I received a 2001 Ford Mustang v6 with true dual exhaust (sounds nice ;D) in a trade about a week ago but recently have had some trouble with it stalling....first noticed it the other day when I was leaving my house to go to the court house to get the title officially in my name, stopped by the local garage to get a fuel pressure test and they did it and the man told me the fuel pressure isn't low, it's erratic going up and down which is puzzling to me.
I've done my share of reading, although I'm new to cars. I'd really like to get this thing in tip top shape. I've ordered brand new all Motorcraft brand spark plugs, spark plug wires, and ignition coil which are set to come this week. In an older forum post, a man had the same problem with the stalling/hesitation and replacing the ignition coil fixed it for him so hopefully it's an easy fix.
I replaced the fuel filter the other day but that didn't fix the stalling issue sadly, I don't think it had ever been changed before, was very hard to get off like it was almost bonded on, but after an entire afternoon of messing with it, I got it off and replaced it.
I need to solder the instrument cluster to get the odometer to work, it's sporadic, but I've already watched how to do that, and I need to get a new light bulb for the cluster since the check engine light doesn't light up at all. I have several codes I got when I scanned it with my scanner last night. Last night when going to the store and finding a parking space when coasting and braking at a turn in the parking lot, the car acted like it was about to stall again but didn't truly die, but the gas pedal did nothing even pressed down firmly, it sort of sputtered then surged ahead and I had to brake quickly and I parked it. When I was done at the store it cranked right back up though. The problem seems to be when coasting/braking...I saw how to put a fuel pump in, I heard Delphi is a really good brand especially considering the price. I just personally dread dropping the gas tank since getting the fuel filter off the other day took so long.
codes I have: p1233, p1131, p1151. The p1131 and p1151 are for both front o2 sensors, I'm thinking maybe it's just tied to the bad fuel pump, I don't have ANY history on the car so I don't even know if it's been changed before or if it's even the original motor/tranny, the ODO reads ~244k, a little high for a 2001 model, but it actually drives fine, appears to still have a good strong engine and transmission. My gas milage, is, okish. Not gas guzzling, but not the ~17mpg/25mpg highway the online specs say it should have. I'm not sure how much MPG the dual exhaust is supposed to increase it by, I know roughly in trucks it's supposed to give about maybe 4mpg more. So optimally with the dual exhaust I'd get about 21 city and 30 highway. Somebody can correct me on this, I mean again, I admit, I'm new to vehicles PERIOD, but I've done alot of reading/watching videos.
what I'm going to replace this week, all spark plugs, spark plug wires, ignition coil...all OEM Ford Motorcraft brand
What I think is bad: The fuel pump. Although my dad, and from reading up on it, both say if the fuel pump is bad the car will be hard to crank, which isn't true, it always starts right up, one or two times it's taken a second or 2 longer to crank, but it's always cranked right up. Battery says it was made in 9-15 on it, so not even a year old, oil doesn't look bad, the radiator reservior or hose has a small leak if I fill it too high, I'll be looking into fixing that sometime.
what could possible be bad
ld worn out spark plugs, spark plug wires, ignition coil. I have no idea how many miles/how old they are sadly. The IAC could be bad, MAF could be dirty, Fuel Pressure Regulator on the fuel rail could be bad, fuel pump driver module in the trunk could be bad, fuel pump relay could be bad, or obviously again, the fuel pump. But you'd figure if the fuel pump was bad it wouldn't always crank right up and the pressure would be ok would it? The mechanic just said the pressure was erratic like going up and down.
If it IS the fuel pump, it's not the end of the world. I'd just like to not spend a bunch of money on one and that not be the right problem, I live on a tight budget and would feel very sad to throw money on parts I know wouldn't fix it. It did need a tune up the man I got it from said, and reading about ignition problems causing stalling also made me order the Motorcraft spark plugs,wire, and ignition coil.
Hope I was fairly descriptive with the problem and what I've researched on and what I think is the problem or what could be the problem. Thank you for any help.
also another quick question, it's not DIRE but is very annoying...I think the seat belt sensor in my seat is bad too, it's plugged in, I'm always paranoid about having my seatbelt on (which isn't a bad thing...), but, the dashboard light stays on and keeps BEEPING every so often, very annoying...just started doing that last night. Is there anyway to stop it...? Spray cleaner in the seat belt buckle?
