I have a 96 GT 5-Speed which is basically stock. It has the following add-ons and features:
[ul]PATS w/ keyless entry
BBK CAI
Accel Coilpacks
BBK Off-Road mid pipes
Steeda MIL eliminators
Flowmaster turn down exhaust
King Cobra clutch kit[/ul]I have three issues going on with my car, and I have spent the last month racking my brain and emptying my pocketbook trying to resolve them without any luck. Hopefully someone here may have run into the same issues and can help.

Problem #1[/u][/b]

I have an issue with trying to get the car to start after sitting unused for more than 24 hours. It can take up to 10 minutes before I can finally get the car to fire off and run. After that, it starts without any problems, and continues that way as long as it is started at least once within 24 hours.

I have changed the fuel filter and the fuel pressure regulator and checked the initial fuel pressure (After sitting more than 24 hours), and it checks out OK. Also, it stays constant during startup and while running. Also, while working with Problem #2, I changed out the IAC and TPS with no effect on the issue.

I have connected my laptop to the car using Proscan 5.0, and can only see that the right bank was registering that it was running rich. Because of this, I would occasionally get a misfire on at least one cylinder on the right bank. I then replaced the original coilpacks with Accel coil packs and replaced the plugs with Motorcraft Platinums. The plug wires tested out fine, and were fairly new when I bought the car. The car idled a little smoother after that, but the problems did not go away and there was no change on the scan.

I have also checked all of the grounds under the hood, and all are good.

Problem #2
[/u][/b]
Along with Problem #1, I have an issue when attempting to get up to speed. If I hammer down on the throttle or give it a little more throttle to get up to highway speed, it acts as if it is running in "limp" mode. It is very hesitant to get up to speed, and sounds almost as if it is hetting a rev limiter at full throttle and low RPMS. At very light acceleration, it will come up to speed fine but when you go over an overpass, it has a problem.

Problem #3[/u][/b]

The battery on the car dies after sitting for more than 48 hours. There is no radio in the car, and I even removed all of the bulbs from the car to ensure that nothing could drain it. The battery is brand new, and has been tested good. Also, with a jump start, the system comes back and will start up and run. The alternator is obviously working because after running the car for 5-10 minutes it will start back up without needing a jump start. The charge also lasts overnight, and the car will start back up in the morning. The only thing that is active on the car is the anti-theft overnight.

I have a sneaking suspicion that all three of these problems are related, but I can't put my finger on what is causing any of these issues and my pocketbook is running out of ideas as well. I am getting frustrated wasting good money on troubleshooting this problem when it could be better spent modding the car.

Please help me Obi Wan....You are my only hope!

Thanks in advance!

--Brian

 

Obe Wan, I am not ... I would have done all of the things that you did in your situation. I would like to take a shot at helping you troubleshoot it though, as having a problem like you have sucks... Need more info though...

How many miles do you have on the car?

How long ago did you notice the problem?

Did the problem creep up on you or did it just start doing this all at once?

Are you sure that a previous owner did not mod/change anything on the engine control system outside of the mods that you list?

Is your idle really smooth, or is there some loping to it?

When the car is not under a load, how do your revs react (climb smoothly and drop fast or how)?

Are there any odors (like gas) preasant when starting the car or when it is at idle?

Any other info that you might have would help in getting this figured out. I would be inclined to say that your injectors are clogged, but it still could be a few other things. It is not entirely certain and notvery likelythat the battery problem is connected to your starting/accellerating problem. I would try a different battery (I know that this would be a third battery in the troubleshooting, but worth trying just to be certain)... I have a fairly new Optima battery that is doing the same thing, and never had the problem with the one before... Speaking of this, I am going to put a jump to that car and wash it (poor old neglected cobra) and will check back here shortly...

 

Mileage: 125,000

Problem was noticed shortly after purchase a few months ago. (No creeping up, which was one of the reasons why I got such a good deal on it)

I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have had a different upper plenum on it at one time, because when I first purchased the car I found that there was an air leak between the upper/lower plenum due to a broken mounting bolt and a missing IAC mounting bolt (The previous owner figured epoxy was a good enough to replace the bolts). Originally, I thought this was the problem and removed the bolt remnant, cleaned the upper plenum, replaced the IAC & TB, and reinstalled everything which eliminated the leaks.

Everything on the car that is visible is stock. I have no way of telling (That I know of) if the PCM was tuned. It does still have the original injectors on the system.

The car idles fine, with an occasional miss, due to it running rich on the right bank. Plugs still look fine.

At rest, in neutral, the engine responds just fine to throttle changes, and then falls slowly to normal idle. Under load, it is a different story. If the car still had catalytic convertors, I would say that they were plugged up, but it has the off-road pipe.

There are no leaks on the car, from any of the lines or gasket areas. I checked those when I bought it, which is how I discovered the plenum leak.

 

Dang... my battery is really dead. I've been letting it charge for almost 15 minutes. I am still going to think this over while washing my car (once I get the beast started) and then will post upon returning... Surely this can be figured out.

 

I know this is very basic, but, Check and double check your battery cables. Both cables, both ends. and Clean the wires in the MAF with electrical contact cleaner. Check your EGR and DPFE sensor. good luck and keep us posted until you get it fixed.

 

Battery cables were replaced when I bought the car and put a new battery because the old one was crap and scuffed.

I cleaned out the EGR when I had the upper plenum off, but did not mess with the MAF cables or the DPFE sensor. I will check them as well.

 

OK, here is an update and resolution to problems #1 & #2:

The following parts were found to be in bad order and changed:
[ul][*]Passenger side O2 sensor bad(Causing fuel curves to be way off, showed 0V all the time)[*]MAF (Old MAF would not meter air flow. Found crack on sensor.)[*]Fuel Pressure Regulator (Was leaking)[*]IAC (Was not opening/closing correctly. Replaced rather than cleaning)[*]TPS (Had internal short, sending wrong voltage signal to PCM)[*]Fuel Filter (Was plugged)[*]Fuel Pump/Strainer (Strainer was plugged, causing the FP to burn up)[/ul]
I will have to wait and see if it was the FP that was draining the battery (Prob #3).

Anyways, I am back on the road now. Now I am going to work the rest of the suspension bugs out, and sell it so I can buy an 05 vert.