rar190

I have a 1990 Mustang LX. It is an original 5.0 car with 12,000 miles. It HAD the follow modifications: 410 gears, JBA headers, H-Pipe with no cats, Flow Master exhaust, larger fuel pump, TCI Super Street Fighter torque converter, B&M Shift Kit, 160 degree thermostat, underdrive pullies, March Ram Air Kit, BBK 65 mm throttle body, 73 mm Vortech Mass Air Housing, sub-frame connectors, 90/10 struts, 50/50 shocks, Southside Lift Bars.

With this setup the car ran mid 13s in the quarter mile. Then the following modifications were made: Trick Flow Top End Kit (heads, cam, aluminum roller rockers, intake), 24 lb injectors, strut tower bar, aluminum radiator, electric fan.

I took the car out for a quick test drive. When I launched the car before the Trick Flow kit, it would hardly spin the tires due to the suspension changes. I launched the car like at the track with the Trick Flow kit installed (brake stand at about 2200 rpm) and I almost put the car into a ditch. I was shocked at how hard the car launched.

I didn’t have the spacer tool to set the line pressure with the TV cable, so I took it to a garage for the adjustment. While it was there they told me I had a vacuum leak. They fixed it. When I picked it up the car had antifreeze all over the ground. They had not turned on the electric fan when performing a test drive. When I drove it, it ran like a dog. It had no power at low rpm.

I finally figured out that part of the problem was that the vacuum hoses were hooked up to the vacuum tree incorrectly. They lined it up to one of the plugged lines. This settled out the cars idle and made it seem to run well. I had my friend perform a vacuum leak check (he has the equipment) and he found none.

Now the car will only chirp the tires on launch. It opens up when rpm climbs to around 3500 rpm. I have tried the follow to trouble shoot this problem individually: minimize vacuum to the essentials, maximize fuel pressure, block off my EGR valve, unplug O2 sensor, unplug MAF sensor, compression test, putting on a friend’s Pro-M MAF and induction tube, etc.

I have run the engine codes a few times between computer resets. Right now I am only getting codes associated with the EGR valve. Prior to that I had an O2 sensor indicating lean (only for a short time). I did confirm this by checking the plugs which were white.

The other thing about it that is odd is that when I first reconnect the battery with the car cold, it will light the tires up through second gear. After a minute or two, it goes back to only chirping the tires upon launch.

I think that the car is not getting enough fuel and the injectors are not staying open long enough. I know that the transmission pressure is adjusted correctly as I did it myself with a gauge. Trick flow recommended a tune, but I don’t see why it ran so well on a test drive and not now.

Does anyone have any ideas? I am pretty much out of them.

dawson1112

Take it back to them and tell em to fix it..

Bottom line is they should have left well enough alone, and I would have told them to leave the vacuum line alone. Sounds like a bunch of monkeys ****ing a bowling ball to me.

Now that I think about it, don't take it back lol ... I think they took it out and beat the **** out of it, ( can I say that on here **** ) .

Since they had the intake off , they had the dizzy out of it. Check your timing, and also make sure all your plug wires are in the correct firing order.

ANnnnd since they had the intake off and there was coolant all over under the car Im assuming they didn't bother draining the radiator before they pulled it off, so you may want to check for the presence of coolant in your oil.

rar190

Part of the problem is that I had it to that shop years ago. I have been trying to fix this for a long time.

I thought they took it out and ran it, too. According to the customer service guy, it was one of their older technicians who took it out. The guy who did the vacuum leak "fix" was someone else. It just so happens that I met someone who used to work in the garage. He said he knew who the transmission guy was and he was trust worthy. He also said the second guy didn't know what he was doing.

The adjustment should not have required taking the intake off. I had all the plugs out and they looked ok. The wires are properly aligned. The oil has been changed since then with no signs of water entry. The compression test I ran had equal pressure to all cylinders.

That same mechanic who helped me really knows his stuff. He has been doing this since the late 60's and is an avid racer. He thinks that a chip will fix it.

64bit

a real tune will certainly help, assuming the car is mechanically sound.

Your main issue is that you do not have any clue what the computer is doing. You may be running too rich/lean and the computers adaptive learning strategy could be trying to adjust for it, which in your case is likely causing you more problems than it is helping. I would highly suggest you find a MUSTANG SPECIFIC shop and bring it there.

If you were closer, I'd tell you to swing by my garage and I'd straighten it out for you.

rar190

Another update: I tried a different air temperature and coolant temperature sensor which made no difference.

I was thinking about getting a Bama tune in the spring.

64bit

bama tune wont help you. bring it to a shop and get dyno tuned.

rar190

Why won't a Bama tune help? I know it is not as accurate as a dyno tune, but it should put the computer in a better position.

64bit

No, Bama tunes are utter and complete crap. I can tell you that I have realistically retuned about 30-40 bama tuned chips just in the last year.