Aragorn

Hey guys. I am recently married, and now have my wife's Mustang to care for (I drive an 86 Ranger). It is a 2002 Mustang GT. About 38 thousand miles and pretty much bone stock.
A little while ago, it began whistling which is clearly from the front end, but I can't locate exactly where. It occurs while sitting and at all speeds, so it is not a wind whistle. At the same time that started, it will on occasion surge for a few seconds at startup. Up to 2000-2500 about 6 or 7 times, then back to normal idle. The whistling originally started at about 35 mph, but progressed to all the time now. Service Engine light also came on.
Does anyone have a clue what this could be? Thanks so much for any help or advice.

redass02gt

your first step is to get the code read at autozone or somewhere like that, I think they do it free of charge. you can take the code and look it up on the internet.

gxszone

Take a look at the vacuum hoses leading to the intake manifold and inspect for cracks because a whistling noise that only keeps getting worse can be a vacuum leak

Chopper

It sounds like an intake leak somewhere.Find it and I'll bet the noise and at least part of the idle problem will go away.I'll say that part of the idle surging is also the Intake Air Control valve.It's on the front of the throttle body with a fairly large -+ 3/4 inch hose running into it.Use a can of spray carb cleaner to clean the IAC by removing the hose,sticking the little straw into the hose and putting the hose back on the T/B.Go ahead and use the whole can you can't get it too clean.Spraying the carb cleaner around suspected leak areas will cause the idle to either speed up or slow down and can tell you where to look.

Aragorn

thanks for your replies. pardon my ignorance on these newer engines, but what hoses and valve should i be looking at? I checked them all visually and don't see anything appearing damaged or worn. If you could edit this picture in paint or something showing where to look, I'd so appreciate it. thanks. i'm trying to get some knowledge on the subject before i take it in to a shop. don't trust them too much, and hopefully I won't have to take it if i can find the problem myself. thanks again.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2369/...7c77b894_b.jpg

kenv

+1^^

1fstblckgt

hope this helps.. didnt have much time, trying to get some work done around here... well at least when the boss is around.

[IMG]local://upfiles/80655/550CA5A198E84B15A467D94C9E104508.jpg[/IMG]

Aragorn

Thanks a lot guys. codes said there was an air leak like you all suspected. It ended up being at the throttle body. The one place you didn't circle fstblckgt. thanks for your advice though. I'm glad i didn't go replacing parts over a bad seal.

trickdriller

Where are you located? There are a lot of shops around the country that deal with just Mustangs and you can find a lot of help there. They only deal with one type of car and know all the little problems you wouldn't think of. That, and they don't charge much to work on them. If you post where you are, someone probably knows of a shop near you that can help if you have any problems with your wife's Stang and it wont cost you an arm and a let Welcome to the wonderful, tempermental world of Mustangs!!

1fstblckgt

haha.. sorry.. well glad to see you got it fixed.