Hello everyone. this is the first time I am posting in the V-6 section of this site, but I have some serious v-6 questions that I would really need answered.

I have a 1986 Mustang LX t-roof hatch. ( I bought the car really cheap, has a solid body and is pretty straight as well as complete) Well, my Mustang has the 3.8 V6 coupled to what i believe to be is a c4 auto. car is fed by a Central Fuel Injection system(CFI) when I bought the car it barely ran and had to be towed to my house. the odometer has rolled over twice. turned out the problem was that the valves were clogged with carbon and it had a blown headgasket. well, over this past summer I replaced the headgaskets, cleaned the heads, replaced the radiator and altenator as well as the voltage regulator. for some reason the owner before me had just put new pistion bearings (main cap bearings were not touched. well, got the car up and running and I have to say she does run roughly, but much better than before. currently she does not have a thermostat in her (had a problem with overheating when I first bought it) and I was wondering if there was any tuning my mechanic could do to her to make her run smoothly. I need to keep the sixer in for a while, as I have to find and build up a v-8 for her.

I was wondering if anyone knows more about the '86 3.8 than I do, as I want to drive the car as soon as I can. the car's exhaust is clear, does not use any oil, but is just horribly out of tune. (may be timing as well) I dont know if she is running hot because her temp gauge is reading zero as is the oil pressure gauge. I think they are broken due to bad sensors or broken wires.

on a additional note, when I first ran the car after I rebuilt the parts, it ran really rough, but as I found vaccumn leaks and plugged back in the o2 sensors and put back on the aircleaner she ran a little better. so would some more tuning get her back into good order. she currently idles just below 1,000 rpm, but sometimes she will hike up to about 1200-1300 after you rev it up to 2000rpm...

I'm just a little baffled and want to flush out the reamining problems, as I want to have her on the road asI build up the v8 I have yet to buy.

I hope I provided enough info.

thanks,
-Shelty

 

the fuel injectors may need cleaned or replaced.

1 easy thing to do is replace the CFI with a 2bbl carb or get a 4bbl carb from www.moranav6racing.com

you need to get the oilpressure sensor ficed and a thermostat in that car ASAP.

did you change the plugs and wires and cap and rotor?? they may all be bad and is causing the rough running or if you did change them did you put the plug wires back in the correct fireing order as that will make it run rough also.you can loosen the distributor hold down fork and slowly turn the distributor counterclockwise or clockwise and listen for any change in smoothness. this is what a mechanic does for tuning but with a timing light. generally you can do it by ear

 

I changed the plugs thus far, I properly gapped them and everything, I didnt get new wires, cap or rotor, I was crunched for time during the summer (college came up quick) but I have spring break in a week and a half, so I'll be doing then.

would I use a pin and brake fluid to clean the injectors? or is there a special injector cleaner out there?

also, where are the sensors for the temp and oil pressure? I would do the work myself to save money if I could find them.lol

would an A/C delete pulley for a 302 work with the 3.8's brackets? the AC line fittings on my car are crapped out and dont hold a charge, and since I have t-tops I rarely will ever use the A/C anyway... never gets too hot in NE PA...

 

it gets hot in sw pa for sure. one thing you can do is probably take the back half of the compressor off the AC and leave the front clutch hub on the front half of the compressor. it reall isn't hurting anything being there not working anyways so i really wouldn't touch it.

get a bottle of Seafoam from Advance auto and put the bottle in the tank. this will clean the injectors good enough but they may still be bad anyways.

wires and cap and rotor are most likely your problem if you haven't changed them. they are not expensive so try those first if the seafoam doesn't help out.

if you ever want performance parts www.moranav6racing.com makes mid length headers for your car as well as cams 4bbl intakes and ported heads. 200rwhp-220rwhp is not out of the question but being low on funds seems to be the 3.8 stang curse

 

I know about the low on funds deal right now college aint cheap, but this summer I'll be working two jobs so I'll rake in the dough.

thanks for the info, never heard of the seafoam stuff, it won't harm the aluminum heads or intake will it? I may also switch out the fuel filter. where is that located on a fox? my guess is back by the tank... and if the injectors aren't expensive, I may just buy those too...

I'm not going to do any real mods to my current engine, as I am focusing mostly on the chassis, brakes and suspension first, and I'm going to source a nice roller V-8 as soon as I can. I used the V-6 to learn on how to work on engines, and want to get my hands on a big bad V-8

I thank you for the info. I'm probally going to have my mechanic look at the oil pressure sensor, as I dont know where it is...I can swap out the thermostat no problem, that takes about half an hour after I drain the radiator...

 

good be a cloged fuel line too

 

yeah, when I get back home I'll peek under the rear of my car and poke around to see how sound the tank is. It came from jersey originally all that salt[:'(]though she is solid, went underneath her with a magnet and it stuck everywhere...

I'll swap out the fuel filter if I get a chance, not too sure where it is though, so I'll have to hunt around.

I cant wait to get her on the road, she is a good step up from the haggard old buick I am driving...