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Dan_Cicero · 05-20-2003, 09:21 PM

This is a great forum! I haven't been able to find a place that caters to the LX before. Mine is a 1989 Mustang LX convertible that I bought brand new. It has 119,000 miles on it and I think I got the best compliment ever today at the Ford dealer. They couldn't decide if the car had 19,000 or 119,000 miles on it. After the test drive, they called me again to tell me the car was "su-weet!"

I'm planning to drive it from Chicago to Atlanta over the 4th of July, so it was in the shop for a professional check-over. I needed an alternator belt tensioner, a new throttle valve, a radiator flush and fill, a new fuel filter, a coolant reservoir, etc. End of the day: $780, which seemed reasonable when broken down into component parts.

Although the car runs great, there are a couple of things that I find a little irritating and I don't know what to make of them.

When the car was new, the temperature never moved much above the bottom of the normal range. Now it'll creep up, not too high, but higher than before. Is that just the water pump wearing? Does it need a new thermostat? The auxiliary fan kicks in when it should, but I'd like to stabilize this if possible.

The oil pressure gauge bounces all over the place. Most times, it's rock solid, right where it was when I bought the car, but when the car is idling, it'll dance around and sometimes drop off a lot. The engine doesn't lose oil and doesn't make any noise. I'm pretty sure it's the gauge, but how would I check? Is this something routine?

The left turn signal indicator is burned out. My Haynes manual doesn't give a good description of how I should take the instrument cluster out. Is this what I need to do to change the bulb? Is there a good description of the procedure somewhere? (The turn signal still works, I just don't see the indicator on the dash. There's another burned out bulb back there too and I'd like to replace that at the same time.)

If anyone's got some answers to these questions, I'd love to hear them. This car is a peach and I intend to keep it that way!

05-20-2003, 09:21 PM	#1
Dan_Cicero Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Aurora, IL Posts: 2	A few, little, irritating things... This is a great forum! I haven't been able to find a place that caters to the LX before. Mine is a 1989 Mustang LX convertible that I bought brand new. It has 119,000 miles on it and I think I got the best compliment ever today at the Ford dealer. They couldn't decide if the car had 19,000 or 119,000 miles on it. After the test drive, they called me again to tell me the car was "su-weet!" I'm planning to drive it from Chicago to Atlanta over the 4th of July, so it was in the shop for a professional check-over. I needed an alternator belt tensioner, a new throttle valve, a radiator flush and fill, a new fuel filter, a coolant reservoir, etc. End of the day: $780, which seemed reasonable when broken down into component parts. Although the car runs great, there are a couple of things that I find a little irritating and I don't know what to make of them. When the car was new, the temperature never moved much above the bottom of the normal range. Now it'll creep up, not too high, but higher than before. Is that just the water pump wearing? Does it need a new thermostat? The auxiliary fan kicks in when it should, but I'd like to stabilize this if possible. The oil pressure gauge bounces all over the place. Most times, it's rock solid, right where it was when I bought the car, but when the car is idling, it'll dance around and sometimes drop off a lot. The engine doesn't lose oil and doesn't make any noise. I'm pretty sure it's the gauge, but how would I check? Is this something routine? The left turn signal indicator is burned out. My Haynes manual doesn't give a good description of how I should take the instrument cluster out. Is this what I need to do to change the bulb? Is there a good description of the procedure somewhere? (The turn signal still works, I just don't see the indicator on the dash. There's another burned out bulb back there too and I'd like to replace that at the same time.) If anyone's got some answers to these questions, I'd love to hear them. This car is a peach and I intend to keep it that way! __________________ Dan Cicero Aurora, IL