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Ford Mustang: 1986 Ford Mustang, air fuel mixture, mustang shop


Question
hi i have a 86 mustang gt with a 5.0L h/o, i actually have 2 questions, since i bought the car wich was about 2 months ago its been idleing at 1500 rpm thats pretty high obviously, wat would be the best way to fix this problem, ive heard some things like cleaning the throttle body and the intake and even the IAC, but since im strapped for money i dont wanna start throwing money out hopeing it will fix it so i want an opinion first. now the second question is the day i bought the stang the fuel guage worked and im assuming my oil gauage and temp gauge also worked but now all 3 do not work, a week after i bought it one of the bypass hoses blew while replacing it i also replaced the waterpump myself and topped it off with antifreeze so the engine isnt overheating and coolant isnt low so its not running cold, and on the oil side of things i am holding oil pressure and im not low on oil so how do i go about checking lets say the oil pressure sensor or anything else that would fit in that catagory, but i would think since all 3 are out that they could be linked together somehow maybe thru a fuse or resistor or something like that, and thats jus causing my problem, i dont have wiring diagrams so i cant look it up or anything. well thats about it, thank you very much for taking the time to read my question i really appreciate your help!

Thanks,
       Trevor

Answer
The idle could be one of many things.  It could be the throttle body like you said.  It could be a bad air/fuel mixture because of your carb like my car had.  It could be your timing.  There are many possibilities, I think the best option would be to take it to a mustang shop and they can probably isolate the problem within an hour or so.  You should be idling around 700 rpm.

The guages going out definitely sounds like a dash fuse blew because they all went out together.  If you are planning on doing any modification to the car I would look into new guages, like autometer, from summitracing.com because they will give you more accurate readings.  Most can be replaced in the stock location or you can mount them on your pillar. If you want to try to fix your stock guages you can buy a wiring diagram for your car for around $10.  Check ebay, or ford motor sports.