97 GT feels very sluggish

jbm5781 · April 19th, 2007, 10:20 PM

Hey guys. I am having issues with my GT. I just put MIL eliminators on it due to an o/r h-pipe. It was missing before I put them on. Now it just feels like the motor is being held back for some reason. It runs good until I get into the higher RPM range and then it just feels like something is robbing all the power. Any suggestions? Could it be a cracked intake manifold or bad EGR valve? I am also noticing some random coolant sitting under the manifold and in the crevices around the plugs. Any idea where this could be coming from and how to fix it? Thanks for any insite you have. This is the best Mustang forum ever...

MustangMatt96GT · April 19th, 2007, 10:23 PM

okay I dont have a clue why it would be sluggish after the MILs, but my best guess is that you might have a cracked manifold if you are finding antifreeze on top of it!

jbm5781 · April 19th, 2007, 10:59 PM

Well, its not on top of the manifold, its actually pooling up in the space under the manifold and around the plugs. Could it be coming from the gaskets or could it be cracked on the side or near the bottom?

MustangMatt96GT · April 19th, 2007, 11:09 PM

So its pooling on top or the heads? That could be a bad head gasket, or a cracked intake manifold you will have to decide!

jbm5781 · April 19th, 2007, 11:26 PM

Its pooling on top of the heads... If its a bad head gasket, what prices can I expect out of it? I once had a bad head gasket on a 98 Nissan Maxima and it was cheaper to get a used motor than it was to fix it. Would this also make it run like it is? It doesn't over heat or anything, just feels very sluggish.

MustangMatt96GT · April 20th, 2007, 12:10 AM

A cracked intake or bad head gasket might cause some poor running. I really dont know for sure though so we will wait for Casper or Ujslost to answer that! To get a new head gasket it souldnt cost an arm and a leg, and if you are okay with tools it should be a job you could do in a day! And if its a cracked intake manifold make sure you atleast get a PI intake. And everyone on this site has been waiting for some one to be the guinnea pig tester for the new Trick Flow intake!

HellRazor · April 20th, 2007, 02:13 PM

I had the very same problem with my original 96 GT engine. I bought the car off of a friend and it had over 130,000 miles on it. The vehicle wasn't running right from day one and I started noticing coolant under the intake, pooling around the plugs and on the tops of the valve covers. ( Just a slight film ) It turned out to be a cracked intake. Instead of putting a new intake on a really unknown condition engine, I bought a low mileage 97 2v engine and went through it. But the point of this is that mine was a cracked intake. I don't know if this will help or not.

jrhurst · April 20th, 2007, 03:48 PM

so it was running like crap before you put the mil eliminators on ? Not sure that it should have been missin . Car would / should have been throwin code and causin it to go into limp mode , or full rich . But i dont think it would have been causing a miss . Pull the plugs and examine them and i bet you will find a problem .

jbm5781 · April 20th, 2007, 08:23 PM

Yeah it was running pretty rough. It would run ok up until I really put my foot into it, then it felt like it was either running rich or lean. So i hooked up a code scanner to it and it pulled a p0420 code which was catalytic systems running below threshhold. So since I don't have converters, I installed the MIL eliminators, which helped some but now it just feels like its trying to break free but something is holding it back. I have noticed some coolant pooling up on top of the heads and around the plugs. I'm thinking it may be a cracked intake manifold or head gasket. If so, I'm definately going to upgrade to a much better manifold, though I'm not exactly sure which one yet. Any ideas?

MustangMatt96GT · April 20th, 2007, 08:26 PM

Trick Flow track Heat and be the tester of it for us! It just was released but it should be one of the best out there! And if you can take some pictures of the cooland and your engine and we can give you a better Idea on it being cracked!

maurertech · April 22nd, 2007, 01:53 PM

i had the same problem with my 97 when my coolent hose blew off and spilled coolent all over my engine even under the plugs where it caused missfiring, dry out the coolent from the plugs and wires.

Patterson98GT · April 22nd, 2007, 02:35 PM

I'm bettin its just the water sittin on the plugs...mine did the same thing when my intake was cracked. All the water leaked down and around the plugs. Just pop out ur plug wires and u can prolly see the water sittin in there. I would say blow it all out off the plugs but it'll prolly just fill 'em back up...

April 19th, 2007, 10:20 PM	#1
jbm5781 Regular Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hattiesburg,MS Posts: 235 iTrader: 0 reviews	97 GT feels very sluggish Hey guys. I am having issues with my GT. I just put MIL eliminators on it due to an o/r h-pipe. It was missing before I put them on. Now it just feels like the motor is being held back for some reason. It runs good until I get into the higher RPM range and then it just feels like something is robbing all the power. Any suggestions? Could it be a cracked intake manifold or bad EGR valve? I am also noticing some random coolant sitting under the manifold and in the crevices around the plugs. Any idea where this could be coming from and how to fix it? Thanks for any insite you have. This is the best Mustang forum ever...

April 19th, 2007, 10:23 PM	#2
MustangMatt96GT Proud American 1996 Mustang GT 10.76 @ 122 with d/a of 8365 ft Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lakewood, CO Posts: 10,168 iTrader: 3 reviews	okay I dont have a clue why it would be sluggish after the MILs, but my best guess is that you might have a cracked manifold if you are finding antifreeze on top of it! __________________ RIP Travis Billings Special Thanks to: Andrews Racing Transmissions Baseline Suspensions Blown Small Block Ford with a hole in the block. 9.5 Dart Block 400 CI being saved for. Just because you can fuck a cactus doesn't mean you should. Never Lift Racecars

April 19th, 2007, 11:09 PM	#4
MustangMatt96GT Proud American 1996 Mustang GT 10.76 @ 122 with d/a of 8365 ft Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lakewood, CO Posts: 10,168 iTrader: 3 reviews	So its pooling on top or the heads? That could be a bad head gasket, or a cracked intake manifold you will have to decide! __________________ RIP Travis Billings Special Thanks to: Andrews Racing Transmissions Baseline Suspensions Blown Small Block Ford with a hole in the block. 9.5 Dart Block 400 CI being saved for. Just because you can fuck a cactus doesn't mean you should. Never Lift Racecars

April 20th, 2007, 12:10 AM	#6
MustangMatt96GT Proud American 1996 Mustang GT 10.76 @ 122 with d/a of 8365 ft Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lakewood, CO Posts: 10,168 iTrader: 3 reviews	A cracked intake or bad head gasket might cause some poor running. I really dont know for sure though so we will wait for Casper or Ujslost to answer that! To get a new head gasket it souldnt cost an arm and a leg, and if you are okay with tools it should be a job you could do in a day! And if its a cracked intake manifold make sure you atleast get a PI intake. And everyone on this site has been waiting for some one to be the guinnea pig tester for the new Trick Flow intake! __________________ RIP Travis Billings Special Thanks to: Andrews Racing Transmissions Baseline Suspensions Blown Small Block Ford with a hole in the block. 9.5 Dart Block 400 CI being saved for. Just because you can fuck a cactus doesn't mean you should. Never Lift Racecars

April 20th, 2007, 03:48 PM	#8
jrhurst Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 48 iTrader: 0 reviews	so it was running like crap before you put the mil eliminators on ? Not sure that it should have been missin . Car would / should have been throwin code and causin it to go into limp mode , or full rich . But i dont think it would have been causing a miss . Pull the plugs and examine them and i bet you will find a problem . __________________ http://www.myspace.com/jryotas

April 19th, 2007, 10:59 PM	#3
jbm5781 Regular Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hattiesburg,MS Posts: 235 iTrader: 0 reviews	Well, its not on top of the manifold, its actually pooling up in the space under the manifold and around the plugs. Could it be coming from the gaskets or could it be cracked on the side or near the bottom?

April 19th, 2007, 11:26 PM	#5
jbm5781 Regular Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hattiesburg,MS Posts: 235 iTrader: 0 reviews	Its pooling on top of the heads... If its a bad head gasket, what prices can I expect out of it? I once had a bad head gasket on a 98 Nissan Maxima and it was cheaper to get a used motor than it was to fix it. Would this also make it run like it is? It doesn't over heat or anything, just feels very sluggish.

April 20th, 2007, 02:13 PM	#7
HellRazor Newbie Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 5 iTrader: 0 reviews	I had the very same problem with my original 96 GT engine. I bought the car off of a friend and it had over 130,000 miles on it. The vehicle wasn't running right from day one and I started noticing coolant under the intake, pooling around the plugs and on the tops of the valve covers. ( Just a slight film ) It turned out to be a cracked intake. Instead of putting a new intake on a really unknown condition engine, I bought a low mileage 97 2v engine and went through it. But the point of this is that mine was a cracked intake. I don't know if this will help or not.

April 20th, 2007, 08:23 PM	#9
jbm5781 Regular Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hattiesburg,MS Posts: 235 iTrader: 0 reviews	Yeah it was running pretty rough. It would run ok up until I really put my foot into it, then it felt like it was either running rich or lean. So i hooked up a code scanner to it and it pulled a p0420 code which was catalytic systems running below threshhold. So since I don't have converters, I installed the MIL eliminators, which helped some but now it just feels like its trying to break free but something is holding it back. I have noticed some coolant pooling up on top of the heads and around the plugs. I'm thinking it may be a cracked intake manifold or head gasket. If so, I'm definately going to upgrade to a much better manifold, though I'm not exactly sure which one yet. Any ideas? __________________ Who cares what your import looks like... They'll all be laughing at you at the finish line.

April 20th, 2007, 08:26 PM	#10
MustangMatt96GT Proud American 1996 Mustang GT 10.76 @ 122 with d/a of 8365 ft Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lakewood, CO Posts: 10,168 iTrader: 3 reviews	Trick Flow track Heat and be the tester of it for us! It just was released but it should be one of the best out there! And if you can take some pictures of the cooland and your engine and we can give you a better Idea on it being cracked! __________________ RIP Travis Billings Special Thanks to: Andrews Racing Transmissions Baseline Suspensions Blown Small Block Ford with a hole in the block. 9.5 Dart Block 400 CI being saved for. Just because you can fuck a cactus doesn't mean you should. Never Lift Racecars

April 22nd, 2007, 01:53 PM	#11
maurertech Newbie 1997 GT Vert Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Southern Cali Posts: 2 iTrader: 0 reviews	i had the same problem with my 97 when my coolent hose blew off and spilled coolent all over my engine even under the plugs where it caused missfiring, dry out the coolent from the plugs and wires.

April 22nd, 2007, 02:35 PM	#12
Patterson98GT Newbie Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Kansas Posts: 14 iTrader: 0 reviews	I'm bettin its just the water sittin on the plugs...mine did the same thing when my intake was cracked. All the water leaked down and around the plugs. Just pop out ur plug wires and u can prolly see the water sittin in there. I would say blow it all out off the plugs but it'll prolly just fill 'em back up... __________________ Patterson98GT

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