[klrblue04]

Originally Posted by 1994MustangGT50

funny question tho... i drive a T45 5 speed.... WHAT makes you think a 5 speed is "faster" than an automatic...

if ANYTHING an automatic has constant drive forward never releases torque just pushes more... meaning less time to disengage and engage the drivetrain...cough "faster"

and an automatic can SHIFT faster than any human EVER could cuz again it just tightens up more and more and is instantly in the next gear *providing it is working right*... cough "faster"

AND providing u powerbrake or have a stall converter, or both, u dont have the DELAY of u side-stepping the clutch and that fraction of a second of the pedal springing up and grabbing the flywheel... ur automatic is ALREADY engaged and ready to launch...

AND you have less chance of just hammering the tires off the car and sitting still, cuz there isnt a sudden surge of torque on the rear wheels, therefore not breaking them free... meaning a cough "faster" time traveling the track...

DONT GET ME WRONG, there ARE advantages a 5 speed has over an automatic, such as controlling ur shift points exactly to a tee and u dont have to reset ur parameters on ur computer anytime u wanna change at which point ur transmission shifts... a standard transmission built right can handle more torque than an auto... I.E. top fuel drag racing, they use standards... granted i think its a 3 speed gear box but still... again advantages and disadvantages... but neither is necessarily "faster" than the other... for MULTIPLE reasons... but if u have a REALLY good driver behind a standard...then you might have a good arguement...

well the auto does lead to more power loss in the drivetrain

funny thing though, i'm more consistent with my 5spd at the track than my 2 friends are in their autos.... so i guess that makes me a REALLY good driver, right???

[2003_GT]

Originally Posted by craven

correct....have a check at the rings when the heads come off.....but then again the compression test may be good....

If this is the case, what would be the better thing to do, mill the heads out OR replace the heads completly with something that may or may not add more performance? Im sure that replacing the heads all together will be more expensive right? And this is not including replacing the rings....

Can you clear one thing up for me tho, what does the leak down test ckeck for exactly, and the compression test? do they do the same thing? sorry first time ever doing this so might as well learn as much as possible to keep up with some of you gear heads

Keep the answers coming please your helping a lot thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

[craven]

compression checks for pressure and leakdown narrows down where the leak is...

when you do a compression check if 1 of the cylinders is really low compared to the rest, then add 2 tsp of engine oil to the port where the spark plug goes, then reconnect the compression tester and check pressure again...

if the pressure rises more than 10psi in that cylinder, the rings are bad....

so heres the steps...

1.check every cylinders compression
2. "IF" any cylinder has more than 15 psi less, add oil to those and check again...
3.if the oil raises the compression in those cylinders, YOUR RINGS ARE SHOT...
4."IF" the compression does not rise in those cylinders, YOUR LEAKING COMPRESSION ELSE WHERE...


if you make it to step 4 and the rings dont change when adding oil....then take the head off, and get the following done...

1.remove heads
2.get heads checked for warpage
3.get heads milled
4.get all new valves, and valve guides
5.get 3 or 5 angle valve job
6.get 2 brand new head gaskets
7.also get them to check the lifters and around the head(which they always do) and ask them about it...
8.re-install the heads....

you should be golden....

[Quick4.6]

Before you start messing with compression tests and things of that nature, you need to analyze your timeslips and see if the problem is not hardware related.

What were your trap speeds? 60fts? 1/8 mile times? What is your track's altitude? Better yet, what was the density altitude at the time of the runs? It could be weather related, driver related, a combination of both, OR maybe there really is something with the car.

Post the details of the timeslips and we can go from there.

[TigerSN95guy]

ALSO, do you know that the 01 GT with the 5 spd u raced was completely bone stock?? .... how many miles are on ur car?? if ur below 115k, i find it hard to believe that ur losing compression... u MAY have a bent valve, but i think you would have noticed that when driving it...
Craven put up some really good info, and really ur best bet, if ur truly worried about ur heads, is to send them out and have them do all that... no matter HOW GOOD you think u ARE lol you will never be able to do what they can do without their experience and their equipment

and on my side-track thread-jack.... YES ur right that an auto loses more power thru the drivetrain bone stock, but that doesnt necessarily make the 5 speed "faster" and im only tellin you this so that if ur talkin to a guy who is really touchy about exactly what words u use, you wont sound dumb cuz u know its not necessarily "faster" cuz u have a 5 spd you know? i drive a 5 spd cuz its more fun of a challenge to become one with the car not necessarily cuz its "better" with a sick TCI auto with a mean shift kit and TCI stall converter, im sure u could out-do a T45... also makes it easier to warm ur drag slicks and keep constant torque on ur drivetrain so less chances of snapping

and motoboi, u COULD be right but u could also be wrong... i would have to see you drive ur 5 spd... no offense but ur friends could just suck at drivin their autos or their motor&trans dont work perfectly in sync each time they beat on em... HOWEVER, the fact that you are doing better than them with consistency tells me that YES you ARE a good driver of ur 5 spd, but i would say, if u can catch 3rd without grinding gears within 100 feet of ur launch, withOUT using ur clutch pedal, AND launching at the perfect rpm for YOUR car, AND shifting at that point of melody from the motor (dunno about you but i can hear it in my motor), then YES i would say ur a REALLY good driver of YOUR 5spd and YOUR car... but i cant tell you you are cuz i dunno how you handle the power OR if u can do all that and hammer a corner too, i couldnt tell you if ur one of those guys that can use ur clutch pedal perfectly etc etc etc... i off road in my 89 bronco with a 5spd, and i also race my 98GT as much as i can (safely) and there are MANY aspects to being a REALLY good driver of YOUR car... or truck in my case

but OP 2003 GT, i think u might just need to practice some, and recognize who ur "racing" and where ur racing... ur car is probably fine, u may just simply need more mods... now if u feel the need to see that u barely ever lose a race on the street, bolt a supercharger on it and see just how many ppl smoke YOU in the race... i can tell you taht there will be very few

[Thecapitan08]

I think there is only one aftermarket set of heads for the 4.6. Trick FLow? So having your ported while ur getting the valve job done would be a good idea if you are looking for power.

[2003_GT]

Originally Posted by craven

compression checks for pressure and leakdown narrows down where the leak is...

when you do a compression check if 1 of the cylinders is really low compared to the rest, then add 2 tsp of engine oil to the port where the spark plug goes, then reconnect the compression tester and check pressure again...

if the pressure rises more than 10psi in that cylinder, the rings are bad....

so heres the steps...

1.check every cylinders compression
2. "IF" any cylinder has more than 15 psi less, add oil to those and check again...
3.if the oil raises the compression in those cylinders, YOUR RINGS ARE SHOT...
4."IF" the compression does not rise in those cylinders, YOUR LEAKING COMPRESSION ELSE WHERE...


if you make it to step 4 and the rings dont change when adding oil....then take the head off, and get the following done...

1.remove heads
2.get heads checked for warpage
3.get heads milled
4.get all new valves, and valve guides
5.get 3 or 5 angle valve job
6.get 2 brand new head gaskets
7.also get them to check the lifters and around the head(which they always do) and ask them about it...
8.re-install the heads....

you should be golden....

Ill more than likely start doing the checks tomorrow morning if there is anything wrong with the tests ill take it to a pro to do the rest

Originally Posted by Quick4.6

Before you start messing with compression tests and things of that nature, you need to analyze your timeslips and see if the problem is not hardware related.

What were your trap speeds? 60fts? 1/8 mile times? What is your track's altitude? Better yet, what was the density altitude at the time of the runs? It could be weather related, driver related, a combination of both, OR maybe there really is something with the car.

Post the details of the timeslips and we can go from there.

Iv never trapped higher than 90mph, 60ft best was a 2.2, 1/8 best was a 9.9, the track is somewhere around 5200-5500ft(high i know, but iv seen stock stangs run what i ran, autos as well), the track was around 65 degrees F. Iv also had a friend of mine who drives really well, he does both drag and drift racing, run my car and no luck.

Originally Posted by 1994MustangGT50

ALSO, do you know that the 01 GT with the 5 spd u raced was completely bone stock?? .... how many miles are on ur car?? if ur below 115k, i find it hard to believe that ur losing compression... u MAY have a bent valve, but i think you would have noticed that when driving it...
Craven put up some really good info, and really ur best bet, if ur truly worried about ur heads, is to send them out and have them do all that... no matter HOW GOOD you think u ARE lol you will never be able to do what they can do without their experience and their equipment

and on my side-track thread-jack.... YES ur right that an auto loses more power thru the drivetrain bone stock, but that doesnt necessarily make the 5 speed "faster" and im only tellin you this so that if ur talkin to a guy who is really touchy about exactly what words u use, you wont sound dumb cuz u know its not necessarily "faster" cuz u have a 5 spd you know? i drive a 5 spd cuz its more fun of a challenge to become one with the car not necessarily cuz its "better" with a sick TCI auto with a mean shift kit and TCI stall converter, im sure u could out-do a T45... also makes it easier to warm ur drag slicks and keep constant torque on ur drivetrain so less chances of snapping

and motoboi, u COULD be right but u could also be wrong... i would have to see you drive ur 5 spd... no offense but ur friends could just suck at drivin their autos or their motor&trans dont work perfectly in sync each time they beat on em... HOWEVER, the fact that you are doing better than them with consistency tells me that YES you ARE a good driver of ur 5 spd, but i would say, if u can catch 3rd without grinding gears within 100 feet of ur launch, withOUT using ur clutch pedal, AND launching at the perfect rpm for YOUR car, AND shifting at that point of melody from the motor (dunno about you but i can hear it in my motor), then YES i would say ur a REALLY good driver of YOUR 5spd and YOUR car... but i cant tell you you are cuz i dunno how you handle the power OR if u can do all that and hammer a corner too, i couldnt tell you if ur one of those guys that can use ur clutch pedal perfectly etc etc etc... i off road in my 89 bronco with a 5spd, and i also race my 98GT as much as i can (safely) and there are MANY aspects to being a REALLY good driver of YOUR car... or truck in my case

but OP 2003 GT, i think u might just need to practice some, and recognize who ur "racing" and where ur racing... ur car is probably fine, u may just simply need more mods... now if u feel the need to see that u barely ever lose a race on the street, bolt a supercharger on it and see just how many ppl smoke YOU in the race... i can tell you taht there will be very few

His car ONLY has a CAI and some flowmaster weld ins and thats it and i know it for a fact because 1. I know the guy that runs the car lot where he bought it from, and the car used to be his brother in-laws so he knows what it has 2. I know the guy who bought it and we went over it top and bottom to check what it had so im certain that thats all he has

And im not expecting my car to be the fastest out there especially with the mods i have, but i think it should be faster than what it is, like i said before 15.2 without gears and a tuner and 15.3 WITH gears and a tuner iv tried launching at all different RPMs iv tried a lot of different ways to race it, from one year ago to this day my car has done atleast 20 runs at the 1/4 mile. I just think it should be faster than wat it is, into the 14s atleast, BTW my best time when my car was COMPLETLY STOCK was a 15.5, since then with the added mods its only improved .3

Originally Posted by Thecapitan08

I think there is only one aftermarket set of heads for the 4.6. Trick FLow? So having your ported while ur getting the valve job done would be a good idea if you are looking for power.

Can you give me a link to where i can find these heads?

[2003_GT]

One more thing, the stang i raced has more than 110,00 miles on it and mine is at 81,000

[klrblue04]

haha, i was just messing around 1994MustangGT50.... but on another note i have driven the other vehicles and nailed times a tick off of their best on my very first run.... you must become one with the car what do you mean about catching 3rd 100 feet after launch never heard that before.... i can chirp the tires in 3rd every time though.... one problem i do have is that i catch 2nd so hard the tires SPIN and then bogs the car down when they bite.... having to get used to that one....

03gt was your car cooled down too? i know that played a HUGE role in how my 97 ran....

[2003_GT]

Originally Posted by motoboi08

haha, i was just messing around 1994MustangGT50.... but on another note i have driven the other vehicles and nailed times a tick off of their best on my very first run.... you must become one with the car what do you mean about catching 3rd 100 feet after launch never heard that before.... i can chirp the tires in 3rd every time though.... one problem i do have is that i catch 2nd so hard the tires SPIN and then bogs the car down when they bite.... having to get used to that one....

03gt was your car cooled down too? i know that played a HUGE role in how my 97 ran....

Yeah the car had been parked for about two hours maybe three before i turned it back on

[TigerSN95guy]

moto, i dunno about u but i shift to 2nd gear within MAYBE the first 15 feet lol could even be ten feet, i know it seems like the second i drop the clutch im already preparing to throw it back in and get 2nd...then i dump the clutch for 2nd and WOW that thing MOVES, THEN after traveling a bit of a way, prolly about another 80 feet, i would go for 3rd if i had a better short throw lol the B&M one SUCKS hahaha meaning, from 0-15ft= first gear, 15-85/95 ft= 2nd gear, bout 100ft to whatever=3rd gear lol i dont have much more room than like 150 feet to launch and i dont like my B&M so, i have yet to figure out where i would stretch out 3rd... no 1/4 mile around here for MILES unless u didnt mind the PO-9 after ya lmao

[2003_GT]

Ok so i got a bit busy with my two jobs and full time student and havent been able to do anything on the stang its just been parked there in the garage, i finally got some time all day tomorrow to do the compression test check, just have one question

To do the test, do i have to remove ALL the spark plugs and then do the test or can i remove one do the test in that cylinder, put the spark plug back in, and move on to the next?

[TigerSN95guy]

I would reccommend one plug at a time just to make sure u dont mess up firing order but you can only test one cylinder at a time and only one chamber is affected...

[Jcummons]

Not trying to be silly here, but i took my 04 GT to my mechanic before i bought it used. he went over the car and checked compression on all cylinders bc i wanted to be sure the car wasn't ragged, he charged me $45.00. he also said you could hook it up to any emmisions test computer and it would tell you if any of the cylinders were running lower compression than the rest. he also said the OBD on 99 - 04 mustangs will scream like a lil girl if anything is off too much from what the tune says it should be.