Engine trouble :(

75

Asked by Rowdy79 Jun 29, 2014 at 04:40 PM about the 1999 Ford Mustang Coupe RWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Hey guys, I'm New here so I'll try to
keep this simple and maybe get
some help. I'm no mechanic by far
but growing up, I was a "daddy's
girl" so I learned a few things about
engines and how they somewhat
work. Any way, a few weeks back I
traded my Chevy Avalanche 5.3 V8
for a 35th anniversary edition 99
mustang 3.8l V6 w/ 121504 miles on
it cause I was thinking with gas
prices being as they are, surely i'd do
better with a smaller engine and gas
tank. Was told it had a new clutch,
pressure plates and throw out
bearing and shifted good except for
the squeal that what stop if i applyed
slight pressure to the clutch. Ran
great for about 4 days or so and I
realized after filling my tank up, I only
had 1/4th left and only driven167
miles. Then I noticed white smoke
whenever i'd crank the car and black
if I reved it up so i changed my air
filter, checked the coolant and oil,
which I had to add 2 quarts of and let
it sit over night to cool so i could
repeat the process in the morning.
Same thing except this time my
service engine light came on and
would start flashing while I was
driving. Took it by O'Reilly's to have
tested and it read misfire on 1&3 so i
bought plugs and wires and changed
them, which was not fun by the way,
cranked right up and still smoke but
light was off. Next day, same thing,
light on, white smoke. Took PCV off,
cleaned it. Took EGR off, cleaned it,
glad I did, it was bad clogged.
Sanded it down and painted, yes I
painted it. Lol (Rustolium High Heat
Black) at this point I may have 200
miles on it and have had to add $10
in gas. so again, light off drive a little
bit, car starts loosing horse power,
light back on so back to O'REILLY's I
go. Misfiring1&3 again so this time I
put a coil pack, check my firing order
to make sure the wires are in the
correct position, cranks a little better
but still loosing horsepower, spitting
and sputtering, can't run AC so i call
the car lot and they send me to their
mechanic who basically tells me I've
done all I can, stop wasting my
money, I need a rebuild or engine
replacement. Sorry for the long
introduction but can somebody steer
me in the right direction? Oh and
cats are good, no exhaust leaks
although to me it seems to be
running hot inside and out even
though temp gauge says A-ok. Could
this possibly be cylinder damage?
Thanks

12 Answers

200,915

White smoke out the exhaust is typically a blown head gasket. Inspect your spark plugs. Do they smell like coolant? Does your oil look like a milkshake? Is there oil in your coolant? If yes to any of these you probably have a blown head gasket. This would also explain the poor gas mileage and misfires on one and three.

3 people found this helpful.

Next would be compression check on all, not just 1 & 3. Valves.

1 people found this helpful.
144,735

I agree with dandy all so,but add one more thing to his,may check your intake gasket,may be blowed, Good luck with it.

1 people found this helpful.
75

Thanks these are all helpful but @ dandyoun, I have checked for all of the above and none of that is present, at idle it's just a more noticable gas smell. I've also noticed that is a hard tap/clank type noise passanger side towards rear of engine where 3 is at and a kinda rumble type noise as if I have back flow or exhaust leak. The closer I got to the door the louder it got so I layed on the ground and my cat looks extremely rusted. So now I'm thinking more on exhaust side of things. The loud clank noise and shaking engine both stop when I raise the RPMs. Also think my PCV valve and hose need replacing.

1 people found this helpful.
75

Thanks T_S_T I was gonna have to replace that anyway just to be able to check my fuel injectors. Don't understand why they built it like that. No access, even changing the plugs and wires was a heck of a job. Lol

2 people found this helpful.
144,735

Just my opinion rowdy, but how you post it,say,s raw gas being dumped giving you the sound dink dink ,and probably gas side of intake gasket blown,you want see it but you will loose gas,you can,t check this with out removing intake, Good luck with it

200,915

When you remove your radiator cap do you smell gas in it? If so I would do as TST has mentioned and look at the intake manifold gasket. But head gasket can do the same thing sometimes. The sounds you hear are they low in the engine or sound more up on the top?

10

i have the same problem with my 35th anniversary ive changed the plugs/wires/ignition coil egr sensor and fuel filter it runs rough when its cool but when its warmed up it seems to run a little better ive tried everything and im lost it sucks gas I don't have any lights on though ive tried looking up possible fixes on google and nothing im stuck

1 people found this helpful.

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