so im looking at picking up a 90 mustang LX with a 93 cobra motor with a whole lot of goodies. but at the moment, its not running. he put a new intake on it, so none of the vacuum lines fit. so none of them are hooked up. now, i know the motors good. it was recently rebuilt with goodies, and i know the guy, so ive seen it run. my question is, could the reason its not running now be because of the vacuum lines?

EDIT, EGR isnt hooked up either.

 

LOL. This is the proverbial 10 foot pole car. What he says is irrelevant to me unless everything can be proven. Goodies? What does that mean? Did you see the parts go into the engine yourself? How good a friend is this person? Why does he now want to sell a non-running car? I'd give him a really low value unless he can prove it runs or admit he messed it up. See these cars for sale all the time along with the "you must smog the car yourself" line. Buyer beware...

 

woah, calm down. hes a really good friend. i drove in the car before he did some mods. the only thing HE did was LT headers and a new intake manifold. all the other goodies he did himeself, and i saw him do. the only motor goodies are the intake manifold, 75mm TB and EGR, flat top pistons, b303 cam, gt40p heads and a MSD ignition with 2 step. the car ran GREAT before he put it under for mods, and it hasnt ran since the vacuum lines have been off. this isnt some redneck backyard job, and the ONLY reason hes selling it is cause its a drag-spec car, and he just bought a new 02 mustang gt cobra clone which hes dumping money into now. besides, the car is getting fuel through the injectors, has plenty fuel pressure, and all cylinders are firing.

so my question stands, can the engine run without vacuum lines?

 

's -es, the vacuum lines would prevent it from running... but if it hasent ran right since he was puttin mods on i would stay away.... if i were u, id look on craigslist or look around for the same year model and with the money left over you can mod it. if it were me id say screw it... i hate the mustangs they all look the same 90's to today... if ur goin with a car id get the camaro. you can pick up a 3rd or 4th gen for pretty cheap. or even a 5th gen if ur lucky. i just dont care for the mustang look.

 

it hasnt ran since he put the aftermarket intake on it, which is the reason it dosent have vacuum lines hooked up. its too good of a deal to pass up. no rust, fresh paint, all these goodies, for 3k. i cant even get a decent f series for 3k around here. even civics go for close to 5 around here...

but thanks for the answer!

 

Now there's a real peice of brillance to put up on a Ford board.


There are a group of lines under the intake that if are not transfered from the stock intake correctly or get blown/knocked off, the engine will not run right if at all.

(On edit)

MAP sensor is vac line dependent as well, so that could keep it dead too if there are a large number of issues piled one on top of another.

 

The key word here is ''cheap.'' Just like the opinion offered.

 

You could just try plugging all those lines and see if she'll fire.

 

Did he just replace the upper intake or the lower as well?
If he replaced the lower then he had the distributor out and may have not got it timed right.

 

I don't really know of many ways to get an EFI or EEC controlled car or truck to run right with no vaccuum device information coming back to the computer.

On earlier machines you can play with the distributor timing but a computer will just decide it's out of whack and quit

"ODB CODE 9999: This hoopty is CHEESED"

 

Head on over to Stangnet.com and post this question on the Fox 5.0 forum. I own both a '67 fastback and an '88 GT and no matter what question you might have, someone over there can answer it. They truly are some very sharp guys, and certainly won't offer something as goofy as "get a Camaro". BTW, $3K is a lot to pay for a non-running Fox Mustang, it better be extra nice for that money. I recently sold some parts to a guy trying to sell a fairly decent '89 GT and he'd had it for sale for a few months for $3,500 with no takers. It was kinda beat, but looked good from 20 ft. Be careful.

 

I've got a 92GT that I've had since 95 (bought with 36K on the clock, 120k now), prob'ly the LEAST modded fox in the country (couple of pics in gallery album). I can't take it anywhere that somebody doesn't come up & say "hey, beautiful car, yah wanna' sell it?" (Not no, but HELL no.) Reliable as a brick through a plate glass window & precious little that I can't fix when it does break something. I've got a 73 Mach I (now basket case) I bought on 7/7/77 that my widow will have to sell as well.

Even though my first car was a 70 Camaro, (not my choice) my heart has always belonged to the ORIGINAL, continuously produced, American ponycar since I first saw one in 65.

 

would you pay 3k for a 90 fox with a 93 cobra motor, flat top pistons, cam, ported GT40 heads, aftermarket intake manifold with bigger injectors, MSD ignition w/ 2 step, king cobra clutch and a short throw shifter on a fresh tremtec 5 speed, aluminum drvieshaft, 8.8 w/ welded axle tubes, moser axels, extended studs, 3.90 gears, full spool, c-clip eliminators, fully adjustable drag shocks all around, tubular control arms, and sub frame connectors. best of all, its all on a 100% rot free body with a fresh paint job. the car is CLEAN. the only reason its not running is because of the vacuum lines.

 

What exactly do you mean by doesn't run. Does it try to crank over and won't catch, or is it totally dead?

 

I wouldn't buy it for a street car, and here's why: it won't pass smog tests here in Ca. Right or wrong, it's simply not worth it here. Right across the street from my house is a very nice, very expensive '89 Fox with a killer motor (owner has $7K in receipts for the engine alone), that runs, fairly new paint, dropped slightly, and actually a nice car. Same deal, it won't pass smog. He's had it for sale for a while for $7K (the equivalent of the engine costs) and the only guy to even look at it offered $1500 just for that reason, it'll never be registered for the street again, it's too much work to legalize it. Maybe things are different in your area, and if so, go for it, but I've seen lots of nice, running, hot-rodded Foxes go for dirt cheap lately while stockers sell for twice the price just because they're easy to register and drive. Check ebay or the For Sale forums on Stangnet.com and you'll see what I mean always some big-dollar, well built cars with thousands spent on blowers, cams, aftermarket intakes, and on and on being parted out because nobody wants to pay even pennies on the dollar for a car they can't register. Sad but true.