Please HELP me revive my Stang !!!

[Rodoggx]

Hello,
I just bought a 1990 mustang lx 5.0. It has 86,000 original miles and is totally stock. This is my first mustang and I feel blessed to have found this car for under $1500! It is in near mint condition except for a bit of faded paint! Now that I have stroked my mustang a bit... lemme tell you whats WRONG ...
When I bought it from the original owner, it had been sitting for 4 years and not driven. The thing is, it had a really rough idle. I thought a tune up would set it straight so i put new plug wires, distributer cap, rotor, plugs (gapped at .055), and an oil change The idle smoothed out a bit. When I try to start the car, it will die on me but after that it will start up and run fine. The idle still sounds like it has a miss but sounds better than before.
I just want to know what is causing it to die on me on the initial try. I still have to change the pcv valve, fuel filter, and check timing. But if you guys can think of anything else that might be causing my stang from running smooth, I'm all ears. Do I need to check the TPS voltage or anything else?
I've read many previous posts and you guys have helped many people and seem very knowledgeable. If you guys can lend a helping hand I appreciate it. THANK YOU.

[lx5091]

I'd baby it for a few miles, what I mean is pay attention to how hard you hit the gas and how suddenly you accelerate immediately after braking. Basically try to keep your oil pressure as level and steady as possible, don't surge it this will help the seals stay intact while you put miles on and hopefully they will get reconditioned a little.

As far as getting it running smoothly again, try removing and cleaning the Idle Air Bypass mounted on the side of the throttle body, that can be responsible for rough idle. Also you can try cleaning the MAF sensor very gently. If there is any old gas in it that could be causing you a problem, some octane booster may help. Even simple things like a new air filter could help.

The very best thing you can do for the car is take it easy for awhile and let it come back to life. Also expect things to fail, like the wiper motor, fan clutch, A/C compressor, these are very common problems due to a car sitting for awhile.

Hope I helped

[Rodoggx]

Thanks for the advice. I'll baby the stang for a while and see how it runs. Yea, it has about a quarter of a tank of gas in it right now and I don't know what octane- but regardless, I believe its been sitting in the tank for a while. Once again, thanks.

[88coupe]

I'd put new gas in it soon also! Gas doesn't last forever! It will degrade if the car just sat for a few years..... If all else fails drain the tank and put in some new fas.... May help out.

[slantman]

egr not seating all the way, vacume hoses dry rotted, also try checking the tps and resting the computer
http://www.50tech.com/index.php?action=Idle

[88workcar]

Congrats on the new car. Gas, try Chevron. It has the best engine cleaners on the market. What is your goal for you and the car. Do you plan to dragg race, road race, or neither? Some poeple just enjoy riding.

[richd]

Definitely clean your throttle body and IAB and get new gas.

My Stang sat for 3 weeks while I rebuilt my trans and it had idle problems and a sticky throttle afterwards. Cleaning out the tb and iab helped a lot. Also did it once before, I was having stalling issues and rapidly dropping idle, it made a world of difference.

[Rodoggx]

Thanks for all the good advice. I won't be able to tinker with the stang til this afternoon but i will keep everyone posted. As for my goals...right now I want to run it as stock as possible until it won't be able to run any longer. Then I'd like to turn it into a hot little street racer. Since it has an AOD... , I was thinkin about getting 3.73 gears, shift kit and beefing up the tranny eventually. I was also thinking about getting the systemax II package. Has anyone bought it? any thoughts? anyways, I'll keep you guys posted on the idle issues as more developes...thanks.

[Chevyguy]

If you pull off the intake hose and look at the throttle body, it will probably be jet black, and lots of gunk behind the throttle plate. Clean all of that out with carb cleaner with the engine off of course. Also remove the idle bypass solenoid and clean that out too with carb cleaner.

Fill up the gas tank, and put a bottle of the strongest fuel injector cleaner. Look for ones that claim to clean out the intake valves and pistons etc. Chevron Techron or Chemtool etc(love the big daddy type logo) You will probably have to run two tanks or more of this stuff to clean out the injectors, they are probably really gummed up.

New O2 sensors at $39 a piece is not a bad idea when you get a few more$$
Get a PCV and the screen and grommet from the ford dealer, the aftermarket PCV does not seal properly and makes a big oil leak :barf:

After cleaning everything out. Try clearing out the computer by disconnecting the battery for 10 min.

My car runs just fine at 10° initial with 87 octane, have not tried to bump more. I ran 15° with 93 octane just fine, it did get a little more power at the track, but not worth the $0.20 a gallon for daily driving. Most stock stangs will show up with low timing.

Oh yeah, remove that air silencer found in the fenderwell, that is a true sign of a virgin stang (mine had it still ) Get a K&N direct replacment filter, works better than most of the supposed cold air kits with the cone filter.