sdougan

Bought my '86 LX convertible 7 years ago. It had 55,000 original km (not sure what that is in miles - sorry), which is VERY low. I've only put on an additional 40,000km. It purred like a kitten, until last Oct. It idles very badly (revving high, then so low it ALMOST stalls, then settles down, then almost stalls, ad infinitum). When I actually do drive it, it could go for 1 block before it chugs & hesitates so badly, I'm afraid the body will fall off, or it could go for 15 mins. on the highway before it does it. I have had it to a Ford dealership that had a breakout box for an '86 (not too many around), and they only came up with a problem with the ground, which they fixed. Car ran fine for about 10 mins. after I left, then started acting up again. Did a check on recalls, and in Canada, there was one for the Catalytic Converters. So back I went to the dealership, who told me mine was not original, and would charge me $1300 to replace. I towed it to my own mechanic, who replaced all THREE cats (yes, my year has 3) for $500. Still not working (although better). I've changed the plugs, wires, PCV valve. It's back at the mechanics, who's not sure what the problem is. Any ideas? It's spring & I want to GET ON THE ROAD!

GreyStang

I had an '86GT 5.0 (is yours a 5.0?) It was idling not too good, so I got a can of carb cleaner and took off the throttle bore & cleaned out all the carbon soot that had accumulated in there. That helped quite a bit. Try that if you haven't already.

sdougan

Actually, it's a 3.8L V6. I haven't tried putting in any types of cleaners. If the mechanics can't come up with anything, I'll try that. I was also thinking about fuel cleaner, or is that the same thing? Also bought some engine shampoo, but haven't used it yet. Some people don't think that's a good idea, but the engine is pretty disgusting looking right now.

redass02gt

I don't think engine shampoo will help your hesitation problem.

sdougan

I realize that. I was just thinking that with all the buildup on the engine, maybe it's clogging something. I'm just a chick, trying to keep my lil kitten running smoothly, and lookin' good. It's the first car I've every bought with my own money, and I always said, if I every buy a Ford, it would ONLY be a Mustang Convertible.

white_snake

try the choke
i used to have other crappy GM cars and they did that to me once in a while, they were both V6's (skylark, omega) an once and a while the choke would pop on for no reason, so that might be your problem, i fixed the problem with a big pair of pliers and ripped the damn thing off

sdougan

[:@]HEY - it's me! Is that it for the ideas? I would have thought a lot more 'stang owners would have come up against the problem, or even with a car that wasn't a 'stang. What about some kind of vacuum (which has been suggested by a friend), but I really don't know how to explain stuff to a mechanic. I really want to print out all the suggestions I get, and give it to the mechanic to see if there is something he hadn't thought of. PLEASE? [sm=feedback.gif]