[warsumm]

for god's sakes, the car now randomly dies while idling and when it is running and I have the hood open, it smells like something is burning. Earlier this afternoon when I had it running with the hood open, I could feel the fan on either side of the engine. No, though I feel no fan. I hope I'm not entirely screwed at this point.

[00BLACKSTANG]

Warsumm Hmm?? that sounds pretty bad. I have no idea but I would check every thing and find were that smell is coming from. You should check the line from the IAC that goes to the intake. It could also be your IAC as well it sounds like the IAC is bad. Also the gas line that jumps to the other side for the injectors can be touching the egr valve line that gets pretty hot. That could be the burning smell. There shoud be a hi temperature clotch around the egr line to prevent heating damage to the other lines or wires.

[00BLACKSTANG]

Originally Posted by rockstar10200

hey i have a '98 GT convertible and it's idleing too high. It normally idles at about 700rpms but now sometimes it idles at about 1000 or 1050. I replaced the IAC valve, nothing. I put in some fuel system cleaner thinking maybe the injectors were clogged and it worked for about half a day. If i rev the engine it'll rev high and take a while to come back down. it's really starting to bug the crap outta me. any ideas?

I would check all vacumm lines, the reason is doing that is because is getting more air. Its the same thing like opening the trottle. More is getting in the intake. It should be around the plenum. For a 98 GT I would check all lines and replace them.

[95gts silver/bl]

nope that applies to 5.0 also

[00BLACKSTANG]

Originally Posted by warsumm

well, cleaned the EGR valve, had a lot of crap in it, yet there is no change in the performance. Im probably gonna have to take it in as Im running out of options.

Hey WARSUMM I was reading all your problems and things you have done to your car. I think some of your coils are bad. It sounds just like it 100%. But is weird that it dies unless is urgent. I'm guessing that you live around snow. The coils will suffer more around wet weather. Usually when it rains a lot most mustang have this problems. Maybe that is why you smell burning the coil is not burning the fuel at all times. If the engine is still good try replacing those. I would change all. DON'T USE YOUR CAR IT CAN DAMAGE YOUR INTERIOR PARTS. Just tested by truning it on. Remember the engine only does power when moving the car. Wait until it is fix.

I recently replaced all on my car. The olds ones gave me a lot of gas wasting and stalling, poor performance, and some misfire. I got mine from ebay for very cheap price and worked just fine but smotther & better idleling. Ford dealer I would had to pay close to 800 dollars just to keep every thing stock. But I just paid 100$ for set of 8 coils w/2 year warranty, thought if you do this use the coil springs from the stock coils, the srpings on the stock coils are just a little thicker than the ones sold at ebay. Thats if you want to get most of the power.

[warsumm]

awesome! you may very well be right. What coils exactly should I buy? Is there a way to test which ones are bad? Im seeing prices at about 30-35 per coil. Thanks for all your help and I will keep updated.

[warsumm]

oh sweet! I just found a set on ebay for 85 bucks with a 2 year warranty! I think I will buy these. I know they are easy to replace(socket wrench) is there any order I need to replace in like the plugs?thanks for all your help everyone!

[warsumm]

also, yes the car runs like piss when it wet, Its been absolutely terrible the past 3 weeks with the snow and rain. And, it hasnt done either the past 4 days and the car ran a lot better this morning plus its been warmer so I bet its the coils. I hope so!!! C'mon!! One time!! I want my power back!!

[00BLACKSTANG]

Originally Posted by warsumm

also, yes the car runs like piss when it wet, Its been absolutely terrible the past 3 weeks with the snow and rain. And, it hasnt done either the past 4 days and the car ran a lot better this morning plus its been warmer so I bet its the coils. I hope so!!! C'mon!! One time!! I want my power back!!

Make sure you check the codes on the car if engine light is on. If you have misfire is a really high possibility that its the coil. Misfire will make your engine to dance a little, a soft noise and vivration, unburn fuel smell. If not check all your connectors use a 12volt tester to test every thing. Testing is hard, a smart way is by disconnecting one coil at a time while the engine is runing. If you notice a difference on the engine's rpm it means is good, it usually stumbles when disconnecting one coil. NOW if there is no difference it means that the coil is bad or close to bad. You will need to listen carefully to the engine's performance while doing this. Which ever you think is bad remove that coil but not the spark plug, connect it back without inserting it back to the sparkplug, make sure on the end of the coil(spring) is at least one inch seperated from any metal from the engine and try holding it with some thing so it wont move around when the engine is running, you can use electric tape. turn on the engine and you shoud see good spark. If the spark fades away many times and the coil not moving aroung it means the coils is bad. Make sure you dont touch that spark it will make you scream like a girl. LOL

Anyways, the order on the plugs does not matter, there is no distributor the connector should only reach the one close. I recommend do one at a time. before removing the old coils blow some air with a vacumm or some thing to get all the dust and dirt this way there is less dirt going in to the spark plug socket(hole). After doing that remove the coil one by one that way there is no chance for connecting it wrong. I would disconnect the battery (-)for safety and computer reseting. When inserting the new coils make sure its in the sparkplug not on the side this should be a little difficult but easy. I would keep the olds one just incase one goes bad. Good luck is the best I can do and don't trust any mechanic shops, they will take parts and most will leave it worse.

[warsumm]

A very special thanks to OOBLACKSTANG for correctly diagnosing my idling/acceleration issue as bad ignition coils. Also, huge thanks for informing me of the ebay 2-year warranty special on a pack of 8 coils for 95 bucks, saving me about 600 bucks on stock coils. I owe ya man, good job! Thanks to everyone else for their input and make sure to test your coils if you are reading this and have similar issues as this post was intended to diagnose and correct. My car is finally back to proper 'stang performance...just in time for 8 inches of snow tonight. LOL!!

[atlblue98]

If the IAC doesn't fix it, check to see if the O2s are reading. Replacing both worked for me. If you do replace the O2s, get 'em from Ford, cuz Bosch changed their 'recipe' a while back and they suck now

[bigb9646]

i have this same problem its to cold here to check anything at the moment lol but i heard it might be (on my mustang) the idler/belt tennsion pulley. i have read if the IAC is going bad the car will idle at 3500 rpm's right?, well mine idle's under 1000 rpm's and there is a whining sound will go on and off, i thought it might be the alt. but i checked that it was fine. what might be the problem, the IAC or the pulleys?

[99'GT280]

good post... just fixed mine.

[98SVTSnake]

good infobut crap these hightech motors are great tell the computer gives us crap. what the hell does IAC stand for

[geobooy]

Originally Posted by 98SVTSnake

good infobut crap these hightech motors are great tell the computer gives us crap. what the hell does IAC stand for

Idle Air Controller.