.

Under the bolded section 'At least twice a year (every spring and fall)', the last item states - "Pull up clutch pedal to adjust clutch plate every 6 months/10,000 km <6,000miles> (manual transmission Mustang only)".
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Does your car have a hydraulic clutch on it ? Maybe the cars shipped to Canada are different , since the scheduled maintenance guides appear to be. At the bottom of the 6 month items to check , it says "check clutch fluid level , if equipped". Also our maintenance starts at 5000 and not 3000 miles. I've also got the shop manual , and under the section Clutch Controls on page 308-02-03 it says "The hydraulic clutch system adjusts automatically to compensate for clutch disk wear". Also there was an exploded parts view , and the pedal connects directly to the clutch master cylinder plunger. So I have no adjustment on mine ...

 

Does your car have a hydraulic clutch on it ? Maybe the cars shipped to Canada are different , since the scheduled maintenance guides appear to be. At the bottom of the 6 month items to check , it says "check clutch fluid level , if equipped". Also our maintenance starts at 5000 and not 3000 miles. I've also got the shop manual , and under the section Clutch Controls on page 308-02-03 it says "The hydraulic clutch system adjusts automatically to compensate for clutch disk wear". Also there was an exploded parts view , and the pedal connects directly to the clutch master cylinder plunger. So I have no adjustment on mine ...
[/quote]

Steve - thanks for clarifying that - as my '00GT had a clutch cable and you were supposed to lift the clutch pedal every so often to take up the slack due to cable strectching....I thought our '05's had hydraulic clutches - but couldn't find any reference to it or a fluid "master cylinder" under the hood......just curious where is the hydraulic clutch master cylinder?

thx - Brad

 

Brad ,
The master cylinder sets on the fire wall right in front of the clutch pedal. The plunger from the master cylinder runs through the fire wall and connects directly to the clutch pedal. Lines run from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder on the clutch. The shop manual says it shares the fluid reservoir with the brakes ...

On my 90 the clutch pedal connected to a clutch quadrent , which connect to a cable. Pulling up on the pedal would adjust where it sat on the quadrent and that is what adjusted the clutch ...

 

Wow. Thanks for the info on the clutch. I've never heard of that. I will look into this. So we don't need to worry if it's hydrolic though right?

 

I can't believe Mustangs produced for Canada would be mechanically different, but there are some differences in the maintenance schedule and some other differences in the publications. I also noted there was a difference in the type of engine oil to be used up here. Maybe it's the long cold winter, but that would apply to northern U.S. cars also?

Someday I might pursue this further...

 

Yes , as long as you do have a hydrolic clutch , the Ford Shop Manual says it's self adjusting ...

 

Thanks Steve....finally the Mustang moves into the modern era with a hydraulic clutch!! Even my 1KRR has one and I like it much better than my friends 600RR's clutch cable - just feels much smoother.

And question #2 is now answered as to why the brake master cylinder is so much larger than the one on my '00GT and '01LS!!