Got a couple issues I'm curious about and hoping to save an expense to get it checked.

1. When starting my car in the morning, it has a really rough start. It'll crank for about 3-4 seconds with power behind it, and then it'll cough a bit and start. It won't do this again until the next morning's cold start and starts beautifully all day even if I sit at work for 10 hours and not starting it. I've replaced the spark plugs and the battery + alternator are new so I'm assuming it's a fuel line problem. I'm going to replace my fuel filter later today or tomorrow afternoon when I get the chance and see if that helps a bit but if not, I'm curious if it's the fuel pump beginning to go? I also feel like sometimes I don't have very much power. She can haul *** sometimes and then really struggle during other times. My friend told me this is common in the Summer (AC is not on during this by the way). That would make sense though because this didn't start until the heat came. Was runnin' perfectly in the Winter. Also running 5W30 oil when I'm supposed to be doing 10W30 in the Summer. Gonna be changin' that out soon as well.

2. When I start the car in the morning, it'll squeal for about 10 seconds and then stop. Every now and then if it sits long enough at work it'll squeal a little bit then too. I replaced the serpentine belt with a Gatorback to see if it'd remedy the issue and to no prevail. I checked the pulleys and they seem to be fine and not wearing out, so I'm not sure what's causin' it.

3. My steering wheel shakes/vibrates pretty heavily sometimes. It's a bit hard to reproduce the issue, but I notice it a lot when going down hill or when I'm cruising. It also does it quite a bit on the highway. My friend said my rack & pinion bushings are worn and that's what's causing it but that's apparently a pain in the *** to change and I'm not sure what all to buy really. If it helps any, I can be driving down the highway and turn my wheel about 2-3 inches left and right and still go straight. I don't think that's a very good sign, eh?

Those are my current concerns, but I do have one quick question that I haven't really been able to find any information on at all online.

1. Sometimes when I start my car, it'll make a deep beep sound once, then pause for awhile and do it again 2-3 times. It's not a seat belt beep sound or ding because my belt is in, and the door is closed. The car is also fully started with this happens. Why is it making that sound? I haven't been able to find anything online or in the owner's manual about it. It's kind of eerie.

Any input would be fantastic, I'm just trying to diagnose any major issues before they become a problem as this commuter is really important this year until I can buy a new car next year.

Thanks for the help in advance, I truly appreciate it.

 

1. Quite possibly the fuel pump. But change your filter first. I can't remember if you said you changed plug wires. Do that if not.

2. When you changed the belt did you clean the pulleys? If you have a squeeling belt its a good idea to hit them with a fine grit sandpaper. Prevents the new belt from being glazed over.

3. Sounds like tie rods or ball joints.

As far as the beeps go, do you have any lights on your dash flashing or on? Have you done a code pull?

 

1. I always change the spark plug wires when I change the spark plugs.

2. I did not clean the pulleys, no. I just pulled off the old belt and put on the new one. Is there any way to take it off and clean them now or is the new belt already permanently glazed over?

3. Any idea how hard that is to replace in my car or how much it'd cost for a shop to do it?

4. I have a the service engine light on and it's been on since I bought the car. However, we pulled the code when I bought the car and it was something to do with the emissions air or something. I forget what it was so I'll have to re-do that, but it was the least worrying of codes if I remember correctly. Also if I'm not mistaken, the Service Engine Line in a Mustang only displays issues with emissions and not engine issues right? I think I read that in my manual awhile back.

 

The check engine light most certainly does give engine issues.

Not had much luck with trying to clean belts once they are glazed, you might be able to sand it a bit as well.

replacing tie rods isn't to hard but unless you have some big clamps or a press you're more than likely going to need to carry it to a shop.

After replacing the tie rods you will need an alignment. FRONT ONLY. Don't let a shop talk you into a 4 wheel alignment. You cannot adjust or change anything to do with the rear on a solid axel car unless you have aftermarket control arms. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you don't.

 

I did my Tie Rods last week and needed a pipe wrench to get both of them off. But that was because I didn't have a 1 1/2 wrench. It was actually pretty easy if you read up on it. The Ball Joints were 2 weeks ago and they were a hassle. You'd need to rent a ball joint puller, a breaker bar, and a strong person to pop them out and put them in. In all, it took about 8 hours to do but it was good to learn and a LOT cheaper. And yes, get an alignment after!