What maintenance to do, Stangs been sitting.

[tumblintiger]

Hey guys, over the summer i was looking to put my 1996 GT back on the road, i bought it right before collage back in 2002. Long story short graduated with in debt no money, got a job, bought a house, got married, had a baby. I really didn't get a chance to do much of anything to her since 2007 or so and then once i bought a hose she got put away. So I figured after almost 3 years it was time to put her back on the road.

The car has been sitting in the garage for all that time and i would go out and start it up every now and then to keep things moving, until the starter stopped working. So the first order of business was to change that out and put a battery in. Well done and done as of last month. She just needs an inspection and then I'm good to go. But the gosh darn check engine light keeps coming on. First it was an O2 sensor, which i changed, and now its a misfire on cylinder 3.

So I decided to do some much needed maintenance on her. So far I've got a
fuel filter
plugs
wires
radiator hoses
thermostat
and pcv valve
I was also going to flush the brake and coolant systems.

Now for the questions.
Is there anything else i should consider doing some maintenance on?
Is it worth replacing the distributers?
What oil, oil filter and brake fluid are good these days?

Im hoping to just enjoy the car for now while i try and decide how crazy of a project this will become, God damn emotional attachment to inanimate objects.

These are the modifications i have done to the car.
Shorty headers
catted x-pipe
flow master force II mufflers
under drive pulleys
CAI
Throttle Body
Light weight fly wheel
Re-built T45
Short throw shifter
3.73s

 

[Rallim]

Think you've got most of it covered. Just flush the coolant, good fuel cleaner, and you're pretty much good to go I'd say. I'd take a look under the car to make sure some rubber pieces havn't deteriorated a bunch from sitting, and check the tires to make sure they won't asplode from sitting so long.

 

[tumblintiger]

thanks for the reply.

Good idea to check the other rubber under the car. I didn't even think about that. the tires on the other hand I checked and are in decent shape. The only other problem i came across was a coolant leak. Looks like its from the intake manifold, cant tell if its cracked or just a bad gasket. So im just going to order a new stock one with gaskets.

Any good fuel cleaners you could recommend?

 

[Suek]

thanks for the reply.

Good idea to check the other rubber under the car. I didn't even think about that. the tires on the other hand I checked and are in decent shape. The only other problem i came across was a coolant leak. Looks like its from the intake manifold, cant tell if its cracked or just a bad gasket. So im just going to order a new stock one with gaskets.

Any good fuel cleaners you could recommend?

Hi, I used Chevron Techron with a full tank. It helps the fuel sender this way too. Mine was stored all winter and the the sender wasn't moving very well
. Sulfur from gas also does a number on it. Some say Seafoam either through the engine (vacuum line) or the gas tank. I did the tank one, I didn't see a difference. Techron yes. I also changed my fuel filter and you wouldn't believe the black stuff that came out. While you're under there look at your brake lines. I think you covered quite a bit. :thumbsup:

 

[the5.ohh]

New cap & rotor would be cheap to freshen up.

 

[KillNThrill24]

Ouch sitting since 07-ish your lucky thats all you needed to replace. I take it you kept it in a garage? I had one of my cars stored outside before it was given to me, for a year and the amount of rusted out, dry rotted parts, was astounding. Your a lucky man! And congrats on getting back into the game finally haha.

Go over everything and make sure you don't have any cracked or dry rotted vacuum lines, fuel lines aren't rusted, if it wasn't done do plugs/wires, aaaaand my mind is drawing a blank but it sounds like other than those few things you got everything else taken care of. Definitely do the coolant flush and for a fuel cleaner I've had good luck with the Lucas full system cleaner they have

 

[tumblintiger]

Ouch sitting since 07-ish your lucky thats all you needed to replace. I take it you kept it in a garage? I had one of my cars stored outside before it was given to me, for a year and the amount of rusted out, dry rotted parts, was astounding. Your a lucky man! And congrats on getting back into the game finally haha.

Go over everything and make sure you don't have any cracked or dry rotted vacuum lines, fuel lines aren't rusted, if it wasn't done do plugs/wires, aaaaand my mind is drawing a blank but it sounds like other than those few things you got everything else taken care of. Definitely do the coolant flush and for a fuel cleaner I've had good luck with the Lucas full system cleaner they have

Yeah I kept it in a garage. I was even surprised when I changed the starter how decent everything looked, but that was only the front end, I didnt get a chance to look at the back so i'll put that on my to do list. There are some things im going to have to replace in the future but I'm really looking to just get rid of rotted and broken stuff and things that will make the check engine light go away.

Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[RichV]

New cap & rotor would be cheap to freshen up.

It's a 4.6, no cap/rotor or distributor. I haven't had issues of ignition components going bad on mod motors. But I think if you pull codes and use that as a guide you can't go wrong.

Also, if you haven't run the old crappy fuel through it, I'd probably do that before you install any new stuff.

 

[mcglsr2]

You'll probably need new wiper blades too. And maybe not exactly a fuel cleaner, but I would run a can of Seafoam (you can get it at NAPA, AutoZone, etc) in your tank, for 2 or 3 fill ups. It'll help clean out crap like built up carbon and stuff in your fuel system. You could also run the Seafoam straight through your intake. It'll probably smoke pretty bad out the tail pipe - this is normal.

 

[the5.ohh]

It's a 4.6, no cap/rotor or distributor. I haven't had issues of ignition components going bad on mod motors. But I think if you pull codes and use that as a guide you can't go wrong.

Also, if you haven't run the old crappy fuel through it, I'd probably do that before you install any new stuff.

Ah forgot the 4.6s dont have that lol

 

[tumblintiger]

So I got the plugs and wires over the weekend and was giving the engine bay a once over, definately need hoses they felt a little on the spongey side. Anyways I I turned the head lights and one seemed dimmer than the other. So i pulled the bulb and the socket and found whats in the picture below, any ideas what could cause this?

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[mcglsr2]

Looks like it shorted. Not idea how though. :dunno:

 

[lutter94]

You'll probably need new wiper blades too. And maybe not exactly a fuel cleaner, but I would run a can of Seafoam (you can get it at NAPA, AutoZone, etc) in your tank, for 2 or 3 fill ups. It'll help clean out crap like built up carbon and stuff in your fuel system. You could also run the Seafoam straight through your intake. It'll probably smoke pretty bad out the tail pipe - this is normal.

Please explain how he got any carbon into his fuel system......

 

[mcglsr2]

Please explain how he got any carbon into his fuel system......

From before it was sitting. How old are these cars? I wasn't suggesting it would solve his problems. He said the car has been sitting, what are good things to do. Running Seafoam through the system IMO is a good thing to do. :shrug:

 

[Chipmunkz]

Check all your rubber bushings, they are bad at rotting

 

[lutter94]

From before it was sitting. How old are these cars? I wasn't suggesting it would solve his problems. He said the car has been sitting, what are good things to do. Running Seafoam through the system IMO is a good thing to do. :shrug:

Oh I agree that seafoam is good to do. I just don't think its actual carbon he will be removing by using seafoam in the fuel tank. Vacuum system yes. I like to buy two cans, dump one in a full tank, half in the oil pan and run a 100 miles or so before changing the oil. Then suck the other half into the vacuum system, brake master line seems to be the easiest.

 

[FivepointSlow]

Well my car was in an accident in 2007 and sat in the same spot, uncovered, outside until I bought it and towed it to my house in 2011. Did not get it running until a few months ago. I'll list hat I had to change, but I'm pretty sure some of this wasn't just from it sitting, but was mostly caused by a super shitty and lazy previous owner.

New fuel tank (old one had cancerous rust throughout... no holes though)
New fuel pump
New fuel pump assembly
New fuel sending unit
Grommets and seals for the tank.
New spark plugs
New spark plug wires
New distributor cap
New coil pack
New PCV valve and mesh screen
New vacuum lines (replaced all soft lines, didn't touch the straw thin hard lines)
Battery
Ignition cylinder
Intake (PCV valve clogged causing blow by oil to get into the intake, intake tubing as so gunked up I just got a CAI to replace)
I'm going to be ordering a new idler pulley after posting this, the bearings on mine locked up
Need a new altenator
I have a new belt
I did a coolant flush
I had to change the oil 3 times so far with no miles put on, just from it idling. The oil under the valve covers as chunky and I actually just got in there with a shop vac and sucked it out
I need new rocker arms (2 have some play in them and are causing a knocking sounds, and OEM ones arent adjustable)
I'm going to be putting in pushrods, lifters, a cam and valve springs while I am in there.
And the tires that where on my car had dry rot like crazy.

Like I said most of that was from the previous owner and the fact it was in an accident. But those are all things you should check. Popping your belt off and checking your pulleys can't hurt. I snapped my old belt when I first got my car running because the idler pulley had locked up.