tx03v6
05-07-2008, 01:05 PM
Hi all, I have an issue with my wife's 03 v6 auto mustang. It has around 65k miles.
I have read up and found that all of these cars have loud power steering pumps, this one has made noise as for the last 40k miles but recently she said there seems to be a new sound or at least a louder sound and something is sapping some power from the engine.
I could hear the increase in noise so my first thought was to grab a piece of hose (mechanics stethescope) and see if I could find the noise, it's the same groaning/whining/whirring sound the car has always made just louder. I couldn't find any specific source of the noise.
Next I removed the belt and checked each pulley, everything spins relatively smoothly and none of them have a wobble.
When turning the P/S pump I could feel the resistance but I could also grab the pulley and slide it in and out a bit. At first I thought this could be a sign that a bearing in the pump was on it's way out but after inspecting a rebuilt pump out of the box at PepBoys even a new pump had this same movement.
At this point my attention is being turned to something other than an accessory on the front of the engine. I checked all the fluids, water is good and doesn't appear to be leaking out of the water pump so I don't think it's going out, powersteering pump is full though the fluid looks horrible, oil is good, and the trans fluid looks good and might have the slightest tinge of burned smell but that could just be how it is supposed to smell.
The car doesn't have any leaks anywhere which I might add is something I could not say for m firebird at 65k miles.
Now when driving you can hear the car does seem to be slightly louder than normal and it does seem to be holding on to gears longer and it doesn't seem to have the lower rpm pep that it did have before. It feels like something is dragging the motor and robbing a few HP but I can't seem to find it. My thought now is to go ahead and drop the trans pan to change the fluid and filter.
I am admittedly ignorant when it comes to fords, but I have done quite a bit of searching here and elsewhere to no avail. Hopefully someone else on the board has been down this road. My last one was a 66 F-100 with a 240ci inline six with a 3 on the tree. You could change the spark plugs while sitting on the inner fender under the hood, fords have changed considerably since then. ;)
any help, advice or info is greatly appreciated, also if anyone has any input as to any suprises when changing the trans fluid and filter please feel free to throw that in also.
I have read up and found that all of these cars have loud power steering pumps, this one has made noise as for the last 40k miles but recently she said there seems to be a new sound or at least a louder sound and something is sapping some power from the engine.
I could hear the increase in noise so my first thought was to grab a piece of hose (mechanics stethescope) and see if I could find the noise, it's the same groaning/whining/whirring sound the car has always made just louder. I couldn't find any specific source of the noise.
Next I removed the belt and checked each pulley, everything spins relatively smoothly and none of them have a wobble.
When turning the P/S pump I could feel the resistance but I could also grab the pulley and slide it in and out a bit. At first I thought this could be a sign that a bearing in the pump was on it's way out but after inspecting a rebuilt pump out of the box at PepBoys even a new pump had this same movement.
At this point my attention is being turned to something other than an accessory on the front of the engine. I checked all the fluids, water is good and doesn't appear to be leaking out of the water pump so I don't think it's going out, powersteering pump is full though the fluid looks horrible, oil is good, and the trans fluid looks good and might have the slightest tinge of burned smell but that could just be how it is supposed to smell.
The car doesn't have any leaks anywhere which I might add is something I could not say for m firebird at 65k miles.
Now when driving you can hear the car does seem to be slightly louder than normal and it does seem to be holding on to gears longer and it doesn't seem to have the lower rpm pep that it did have before. It feels like something is dragging the motor and robbing a few HP but I can't seem to find it. My thought now is to go ahead and drop the trans pan to change the fluid and filter.
I am admittedly ignorant when it comes to fords, but I have done quite a bit of searching here and elsewhere to no avail. Hopefully someone else on the board has been down this road. My last one was a 66 F-100 with a 240ci inline six with a 3 on the tree. You could change the spark plugs while sitting on the inner fender under the hood, fords have changed considerably since then. ;)
any help, advice or info is greatly appreciated, also if anyone has any input as to any suprises when changing the trans fluid and filter please feel free to throw that in also.