Hello, I am 17 and I just bought (on my own) my first car. I got a 92 fastback, and it has more problems than I know how to handle. The good news is though I am willing to drop the money to make it right (Got it for $300 which left a good profit margin). The list of problems are as follows:

1) RPM gauge is stuck at around 4000 RPM. Every time I start the car it does this. And this will lead right into my next problem... The idle seems a little high, but struggles to stay at a certain level. I figured it was my idle air control valve (Wasnt EGR) but a second opinion would be nice.

2) When I shift to reverse or drive the car JUMPS. Not sure how to tell which tranny I have (Whether it be AOD, or a C model). I was first assuming it could be the PCV (Because a buddy of mine had the same issue and the PCV fixed his). But I am now led to believe it is the transmission (162000 miles) But a second opinion would again be nice.

3) Car LACKS and I mean lacks power. And besides that when I hit about 25-35 (3rd gear) the transmission will slip. Now given the fluid looks almost like motor oil, I am afraid to change it because I was told it could ruin whichever gear slips. I forgot to say it is an automatic.

These are all the problems I can think of. But any help would be nice.... Thanks

 

welcome to the wide world of auto repair and cheep mustangs.

here's my recomendations:

1. BUY A FACTORY REPAIR MANUAL ON EBAY - don't work on the car with anything else. All those cheap autoparts store manuals are barely worth the paper their printed on. It will be a 40-50 bux well spent.

2. A4LD trans: the guy that told u to leave the fluid alone was not your friend. I am. Change the fluid pronto, and make sure you use the specified fluid listed on the dipstick. I believe if u have a A4LD trans in your 92 so you probably need mercon/dexron type atf. Get a siphon hose and siphon out the fluid thru the dipstick tube. Measure how much you pulled out and replace that amount exactly. Then drive the car around the block and run it through all the gears including reverse. Then repeat the siphon process. Do this 3-4 times and your fluid should be clean enough to move on to the next step.

Adjust your intermediate band... this might be all you need. To do this, jack up the rear wheels and put the car in neutral. Loosen the locknut for the intermediate band (it's the nut and threaded rod thats sticking out of the trans just slightly to the rear of where the shift linkage is).
Back off the nut 3-4 turns while using a smaller wrench to keep the threaded rod from spinning.

Grab the driveshaft and turn it with your hand, then tighten the threaded rod (the rod not the locknut) until the driveshaft won't spin in one direction. Then back the rod out 3/4 of a turn and tighten the locknut, making sure you dont spin the rod while tightening.

3. If the tach needle is sticking, you might want to get a used instrument cluster and replace the tach. Sometimes u can get lucky and find where the needle is rubbing and fix the rub that makes the needle stick.

4. Regarding power and jumps... is the check engine light on? If so, running the codes will help point you in the right direction toward what needs help. You can read your codes without a code reader by grounding out the self test terminal (a single wire connector thats on the drivers side fenderwell right near the firewall) and turning the key on. http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/OBD_I.html

 

Welcome to the forums

1) For the sticking tach gauge, does the tach register 4k rpm with KOEO? or only when its running?

A non functional tach could be cause by several reasons - bad ICM (which would show up as a CEL code) or possibly a bad cluster.

For the high idle, first check all your vacuum hoses as well as gaskets and check for vacuum leaks. If your pretty confident you have no vacuum related issues, i would do a base idle reset and set your idle around 800rpm (do a search for the process). This would also be a great time to buy/borrow a vacuum gauge. Hooking up the vacuum gauge right away will show you if you have vacuum leaks or intake leaks ect...if you know how to read them

2) As stated above, you have an A4LD trans. This was not the greatest trans produced by Ford unfortunatley . The 'jumping' may be caused by your idle issues.

3) Just so you know, these 2.3 N/A's only pump out about 90HP with an auto. If your looking for performance, dont waste your time nor money on the 2.3 N/A engine. Do a 302 swap or find a 2.3T and drop that in.

If the trans fluid looks black, i would replace the filter and fluid and go from there. Usually black fluid (if it also smells 'burnt') is sometimes a sign for a rebuild due to the bands in the trans wearing out.

My advice to you would be to pull any CEL codes, then work on your idle issues. I would also think about a complete tune up too while your at it.

Hope this helps and dont be affraid to PM me if you have any other questions