1989 Mustang 2.3L has black smoke coming out of tailpipe?
Hi everyone,
I just bought a 1989 LX 2.3 Auto tranny yesterday for 800$. The car is in very good condition, doesnt over heat, engine sounds good, but I have a problem. When I go over 70mph (I think around 70) thick black smoke pours out of my exhuast. So bad that I cannot see out of the rear window. When it happened I slowed down and it continued to come out until I came to a complete stop. I got off the FWY and drove side streets back to a friends house and it never smoked again. A few things I noticed. MY oil pressure gauge is on the low side of the red when I start the car. Once its warm it will go the line above red, when I am driving and accelerating it is at halfway. Theres no knocking, no weird smell (unless the black smoke comes out) and the oil dipstick reads fine. I dont know that this has anything to do with the problem. The person who had it before installed an aftermarket air cleaner on it, the circular ones and its pretty dirty. I have in the trunk the parts to return it to stock. They also cut the tailpipe off about 4 inches after the muffle. The muffler and cat are all still there.
I was told its the fuel running too rich. I was gonna go get a new air filter and return it to the stock set up and get spark plugs and wires and do a min itune up on it. I was also told to seafoam the car, but I am sure my boyfriends neighbors will call the cops if I do that from all the smoke. Someone also told me to put Marvel Mystery oil in the gas tank. Any one ever used this? Any other suggestions as to what to do? I know my way around the car well, as I previously owned a 1990 before this one.
when you get the car tuned up you should pick up an aftermarket oil pressure gauge and install it, the stock gauges in these cars are basically idiot gauges-all they are really designed to tell you is that you have some pressure. to get specifics, get a gauge with numbers on it from an autozone or the like.
also, when you tune it up take a good look at the condition of the old plugs. in fact you might wanna hang onto the old ones for a while, and label which cylinder each one comes out of. this can help diagnose problems in your engine.
as for the aftermarket filter, take it to the autozone and have them help you identify it because it is probably a washable filter that you can just throw in the washmachine to clean and reuse. but if you want to return it to stock because this is what you prefer for your stang them disreguard this last paragraph lol.
hope this helps.
Also, I would keep the aftermarket filter, but on further exam, its really messed up. I belive it was a K & N, but the metal parts covering the actual filter part are pretty messed up. Looks like they didnt take too good of care of it. I right now am mostly concerned with getting it to pass CA smog test, becauseI cant transfer title or pay Reg. Till its smogged. Should a tune up fix this problem?
I am also gonna get the pipe thing fixed this weekend.
when you buy the oil pressure gauge it should come with a bezel and all the hardware to hook it up. and no its not hard to hook up at all. just run the plastic line through the fire wall (if your going with mechanical) and run to the oil pressure sending unit on the back side of the head on the drivers side, hook it all up and there you go.
the oil pressure rating should be 50 psi @ 2000 RPM's
if you have this number then the engine is perfect when it comes to bearing wise etc.
__________________
(Newer Motor [70,000 miles] Spectre Cold Air Intake, EGR Delete, AC Delete, Cat Delete, Flomaster 40 Series Muffler, Shortened Exhaust, American Racing Outlaw Series II Rims, Stalker Hood, Pioneer Deck Set, 12" Pyle Quoobz, Planet Audio Amp, [500 Watts Total]. Comp Cam [mild], Bored .30 over,
i had that problem way back on my old 88, but it would smoke constantly. Turns out it was bad gas, ran the tank thru and changed the fuel filter. funny tho, cuz people thought it was converted to diesel. haha
Make shure the air filter is clean and installed correctly. There is a slight chance the vacuum modulator on the tranny is shot. Tune the car and take it for a ride. If you still get the smoke what color is it????? Like i said the vacuum modulator could be acting up. I think your air filter will fix the car. Sounds like its clogged up. Try the stock one with a new filter and see what gives. Good luck TOM
Bchandler, where is the vacuum hose at? Do it while running on after shutting off. Thanks. Im changing the plugs tomorrow and the air filter and will drive it and see what happens. since then its only done it once when my boyfriend was driving it and he said it was a big puff of black and then it was gone.
If it was the tranny problem would i be shifting wierd? cause it isnt.
Its at the top of the regulator on the fuel rail. It looks like a round top hat and has a 3/16" or so hose on it. It could have a bad diaphragm . When they go they usually flood the engine out. But like chandler said its worth a shot. Does it idle OK and run clean at idle???? Also check the oil for fuel contamination. I usually pull the dipstick and hold a match under the oil on the stick. If it flairs up. And immeadiately catches fire its loaded with gas. Be careful when doing this and do it away from the car.
....or you could skip the pyrotechnics and just sniff it. If the oil feels thin and stinks like gasoline it's gotta go.
Tom's way is cool to watch. It's basically a flash test. They actually perform this (in a much more controlled manor) on distillate fuel (diesel, kero, jet) as a quality check. If it doesn't flash in the normal range something's wrong.
It idles around 1500rpm down to 1000rpm. If its at 15 it kinda bounces back and forth. I think ill do the fire test as i am sure my boyfriend would love to set it a blaze! (so would i)
Okay guys, I just got done changing the plugs. I tried the oil/fire test and no fire (I had mixed emotions about this, might have been cool too see it light up!) But I guess its good it didnt do that
Okay so from front of the engine to back,
Plug#1 had oil deposits and blackish soot on it and all over it
Plug#2 Still deposits, less oil
Plug#3 no oil, but just as black deposits
Plug#4 Same as 3
The black deposits were the same on all of them, I started the car p before I changed the plug (but after putting the air filter on) and it still smoked, but not really sure that is was exactly black, but it reeked of fuel.
After plugs upon starting it there was less smoke but still a fuel smell (but I dont think as bad)
Gonna drive it to a muffler shop and get the Cat and muffler checked, as I am starting to think they took the baffles or something out of the muffler but still left muffler on.
1989 Mustang 2.3L has black smoke coming out of tailpipe? 
