2000 Mustang GT, Ticking sound and hesitation

is the check engine light on? hesitation could be a lot of things, hopefully the computer is throwing a code to give you a trail to follow. As far as the ticking noise goes, does it seem to get louder or change in speed with the engine rpms? Does the engine bog down at highway speeds?

no check engine light is on. the hestitation seems to be when at low rpms only. the ticking seems to come from one of the pullies but I will try to diagnose better today and post my findings. thanks

Timing chain guides and tensioners need to be replaced.

Well, the oil level is low, probably 2 -3 qts. Wish I had checked yesterday. I drove about 40 miles with the ticking.
With regard to the hesitation, would the timing chain guides and tensioners cause that problem? How big of a job is it? Can it be a DIY job?

You can do the timing components yourself. It's pretty simple and can probably done in a weekend. It also shouldn't require any special tools except a puller for the harmonic dampener.

Did you run WOT any while you were 2-3 quarts low? If so, that could be a rod bearing on the crank causing the ticking.

My neighbor's 4.6L suffered the same fate. If it is a rod bearing, you can easily tell. Remove spark plug COP connectors one at a time when getting on the car (WOT). The cylinder with the bad bearing will be quiet when the connector is pulled.

He replaced the tensioners and had no change. We removed the COP plugs one by one and ran WOT until we hit cylinder #5 which had a bad rod bearing and was quiet when the fuel injector or COP were unplugged. Good luck and hope it is something else. :bigthumbsup

grn 00 gt said:

Did you run WOT any while you were 2-3 quarts low? If so, that could be a rod bearing on the crank causing the ticking.

My neighbor's 4.6L suffered the same fate. If it is a rod bearing, you can easily tell. Remove spark plug COP connectors one at a time when getting on the car (WOT). The cylinder with the bad bearing will be quiet when the connector is pulled.

He replaced the tensioners and had no change. We removed the COP plugs one by one and ran WOT until we hit cylinder #5 which had a bad rod bearing and was quiet when the fuel injector or COP were unplugged. Good luck and hope it is something else. :bigthumbsup

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Sorry for the late reply, What is WOT? I have not had a chance to do anything yet. I have ordered a few suspension parts and was waiting for them to arrive before addressing the issues.

I think I will replace the Timing belt just because of the milage. I was thinking of installing under-drive pullies while I was at it.

I also have a problem with my upgraded sway bar hitting the inside of one wheel in a tight parking manuver. Was thinking to upgrade the control arm but wasn't sure if the problem was independent of the control arm. I know ford racing has a cobra control arm that improves the turning radius and was hoping it may also fix my wheel problem. Lastly, I think I need new wheel bearings, any special tools needed to replace them? Comments welcome.

The service Engine Light came on and now it hesitates through every gear up to 3000rpm. Any recommendations? What is the best way to diagnose the problem?

Dood, that happened to me, and it turned out to be a misfiring cylinder. You might want to check that out.

Bullitt5339 said:

Timing chain guides and tensioners need to be replaced.

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I agree 100% this is your problem.

You guys are correct. I had a scan done at AutoZone and cyl 5 is misfiring. Am I right in thinking it is a bad coil?

I was thinking of replacing all the coils, plugs and timing chains. Regarding the chains, AutoZone sells a complete kit that includes gears. I think the chains and tensioners are DIY but what about the gears? How do they come off, special tools, etc. Can they be removed with little hassle and without screwing up a job that should not be too difficult???

"WOT" means Wide Open Throttle or when you have the gas pedal to the floor. :bigthumbsup

Don't go throwing a ton of parts at it.
If one coil pack is bad, replace that one. A cylinder miss fire could be a bad coil, spark plug, injector or loose connection to any of the above.
Start with the inexpensive parts first and then work up to the timing chains, etc.

Good point. Do you recommend any coil from either summit or jegs or should I go to ford?

I would just get another one from Ford. I have 112,000 miles on my stock ones and 40,000+ miles has been with up to 10# of boost. I know of several other guys with 100,000 to 150,000 miles on stock COP coils with no issues.

IMO, The stock ones are very reliable and not worth upgrading unless you go high boost.

thanks for your help.
ar

Another rookie question, what is the cylinder order? does it start on the passenger side closest to the firewall with 1, 2 on drivers side ans 3 on passenger side, etc?

cylinder order

Can someone tell me the cylinder order/ numbering order? Does it start near the firewall on the passenger side and jump to the drivers side and then #3 back on the passenger side?

Firing order 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8

Spark plugs on the passenger side of the engine from the radiator to the back of the engine: #1 to #4 (1, 2, 3, 4)

Spark plugs on the driver's side of the engine from the radiator to the back of the engine: #5 to #8. (5, 6, 7, 8)

Thanks again. Ill post my results.