MSC2013

sorry to bother you but i have a question about my boyfriends 95 Mustang 5.0 v8 I drive. He's neither a car enthusiast nor mechanic but is insistent on not listening to me about problems i'm having with the car.
I doubt this is causing the current problem since it's running bad for 3 years but i think it’s important to mention: there’s been 1 major tune-up (2010) and he is 6-7 months behind on oil change, new filter and whatever else that’s supposed to be done regularly. Important note: we live in Las Vegas where regular summer temps are 105-112, A/C does not work and got really hot(but i doubt over-heated) 1 time. My b/f has not let the car warm up anymore. He just gets in and goes. I read something about “detonation” and “pre-ignition” can cause damage to head gasket. Our van currently has a damaged head gasket.

A new clutch was put in 2011 but the car never seemed the same since. The clutch broke a 2nd time (1/3/13) and the new clutch sucks. There is no resistance to the pedal and i have to put all my pressure on the pedal to change gears. My b/f was told there’s a clutch cable/line that will need to be replaced very soon. FYI an 18-wheeler mechanic fixed the car.

MOST of these problems exhisted prior to the 2nd clutch breaking and are now worse:
1. Car barely stays running after starting it. I have to immediately press ALL the way down on the new clutch and hit the gas (usually RPM above 1200). Warming the car takes 6-8 minutes. I’ve never let it cut off after starting it, but I do not believe that it will stay running w/o pressing in the clutch AND revving the engine. Only pushing in the clutch will not keep it running.

2. Oil and battery gauge sway high/low while car struggles to stay running. Even while revving engine, the gauges will sway. The engine feels like it’s shaking harder than normal.

3. Upon take off, the car sputters and back fires and barely accelerates. I have to push the clutch pedal all the way in and rev the engine. It will back fire and bogg down even in 3rd-4th gear on the freeway. It eventually goes away after 45 seconds of 60-70mph.

4. Acceleration is worse. The acceleration will pick up and drop even at 60-70 mph on the freeway. I have to drop gears in order to stay at the same speed prior to going up the hill. Despite how much gas i give it, the car will not accelerate until it’s “given” itself enough time to catch up. And then i go zooming away like I hit the NOS button.

MSC2013

Also, I've browsed this forum for the last 4 hours looking for answers. I read something about "module" and "distributor" so i'll keep that in mind. But please, i do not understand any abbreviations or acronyms you use I'll do my best to answer your questions and maybe my boyfriend will kindly pass your questions and suggestions to the mechanic.

Mike T

There's a laundry list of things that could be wrong with your car. First, make sure it doesn't have any vacuum leaks. The timing also needs to be checked. There's a timing plug at the end of a harness by the distributor that needs to be removed to properly check it. The harmonic balancer needs to be marked with chalk on the 14 degree mark before top dead center and the plug reinstalled after setting the timing. A bad EGR valve will also cause it to run rough.