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Any mustang guys here?

I am going to look at a car for my daughter(her 1st car) and was curious if any of you guys have any insight into mustangs, its a 96 6 cyl.  Any known problems or things to look out for would be greatly appreciated

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #1 –
3.8's are head gasket hogs.. i would ask the owner if they have ever been replaced

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #2 –
good car, some head gasket issues, dont reccomend them in the snow where we are located. they dont like to move haha. other then that, i had a 99 in the family for 10 years and wasnt a big deal at all

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #3 –
Dan, nothing out of the ordinary, like mentioned they had some head gasket issues, depends on how they are taken care of, My son has an 94 Stang 6 banger and loves it, has plenty of power. confortable and reasonably safe. Being a first car I doubt they will be doing much driving in the snow.
John
 

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #4 –
http://www.v6power.net for all of the V6 Mustang info you'll ever need :headbang:
If worms had daggers, birds wouldn't f**k with 'em

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #5 –
No Stangs for me,but,I have a little known secret.........I do drive a Thunderbird.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #6 –
I had a 1994 Mustang convertible and a 1999 Mustang Coupe. They were both 3.8 V6's and I never had any problems with them. I also had the same engine in my 1989 Tbird and it was reliable as well. The reliability of the SN-95 Mustangs are as good as any Fox Bird or Stang since the SN-95 platform is a redesigned version of the Fox platform. The Mustang uses the same exact 3.8 as the Fox Tbirds and Cougars used, however a few things have been improved upon since the engine's first use in 1982. I sure see an awful lot of this generation Mustang still on the roads.
 
However like some have said there is the infamous head gasket problems on the 3.8 engines. I would just see how the Mustang runs and if it runs good just get it if you like it. You can always do preventitive maintenance and put on new head gaskets.
 
For the SN-97 Mustangs the 3.8 V6 engines had incremental improvements in horsepower. The 1994 model had 145HP... The 1996 models had 150 HP... 1999 bumped it again to 193HP. I'll have to say my 1999 Mustang moved a whole lot quicker than my 1994.
 
Here is a bunch of info:
 
http://www.coolcats.net/tech/troubleshooting/gaskets.html
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Esshag_V6_engine_(Canadian)

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #7 –
use the head gaskets as a negotiation tactic if they haven't been done.. it's the #1 key thing to the price of an SC tbird.. might be able to save yourself a few bucks that way

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #8 –
That is exactly what we bought for our daughter for graduation a few years ago, a 96 Mustang 3.8 and she totally loved it!! We figured the gaskets would go at some point, so we put a 4.6 in it and she loves it even more now!! You can't go wrong with a Mustang. Good luck and let us know what happens.
1987 Turbo Coupe - Son's car
1987 Super Coupe - Son's project car
1934 Ford - My project car

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Scott D;337244
http://www.v6power.net for all of the V6 Mustang info you'll ever need :headbang:


x2 on this, I prefer the 99 and up, as they do not have the head gasket issues the older ones did, with more power to boot. I may be biased though, as this was the engine that I transplanted into my Bird!
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

Any mustang guys here?

Reply #10 –
Quote from: jrad235;337377
x2 on this, I prefer the 99 and up, as they do not have the head gasket issues the older ones did, with more power to boot. I may be biased though, as this was the engine that I transplanted into my Bird!

When I had my 99 Mustang I was quite impressed at the time that V6 engine could scoot as well as it did. I had traded my 145 HP 3.8 V6 1989 Tbird for this 99 Mustang and it was a remarkable difference. The engine was substantially beefed up for 1999 including some improvements that were made for the use of that engine supercharged in the Thunderbird SC models.
 
My 08 Mustang with the 4.0 engine Cologne engine borrowed from the Explorer and Ranger has 210 HP. It has been now made obsolete by the new 2011 300 HP 3.5 liter V6.