MarioGT

Hello guys!

As you all see i recently registered an account. But i am a long time leecher. I am from Amman-Jordan.
Ive been in the market looking for a 2011 - 2012 Mustang GT (manual trans). But after reading loads of concerns/issues with the new 5.0 Coyote engines (ticking, Cylinder #7 and #8 wear) and some other transmission issues, ive been so worried!
would love to hear your opinion if i should really worry of getting a 5.0? Lately i was considering getting a 2010 4.6 3V V8 GT and slamming a SC on it to obtain the coyote power levels.

I would really appreciate listening your honest opinion without being biased. Avoiding any engine issues (ticking, weird noises, etc...) is a must as our local market isnt tech savy oriented when it comes to Ford's/US imports.
Do you also recommend avoid buying a 2011 gt? As this was the first year production Coyote engine mustangs to avoid any issues?

Thanks in advance! looking forward to hear your opinions / suggestions.

rmurer

First as far as your concerns go, the issues were mainly due to people tuning the engine which has all been fixed. Any of the issues that you will find are maybe 1 in everyone hundered if not more.

I have a 2011 GT I've put more than 40,000 miles on it. It now has a supercharger and its chuggin right along.

Not that there is anything wrong with 2010's but you will be sad that you didn't get a 2011+

MarioGT

Thanks for your reply rmurer much appreciated.
So all the engine issues I heard/read is from people having ECU tunes?

Also you think nothing has changed from 2011-2012 mustangs to fix any issues from factory?

I found a very clean 2011 mustang that was produced on 11th of may 2010. That's one of the very early production cars right?

rmurer

as far as the cylinder issues go those were really down to ECU tunes. I do believe there were some changes made to the 13-14 engine but what I am unsure of.

Its a solid engine, has a lot of potential. But what car doesn't go without issues anyway?

MarioGT

Thanks buddy!
But what about that dreaded engine ticking noise after first oil change? Not the AC belt/bracket issue TSB as some people already replaced the AC bracket and the noise is still there

rmurer

I've never heard of the dreaded ticking noise, sorry i can't help there.

wanted33

Welcome to the forum Maurice. I have two 5.0L engines, one in my F-150 that is set up for the truck of course, and one in the Wifey's Mustang. Both have roughly the same mileage at approx. 15,000 miles. The engines have had several oil changes without any problem's. I don't know what happens when folks say they had the ticking after the first oil change. I do use the recommended syn blend Motorcraft oil. So far neither engine has had any problems, and I expect them to be very reliable in the long run. As our friend @rmurer said, anything mechanical can have a problem. In my opinion these engines will prove themselves to be as good or better than any of the other car companies engines. Plus, the Mustang 5.0 does sound great with a good set of mufflers.

MarioGT

Thanks for the welcome wanted33! Appreciate your input also. Mind me asking what production year is your wife mustang?

wanted33

Sorry for the late reply my friend. Her's is a 2013.

kylerohde

As others have said, the problems with the Coyote motor were almost completely due to ECU tuning. There have been some tick complaints but they are few in number, compared to the hundreds of thousands of that motor Ford has made in the past four years, between the F-150 and the Mustang. Personally, mine is charging towards 66,000 miles with zero problems and feels as strong as it did the day I picked her up, not to mention consistently getting 22-26 MPG.

As far as the transmission, that's been a constant source of frustration for people but, living in Jordan, you won't ever notice the problem likely, since it's most common in cold weather, say 40 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 4.5 Celsius) or less. You can always install a MGW shifter if you don't like the way it works, but again, the majority of people have no problems. Personally, I'd rate it a 7 out of 10 - could be better but still very good and not bad enough to warrant the time/money to modify it, personally.

The two things I'd look for hardest in a used 2011 Mustang are the car not having the lower control arm squeak (Ford has revised the part # there four times and finally arrived at a solution that works, apparently) and not having any paint bubbling under or on the hood. That's an ongoing problem with aluminum body panels from Ford and it's an expensive fix that Ford doesn't like making once you're out of warranty.

Good luck with your search!

Last1

12k miles and 2 oil changes later, my car has been fantastic. I did swap out the shifter to an MGW. I didn't have mechanical problems with it...just never liked the feel. I test drove a friend's with an MGW and read a lot of testimonials on here and was sold.

spqr

The #8 cylinder issue wasn't limited only to tuned 5.0s, but tuning/mods did seem to exacerbate the problem. I believe the 13 model year revised the cooling/lubrication to fix this issue. Having said that, it seems to be really rare. Mustangs are a super popular car; compare the total to the number of grenaded 5.0s and you'll see that the chances of a bad motor are pretty slim. If you're interested in reading about it, there are a few guys on AFM that had the issue.

www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/2011-mustang-gt-tech/360126-another-2011-mustang-gt-8-cylinder-failure-3.html

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forum...tory-tune.html

as far as the mt82, i don't think it's that bad. There have certainly been complaints, but my 2011 hasn't had any issues. I'm not sure if that helps much either, but you'll probably be fine on this one too.

MarioGT

kylerohde thank you so much for the lovely detailed reply!
That reply did calm me down
MGW shifter is going to be the first thing I install on my mustang for sure.
Saw the how to installation and that thing is quality!

I would just like to ask is the production date 11th of May is considered very early for a 2011 mustang?

MarioGT

Knock on wood
Once more thank you for your input. It really eases me off to not worry that much

MarioGT

Thank you spqr. And your are 100% correct, the number of produced stangs are high, and the number of engines that failed due to #8 damage is very minimal compared to number of cars on the street.
Will have a look on the links you posted for sure.

Once more thanks a million guys!

spqr

No problem. Just keep in mind that sometimes those threads can get a little "world is ending". It helps to keep in perspective the relatively lower number of #8 failures, even if is common enough to be recognized by name.

kylerohde

Not that early - my 2011 was built in October 2010...

MarioGT

Crossing my fingers
Wish me luck bro

wanted33

Maurice, do keep us updated on your search. Can't wait to see some pictures.

Jim

MarioGT

Will do Jim for sure!
Hope the car well be in tip top condition, and without that engine ticking sound when I check her out.
Hopefully I'll have all the info and inspection done on the 18th/19th of this month.
Judging from the pictures it seems in pristine condition especially with it's low mileage (9877 miles)