[ToMuchHxc]

I have an 01 Mustang
I bought it about 5 months ago
And everything was fine except the window is kinda jacked up
But that's not my point of concern
As of recently the performance has dwindled
On occasion when I start it and accelerate, it will chug a little
But it is very minor
Then I'll cruise along
And almost like clockwork as soon as it hits 3rd gear
It begins to chug a bit
Now the chugging seems to get worse when going uphill
But once it gets higher rpms in 3rd gear, the problem disappears
And fourth gear is smooth
The engine doesn't make any obscene or awkward sounds
my buddy and I checked the spark plugs and everything appears to be in tact
The chugging almost feels like it's not getting enough gas
But I am no mechanic
So any help on the matter would be appreciated

[mmvi]

if you don't think it's not getting enough gas, then an injector might be clogged, or giving out? depending on mileage, and maintenance, a lot of things cross my mind...

[crashnebula]

clogged fuel filter?

[mmvi]

try a tune up and whatnot first before you do anything else.

[04GTAMPA]

Does it give you problems when starting or does it fire right up?

[riceburnin03]

mine did the same thing awhile back and i changed the fuel filter and sparkplugs and its ran fine since check the obvious things first its usally what it is

[04GTAMPA]

I'm thinking it's a clogged filter. Try running a strong cleaner, some seafoam and then replace the fuel filter.

[GreenFaleen]

seafoam the car, and replace your air and fuel filter

[cotee]

i ran my car without a thermostat for awhile and it would do that so maybe youre car is running too cold or something

[Dodd]

Does it do it at a peticular throttle amount(i.e. 1/4 3/4 barely touching)? Is it only Third that it does it in? If you floor it does it bog or is it ok? Is your ignition coil pack original to the car? If you can answer these I can help ya out.......

[cotee]

well my car started doing the same thing again and it has a thermostat now so it must be something else and for mine it does like 3/4 of the way the down its like when i really push on it that it does it

its also weird cause i ran the heater last night cause it was cold and it didnt do it at all so i dont know if that has something to do with it

[Dodd]

Originally Posted by cotee well my car started doing the same thing again and it has a thermostat now so it must be something else and for mine it does like 3/4 of the way the down its like when i really push on it that it does it its also weird cause i ran the heater last night cause it was cold and it didnt do it at all so i dont know if that has something to do with it

I would check your fuel pressure and check how good of a spark you have. Problems like this usually are low fuel pressure/flow, weak spark and rarely a bad throttle positioning sensor (throttle sensor would do it every time you get in the gas). Also check your fuel filter, if the outside is all crusty and nasty looking, buy a 5/16 fuel line disconnect tool and a filter and change it. Your fuel pressure shouldn't be lower than 35PSI at idle, if you remove the vacuum line going to the pressure sensor (the sensor is at the front left of the motor, the connector for a pressure test is right below it) you should see your pressure go up to about 45PSI, if it doesn't either the sensor is bad and not telling the computer to turn it up, or your pump can't do the pressure and needs to be replaced. Start at the spark, the factory coils are notorious of crapping out, especially the block in the middle that fires #2 and #6.

One last thing, please don't run your car without a thremostat in it again. The water pump gets the coolant moving so fast that it needs the thermostat to slow it down so it can absorbe some of the heat from the motor, when you take it out it goes through the motor too fast and the cylinders are a lot hotter (50-60 degrees F) then the coolant! If you do that for too long you will blow a head gasket and warp the head. All that I can say at that point is congraz on the $1000.00 you just threw away, and that's if your lucky.

Hope that helps.....

[cotee]

Originally Posted by Dodd I would check your fuel pressure and check how good of a spark you have. Problems like this usually are low fuel pressure/flow, weak spark and rarely a bad throttle positioning sensor (throttle sensor would do it every time you get in the gas). Also check your fuel filter, if the outside is all crusty and nasty looking, buy a 5/16 fuel line disconnect tool and a filter and change it. Your fuel pressure shouldn't be lower than 35PSI at idle, if you remove the vacuum line going to the pressure sensor (the sensor is at the front left of the motor, the connector for a pressure test is right below it) you should see your pressure go up to about 45PSI, if it doesn't either the sensor is bad and not telling the computer to turn it up, or your pump can't do the pressure and needs to be replaced. Start at the spark, the factory coils are notorious of crapping out, especially the block in the middle that fires #2 and #6. One last thing, please don't run your car without a thremostat in it again. The water pump gets the coolant moving so fast that it needs the thermostat to slow it down so it can absorbe some of the heat from the motor, when you take it out it goes through the motor too fast and the cylinders are a lot hotter (50-60 degrees F) then the coolant! If you do that for too long you will blow a head gasket and warp the head. All that I can say at that point is congraz on the $1000.00 you just threw away, and that's if your lucky. Hope that helps.....

well i think it might be fuel thing cause today when i drove it it smell like gas and its not like its leaking or anything so i dont know and i didnt drive it very much without the thermostat only when i really needed to cause i know that it can mess a lot of things up