[jsevers]

Okay, so here's the deal. I am an 18 year old girl and my dad is a mechanic. February, 2007 my dad and I pulled the engine and fixed pretty much everything. The car was in tip-top shape and it was amazing. The car is a 1992 Mustang 2.3L. One day I was coming home from work and I don't know much about cars, thats my dad's specialty. So the engine started smoking but I had to get around a really sharp, shoulder-less corner. By the time I pulled it into an approach it stalled. SO my dad new it was the water pump that went out, so he put a new one in for me. The car ran fine for about 24 hours after the new water pump. But them when I started it it would shake really bad from side to side when idling. Now it still starts, but I have to keep giving it gas and when I try to put it into gear it stalls on me. I'm not sure exactly what is wrong, and I really want to fix it. Any ideas?!

[heavy metal]

first off i would check for vacuumm leaks....

[jsevers]

I think I'm replying to the correct spot, sorry Im new at this. I know my dad checked everything like that when we pulled the engine. We also changed every gasket possible. I was wondering if maybe I fried the cylinders?

[heavy metal]

i doubt it,sounds like maybe you blew off a vaccumm line,fouled some plugs...something minor like that....check these...

[jsevers]

Ill look into it. Thank You

[heavy metal]

your welcome,holler if you need anything else...

[b_chandler]

Sounds like you overheated it. I'd check the head gasket. A quick compression test will usually find it.

[sleeper_inc]

Compression test, and check your spark plugs, they are a good indication as to how the car is/was running

Black - rich
Brown - perfect
White - to hot/overheated/coolant

[jsevers]

The plugs are only a couple weeks old. I guess they could be bad from overheating it though, right? My friend is a mechanic and hes going to be working on it within a couple weeks. The only problem is that I have to get it to his house and its surrounded by 5 feet of snow lol. Thank you all for the help, ill let yo know how it goes.

[icemann427]

If your dad had to change the water pump, and after the repair it ran rough like you described, you probably overheated the engine and did some damage to it. Where was the smoking coming from? Was it white smoke coming out of the tailpipe? If so, you then got the engine so hot that one or a couple of things happened. Either the head gasket failed and/or your head cracked allowing water to enter the combustion chamber, and the white smoke you saw coming out of the tailpipe was steam. Like another suggested, do a compression check on each cylinder to see if there is a drop on one or more cylinders. If there is, then you need to remove the head to see if it the gasket or the head. To tell if it is the head, you have to take it to an engine machine shop and have it magnafluxed. Most of the time you won't be able to visually see the crack.

2.3 heads can break fairly easy. I have ruined a couple in situations just like yours. Good luck!

[jsevers]

Sorry its been a while since I've logged in. There was no smoke from the tailpipe, it was all under the hood, and yes it was white. Thanks, and I will be working on it this spring once the snow melts. Ill keep you all updated. thanks for all the advice, I appreciate it.