My carbed 2.3 stopped running a week or 2 after this flood we had in 97. Whay do you think is wrong with it? could it be an electrical problem? It spat water for 3 days out the tailpipe ran fine for a week or 2 and then wouldn't start the next day. havent figured out if its something expensive or just an embarassing ran out of gas.
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Foxy lady Roxanne 1981 2.3 hatch
Jax Rhapsody his life as a...
I think I posted in this thread already, in DEFENSE of the 2.3l engine. Well, I'm not deferring from that, but I really do HATE mine.
They ARE a decently-built engine.
They CAN be modified to compete with the 5.0s and 4.6s and WIN
However, stock they absolutely suck and should never have been given the Mustang name. Really. Why don't I print out a big banner that says "Pinto" and place it over everything that says Mustang on my car????
I have spent over 4000$ maintaining my POS Mustang just to get it to bring me from point-a to point-b. WTF was I thinking? A couple hundred of that was an attempt to wring out a little more performance. Well, my 2.3l is 140hp now, and it's much peppier than it's ever been before. I still hate it.
Some days, I just want to put it in neutral and push it down our hill.
I want to meet whoever it was at Ford who proposed the 88hp Pinto engine be put in a Mustang. Really. I'll stick with Ford until the day I die, but putting a non-turbo 2.3l engine in a Mustang was seriously effed up.
Yeah, I'm venting. Why? Wasting 4000$ on this car. The engine runs well, but the car in general is not reliable at all. I've trashed my share of Hondas, and even a few peppier cars, but it's still a 2.3l
I wanted to bring it to a car show last year, and the people at the entrance laughed at me. After all the work I put into it, and all the money I thought I had put to good use, AND THEY LAUGHED AT ME.
I'm thinking about keeping this POS for the demolition derby, because IMO that's where it belongs.
Damn thing KNOWS when I have money in my saving's account because it ALWAYS breaks down when I get over 400$ of unallocated money. ALWAYS. I have proof.
I don't LOVE the car. I don't LIKE the car. It runs well for what it is, it's not a very reliable car, but it runs. If I ever get a time-machine, the 2.3l Mustang will not exist.
There, quite a vent if I do say so myself. This vent is more towards the car in general than the motor.
my car is friggen reliable! you jsut have to get ahead of the repairs. I put about 400-500 miles on that baby a week! she has serious blow back, a slipping clutch, an exhaust that doesnt like to stay in one piece, and much much more. This lil baby just chuggs away, all i do is keep gas in it, and treat the fuel.
I'm very sorry for your trouble dawrr, and im tellin you, if u ever wanna get rid of it, throw it my way. id love to have two of these fox rods.
ps, everywhere i go i get solid looks from mechanics about my engine. its more than decent, its friggen bullet proof. if i took my old engine and put it in, it would start right up and drive away...and that one had a time bomb in it!
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As you may have guessed- I'm a young gun with dreams of pimpin' my baby 2.3n/a into a fire-breathin Shadow Runner.
so far:
1987 hatchback mustang
2.3L, replaced to a '89
Air silencer removed
t-5 all the way
1400 watt sound system w/ twin 12" chrome subs
-The shadow runner was a legendary chinese horse that could outrun its own shadow[/size]
Yeah, this was my first car, and it's been quite a journey with it. I mean, I like the car and I hate it at the same time. When I got it, I doubt it was pushing over 60 hp. It was hesitant as Hell, and the top speed was 60. It shook violently over 50. It was nasty, smelled bad, and had various bugs living in it.
I spent countless hours restoring it, and now it looks PRISTINE. Inside and out. I took that dull, never-waxed exterior and buffed it to showroom condition.
I had over 4000$ of mechanical work done on it, and it runs great. Except, for the first 1.5 years, it was Hell and a half. Unreliable to the extreme, bad on gas, slow as Hell. Horrible. Worst. Car. Ever.
Now, it's a whole different car. I more than doubled its speed, and it keeps up with the 3.8ls without breaking a sweat. Of course, I did GUT it and throw in some not-so-legal modifications. But anyways, the 4000$ could have been put to better use. Five point O better uses.
But really, a 88 hp engine being called a "Mustang." WTF were they thinking???
I have spent over 4000$ maintaining my POS Mustang just to get it to bring me from point-a to point-b. WTF was I thinking? A couple hundred of that was an attempt to wring out a little more performance. Well, my 2.3l is 140hp now, and it's much peppier than it's ever been before. I still hate it.
I want to meet whoever it was at Ford who proposed the 88hp Pinto engine be put in a Mustang. Really. I'll stick with Ford until the day I die, but putting a non-turbo 2.3l engine in a Mustang was seriously effed up.
Yeah, I'm venting. Why? Wasting 4000$ on this car. The engine runs well, but the car in general is not reliable at all. I've trashed my share of Hondas, and even a few peppier cars, but it's still a 2.3l
I wanted to bring it to a car show last year, and the people at the entrance laughed at me. After all the work I put into it, and all the money I thought I had put to good use, AND THEY LAUGHED AT ME.
Damn thing KNOWS when I have money in my saving's account because it ALWAYS breaks down when I get over 400$ of unallocated money. ALWAYS. I have proof.
I don't LOVE the car. I don't LIKE the car. It runs well for what it is, it's not a very reliable car, but it runs. If I ever get a time-machine, the 2.3l Mustang will not exist.
There, quite a vent if I do say so myself. This vent is more towards the car in general than the motor.
$4000? That was just a START for what went into my 5.0 fox-body... Seriously, that would've just covered the engine swap... for the first piece that broke on the car (the engine itself).
Seriously dude, it's not the engine, it's the car. On my 1974 Mustang II with it's 2.3, nothing breaks that I didn't **** with for one reason or another. I've pushed the limits with these little motors farther than any engine I've ever owned (no other engine I've ever owned has seen 8,000 rpm, been run with the cam in 180 degrees out, been overheated to 300 degrees, or hydro-locked and survived, the 2.3s I've dealt with (both in my cars and other people's) have, the engines themselves are tough as hell.)
Fox body Mustangs in general though, suck ass (reliability wise), that's been my experience with them through-and through. A chassis with the consistency of saltwater taffy, (even worse if you have a convertible), badly designed/placed electrical connections, catalytic converters that damn near touch (and sometimes even rub directly against) the transmissions of the cars, a 3-gear shifted 4spd automatic (AODs in the V8 cars) a light-duty overdrive tranny that's not tough enough for a Saturn SL1 (as little as 83hp, depending on year) for the 2.3 cars, the 7.5" rearend for all of them to 1985 and in the 4-bangers beyond that (the 6.25" rear in the Mustang II and Pinto was tougher, though only marginally so) through that in with cheaply done overly-plastic interiors that are about as durable as peanut brittle, and delicate sensors, calibrations, and tuning that is a pain to mess with???
Then you toss in the dubious build quality of Fords across the board in the late 80s and you will there-in realize the problem, I put over $6000 into my GT in the first year alone just to keep it on the road, then another $1500 before I sold it. The current owner is having it towed to the shop Monday because something is amiss in the fuel system and keeping it from running (not getting power to the pump, pump itself is good, inertia switch and relay are good, ECU is good, the lower harness is good, hell all of that was replaced in the last year in the first place along with the pressure regulator, and the injectors were done the year before that!!!)
Okay, end rant...
One thing though, if you go back in time, exactly how are you going to prevent the Arab oil embargo that drove Ford from a powerful sixer to a detuned sixer and a 4-banger??? Not only that, but what'll you do to keep the enviro-nazis from having their way with congress/the "Big 3"?
And as far as people laughing at you at a car show, laugh back, if they're that narrow-minded then it's their loss, they'll never know the elation of beating that 3.8 Camaro with a little 4-popper then passing the gas station he has to stop at to fill up, nor the thrill of never having to drain all the fluids and pull the water pump as well as unbolting the oil pan just to change the timing chain, the 2.3 timing belt can be changed in 10 minutes, you're looking at 2+ hours minimum to do a 5.0 timing chain... The 2.3 has much to recommend it, it's all the little things about this little motor that make it a jewel.
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
>A chassis with the consistency of saltwater taffy, (even worse if you >have a convertible),
Thanks, I appreciate that.......LOL!
I drove my 2.3 for years with no problem before that canine center punched the radiator..........luv it!
Resto begins next week! Pics coming soon.....
'92 drop top.......
Dude, I've owned four fox-bodies now, 2 'verts (one 2.3 one 5.0) and two hatches (both 5.0s) You could feel the flex in the hatchbacks some of the time... you could feel the flex in the 5.0 convertible ALL the time, going over railroad tracks was an adventure in seeing how far the car could stretch... when the gaps between your quarter windows and the front windows keep opening and closing by half an inch or more going down a slightly bumpy road at 20mph... that's a crapload of flex. The 2.3 'vert wasn't anywhere near as bad (combination of lighter powertrain/body along with less torque underhood... that car drove a hell of a lot better too.)
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
I never really noticed flex in my '92 2.3 but it is probably because of it's been four years since driven and also what you said about powertrain/torque.........it is slow, excruiatingly slow! Been slowly trying to get through the performance mods for the 2.3 but with the car still in storage kinda hard to visualize it all. Besides, I dont think I am going with performance on this one, think I will go mileage......which, I know, means some/lots of performance mods. Gonna take some studying on that one....
All I want is that Sunday afternoon cruiser my wife and I can drop the top on and tool around these beautiful Tennessee mountains.
I'll blow the Camaros and Vettes off on the drag strip.......
Yeah, this was my first car, and it's been quite a journey with it. I mean, I like the car and I hate it at the same time. When I got it, I doubt it was pushing over 60 hp. It was hesitant as Hell, and the top speed was 60. It shook violently over 50. It was nasty, smelled bad, and had various bugs living in it.
I spent countless hours restoring it, and now it looks PRISTINE. Inside and out. I took that dull, never-waxed exterior and buffed it to showroom condition.
I had over 4000$ of mechanical work done on it, and it runs great. Except, for the first 1.5 years, it was Hell and a half. Unreliable to the extreme, bad on gas, slow as Hell. Horrible. Worst. Car. Ever.
Now, it's a whole different car. I more than doubled its speed, and it keeps up with the 3.8ls without breaking a sweat. Of course, I did GUT it and throw in some not-so-legal modifications. But anyways, the 4000$ could have been put to better use. Five point O better uses.
But really, a 88 hp engine being called a "Mustang." WTF were they thinking???
It wasn't so long ago the 5.0L was making 139 hp. The 2.3L Turbo made the same power.
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Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,his upper rooms by injustice,making his countrymen work for nothing...Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He did what was right and just,so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy,and so all went well...But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. Jer 22:13, 15-17
I like mine, Im gonna haff to do somim bout the flexing before I drive it then. Dawrr if you every get dat time machine find away for the Windsor to be the base angine and not the 2.3
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Foxy lady Roxanne 1981 2.3 hatch
Jax Rhapsody his life as a...
Just to add my .02 in since I'm new. I've had an 88 2.3L now for about ten years. I drove it for the first two, using it to tow my waverunner and my motorcycle without a problem. My Mom then drove it for 7 more years until she went to Wal-Mart to get the oil changed and they never put oil in it. Two days later she calls me up when it starts making noise and lo and behold not one quart of oil. Went to junkyard and pulled a 2.3L out of a junker with 100,000 on it, dropped it in without doing a thing and I've been using it for the past year as a daily driver. 2.3L junk, I don't think so. Original purchase price to now I have less than $1800 invested and get 24 MPG with ice cold AC.
i have an 88 it runs really rich puts out a lot of smoke and still can hit 100 mph easy and keeps goin. lasts a lot longer then a piese of crap chevy, if that offends you 2.3 ford haters get a 302 .........LOL
