2002 Mustang V6- Modifications/Help!
10-16-2009, 10:32 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: NC
Posts: 16
2002 Mustang V6- Modifications/Help!
Hey guys, I'm kinda new to the forum, so please bare with me! I bought my first stang in 2007, White 2002 V6, I cant remember much from when I first bought it, but I got it with about 125K miles on it, and after doing a few things to it, it ran like a dream and was pretty fast, since then the power has been decreasing, The tranny fluid and rear axle fluid hasn't been changed, please ask me questions so that you can better help me! The car now is very near to its 150K mark (2200) miles, I missed my 3000K oil change which I plan on doing this weekend hopefully (Put seafoam in the crankcase today, drain it so it gets all the sludge out, only concern is I have a leak at my rear main seal, which is gonna cost to fix, so now im only measuring the oil and I have put a thicker oil weight) so I will go by points but please help me! I can't see my baby die!
2002 V6
-Near 150K
-All stock- New duralast battery last year, My alternator seems bad so I am changing that soon (And suggestions?)
-I want to get a cold air intake (not trying to spend the $230 on the K&N but whats the next best? or somethin on a budget
-I know im not trying to spend much and the more I spend the faster the car will be, I am not going to race it, dyno or anything like that, I just want it to look good, feel good, and drive good, also to last
-If I do decide to sell it, I want it to be easy to sell, although I want it to last so I need to make that happen
-Don't think I want to do the exhaust or anything, maybe add a turbo or something, as you can see I'm basically at square 1.
-Im good with working on cars and I know a lot of shops that specialize in mustangs but before I go in to any, cause I do most of the work myself, I wanted to see what needed to be done.
-Please go into detail with everything that needs to be changed, (fuel filter, o2 sensors etc.)
Thanks,
Again please bear with me!!
2002 V6
-Near 150K
-All stock- New duralast battery last year, My alternator seems bad so I am changing that soon (And suggestions?)
-I want to get a cold air intake (not trying to spend the $230 on the K&N but whats the next best? or somethin on a budget
-I know im not trying to spend much and the more I spend the faster the car will be, I am not going to race it, dyno or anything like that, I just want it to look good, feel good, and drive good, also to last
-If I do decide to sell it, I want it to be easy to sell, although I want it to last so I need to make that happen
-Don't think I want to do the exhaust or anything, maybe add a turbo or something, as you can see I'm basically at square 1.
-Im good with working on cars and I know a lot of shops that specialize in mustangs but before I go in to any, cause I do most of the work myself, I wanted to see what needed to be done.
-Please go into detail with everything that needs to be changed, (fuel filter, o2 sensors etc.)
Thanks,
Again please bear with me!!
10-17-2009, 10:25 AM
#2
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 56
Depends on your budget. With any ford car near or over its 120k, prepare for the tranny to blow. I mentioned this in another thread, ford transmissions die about every 60k miles.
Before anything major, make sure you have some money set aside for major repairs, just incase. (sucks to spend $500 on exhaust then have your head gasket blow...)
Transmission aside here are some good places to start.
-CAI. Go to American Muscle, they have a great CAI for ~$75
-If you dont have records of when the oil filter was changed, replace that too. You can either do it yourself or take it to a shop and spend $15.
-With a car at 130k, its probably time to change the spark plugs. Might aswell change the wireing while your at it.
-Check your brake pads to see if they need to be replaced. Most repair manuals show you how to do this.
-If you have/will have the money for a turbo, I would'nt reccomend buying one for a car with 150k on it. Just my opinion but its like giving a 90 yr old a ferrari... Sure it'l be fun, but it wont last. Save the money for your next car instead.
-Remember tuners aswell, Im sure someone else here knows more about these than I do so I'll let them explain.
Probably the best and cheapest thing to do for your car is a good detailing.
Take 4 hours+ and give your car the attention it deserves. In reality, people are far more impressed with a spotlessly clean, detailed car, than they are with a filthy 300hp+. Nothing beats a washed, polished, clayed and waxed car...nothing. After you finish the outside, spend some time detailing the interior, clean all the carpet, upholstry (or leather), and the glass. Not only will this impress people, but you will enjoy your car much more when it is in pristine condition. For that extra touch, give the engine a good clean too.
On the more expensive end of things, exhaust would be my first choice (after the CAI). It gives your car a nice powerfull sound aswell as adding a few hp. After that its prety budget-dependent, most of the members here have more experiance than I from this point on, listen to them from here out.
Before anything major, make sure you have some money set aside for major repairs, just incase. (sucks to spend $500 on exhaust then have your head gasket blow...)
Transmission aside here are some good places to start.
-CAI. Go to American Muscle, they have a great CAI for ~$75
-If you dont have records of when the oil filter was changed, replace that too. You can either do it yourself or take it to a shop and spend $15.
-With a car at 130k, its probably time to change the spark plugs. Might aswell change the wireing while your at it.
-Check your brake pads to see if they need to be replaced. Most repair manuals show you how to do this.
-If you have/will have the money for a turbo, I would'nt reccomend buying one for a car with 150k on it. Just my opinion but its like giving a 90 yr old a ferrari... Sure it'l be fun, but it wont last. Save the money for your next car instead.
-Remember tuners aswell, Im sure someone else here knows more about these than I do so I'll let them explain.
Probably the best and cheapest thing to do for your car is a good detailing.
Take 4 hours+ and give your car the attention it deserves. In reality, people are far more impressed with a spotlessly clean, detailed car, than they are with a filthy 300hp+. Nothing beats a washed, polished, clayed and waxed car...nothing. After you finish the outside, spend some time detailing the interior, clean all the carpet, upholstry (or leather), and the glass. Not only will this impress people, but you will enjoy your car much more when it is in pristine condition. For that extra touch, give the engine a good clean too.
On the more expensive end of things, exhaust would be my first choice (after the CAI). It gives your car a nice powerfull sound aswell as adding a few hp. After that its prety budget-dependent, most of the members here have more experiance than I from this point on, listen to them from here out.
Last edited by Mirage; 10-17-2009 at 10:27 AM. Reason: *sigh...spellcheck
10-17-2009, 10:34 AM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: NC
Posts: 16
My transmission has been somewhat slipping, I have a rear main seal leak, so I am just lookin out for those problems, (gonna cost a lot 
)
Hah, Trust me, I have already cleaned the engine, undercarrige, outside, and inside, full stages of everything, just the rims are old and the paint needs some work, but theres no way anyone could tell how many miles are on it!
I do all the tuneups, all the oilchanges, and filters
I am planning on buying that CAI from AM
But I was talking about things that need to be changed that people normally dont think about, such as o2 sensors, pulleys, things of that nature. Thanks!
)Hah, Trust me, I have already cleaned the engine, undercarrige, outside, and inside, full stages of everything, just the rims are old and the paint needs some work, but theres no way anyone could tell how many miles are on it!
I do all the tuneups, all the oilchanges, and filters
I am planning on buying that CAI from AM
But I was talking about things that need to be changed that people normally dont think about, such as o2 sensors, pulleys, things of that nature. Thanks!
10-17-2009, 10:53 AM
#4
4th Gear Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,605
I disagree with the ford transmission breaking at 120k miles. My car has 156k miles and the only problem i have with the stock t5 is that when i shift to second it sometimes grinds. Another example of a high mileage ford trans is my uncles 2000 f150 has 4wd and 250-275k miles(give or take 5k) on the stock automatic trans with no slipping or anything what so ever.
10-17-2009, 11:51 AM
#5
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: RI
Posts: 5,453
a. With any ford car near or over its 120k, prepare for the tranny to blow. I mentioned this in another thread, ford transmissions die about every 60k miles.
b.Nothing beats a washed, polished, clayed and waxed car...nothing.
c.On the more expensive end of things, exhaust would be my first choice (after the CAI). It gives your car a nice powerfull sound aswell as adding a few hp.
B. One that has been washed, clayed, compounded, buffed, polished then waxed does.
C. If hes going turbo I wouldn't do much exhaust work because you will probably have to modify your exhaust to fit the dp's from the new headers/turbo setup.
10-17-2009, 07:18 PM
#6
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 56
Well its nice to see that ford's transmissions are getting better. Most of my experiance are with pre-2000 models (mostly sedans). They might be using better trannys now.
Just my two cents but if it were me, I would save up for a new-ish (under 60k) stang instead of spending mega-bucks on upgrades. I dont know how things are where you live, but where I am I can see getting $6000 for a spotlessly clean 02 (sell it yourself to some dumbass highschooler). Add the ~$2000 you save from turbo and your halfway to an 05 GT... Again, thats just me. (Turbo on a V6 is prety badass though
)
Just my two cents but if it were me, I would save up for a new-ish (under 60k) stang instead of spending mega-bucks on upgrades. I dont know how things are where you live, but where I am I can see getting $6000 for a spotlessly clean 02 (sell it yourself to some dumbass highschooler). Add the ~$2000 you save from turbo and your halfway to an 05 GT... Again, thats just me. (Turbo on a V6 is prety badass though
)
10-17-2009, 07:31 PM
#7
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: South FL
Posts: 8,540
Mustangs come with a Tremec T5 stock. I've never had an issue with one.... had 7 Mustangs and close to 200K on all of them.
Mustangs in NC must be made of gold. A stock sixer isn't worth much. I put my SC'd highly modded V6 Roush up for sale for $7500 and didn't get anything but tire kickers.
Mustangs in NC must be made of gold. A stock sixer isn't worth much. I put my SC'd highly modded V6 Roush up for sale for $7500 and didn't get anything but tire kickers.
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