Yessir! Another backfiring issue! But please read.

[FSirignano]

Alrighty, I did a search on the forum for backfiring issues, seems that most of them have aftermarket add-ons and all that other bolonga, sorry, but I've been too much money on this ride (and my other), to afford super duper parts. heh. but please read on...

Anyways. I have a 1992 Mustang LX EFI 2.3L, automatic. Since I've bought it, it has had a small hole in the exhaust, which, has never once seemed to cause ANY problems with the vehicle, it just has a nice little tune to it. I love the sound, so I never decided to get it fixed.

Now, to the good stuff. About, 6 or so months ago, I noticed that my poor ol' pony was runnin' a bit sluggish. So I did what many other people might do and get some fuel injector cleaner and try cleaning out some gunk that might be causing the problem. After a few days, it started making a beautiful little popping sound. I asked around a few places, and first thing they said was to get a tune-up. SO, I went ahead and got a nice little tune-up, including new plugs and wires. Still nothing. Someone told me to try the fuel filter. It seemed to help a little bit, but it still was backfiring, and acting REAL sluggish when I first started pulling off.

I went and brought it to a shop, and see what they could find. They said that all the vaccuum hoses seemed to be alright, but they ran it through the computer, and noticed some problems in the Emissions system, and there was some gunk coming from my exhaust. They told me 3 parts I should try changing out; MAP Sensor, EGR Valve and Mass Air Flow Sensor. I switched out both the MAP AND EGR Valve. I cleaned out what I could of the pipes going to the EGR Valve. They also recommended to buy some TL-3 (I think that's what it called), add it to my fuel, and drive the heck out of it to try getting some of the gunk out of it. Trust me, this was no problem to me. Although, Still nothing to prevail.

It's been about about a month or so ago since I have actually done anything else to it. It hasn't really gotten any worse, but, it hasn't gotten any better either. It doesn't just happen when it hasn't warmed up (although, that is when it's at it's worst). It will happen when I start it off first thing in the morning, and after about 20 minutes of driving, i stop at a red light, it'll do the same thing. I have to be going around 50mph for it to NOT backfire or run sluggish. I have already gotten a nice little speeding ticket for this ordeal, and insurance isn't getting lower (even if I had any) so it'd be very helpful if someone could give me a couple bits of advice.

and sorry for the long post, i just thought it might be useful to say what i've done to it, and what I haven't before people jump off to conclusions.
thanks in advanced

[harry444]

Did you check to see if the timing is set right it might be the timing belt has slipped and it might be time for a new belt good luck!