fizban61088

I have an 89 Mustang 2.3 and i'm having a few problems with it. I took it to a shop and they said to drive it till it was dead b/c its not worth fixing (I don't think so I love this car) anyway they told me that one of the pistons lost compression and the lifters are knocking a little bit.
I told my Grandpa about this and he asked me if my exhaust was smoking. I told him that it was really badly. He said that the compression thing was that my rings needed replacing which was also causing the exhaust to smoke really badly and that the knocking of the lifters was the tapits(sp?) needed adjusting.

I wan't to know your opinions and to know if my grandpa is correct and how much a set of rings usually run.

EDIT:: I'm also having problems with my headlights just shutting off for no reason. I don't know if its my dimmer switch b/c when i shut off the brights they come back on or if i hold it back to manually make the brights come on. The original owner had also spliced the headlights wires in the front to put an 86 nose on it. I respliced them to put the original back on and heat wrapped thema and wrapped them in black electrical tape. Anyway i was wondering what you thought it was and how to go about fixing it.

Thanks,
Fizban61088

foxbody_89

jus swap that 2.3 n/a with a 2.3 turbo. problem solved lol

ExtrmZ

yeah thats actually not that big of a problem, i would swap it out for a turbo, if i was you..

fizban61088

i don't have that kind of money. I'm on a $500 - $600 budget at the most and that's pushing it.

~Fizban61088

sleeper_inc

Get a compression test done.

Likely the rings are gone, so you'll need to have the whole block re-done (should for safety and durability reasons)

Should cost around $300-$500 to have the engine rebuilt and the tapping sound is from the HLA's more likely than not. Also these cars don't have "lifters" the have hydraulic lash adjusters and followers.

Smoke could also be from bad valve stem seals.

Buy new wiring for your headlights, they have probably been played with to much to fix right

fizban61088

alright thanks and a couple questions. where can i get new wiring for the headlights and how much do they run? And how can i fix the hla's taping noises?

~Fizban61088

924banger

Check the classifieds for the headlight harness. After that a JY or ebay will be your best bet.

fizban61088

alright thanks i'll check out the wiring harness.

I also have a 5 speed manual transmition and when i try to down shift into first i have to be going less than 10 miles an hour before it will shift in other than that it will just grind. Is this normal?
Also the guy i bought it from had put an automatic in it and i swapped it out for the original manual and now the speedometer is off by 10 miles an hour roughly. I was told it was the gear. How do i get the right one and how do i go about replacing it.

~fizban61088

924banger

here is one from a 92.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/87-93...mZ320170919512

sleeper_inc

HLA's - need new ones installed.

speedometer - unbolt the VSS line and swap the gears.

transmission - make sure it's full of the right fluid and linkage is adjusted