[irishmyke]

Hi guys, i'm a newbie to the ford family. Just picked up a 96 3.8L 5spd mustang and am nervous about the engine temperature, not sure if it's running too hot? 96 mustang v6 temperature guage reads around the "m" letter on guage, and even at "a" letter on the "normal" area of guage readout....seems like it's running a bit hot, but i'm not a ford expert. I got this car for transportation and it seems to run strong but i"m worried about the guage getting up to 3/4 of the way & sometimes a tad higher. Never goes into the red, but i just got the car and havent really driven it on hot day. Fan kicks on w/ac on and even with it off when it gets up around the "a" mark on the guage. Is this normal? Car has about 140k freeway miles, flowmaster exhaust, 5 speed manual trans., mac fender mounted cold air intake and new radiator & thermostat.....seems to have been babied most of it's life....but i'm just unsure of where the engine temp should be. Any help?

[236Mustang]

ya its normal for the temp to go up that high with the ac on...and for the temp to be around the "M" when the ac is off

i would recommend for you to get a 180 degree thermostat from autozone. Cuz the stock one is 198

also check ur coolant level(and color...should be neon green) or just go get ur coolant flushed and put new coolant in....