1983 mustang v6

fuel filter give it a tune up

Did those have carbs? Or throttle body FI? If it has a carb, you might check to see if there's crap in the float bowl, my 73 ranchero had that problem. Also, you might have an intermittent electrical problem, loose/corroded 12 volts to the coil, etc.

Carb. I believe that '83 was the first and only year that had a carbed

3.8L (lucky me...).

Ditto. Once I had the carb rebuilt professionally, V6stang ran a *lot* better. Added about 4-5mpg to boot.

As Bob said, check the fuel filter while you're at it.

That was my first idea. I know on mine, the insulation on the wires coming out of the DuraSpark box practically crumbled away to nothing where they were resting on a edge of the inner fender. Really, the only way to fix it aside from splicing in a new connector (yuck!) is to dip the whole plug in liquid electrical tape, plastikote, or an equivalent. Make sure to mask off the connectors _very_ well before you start... :)

Hasnt this been talked about here before a number of times ? I thought thre was a common problem with mid 80s fords that some part of the electronic ignition on the engine would overheat and cause intermittent problems such as this. Something to do with the grease under the box not conducting heat correctly.

Someone remember what I am talking about ?

G

I'd forgotten about that; the problem with the TFI ignition modules overheating:

However, in 1983 Mustangs didn't have a TFI module, at least here in the US (never heard of the 1.6L on that list, so maybe it was an export kinda thing).

-- ~Garth (via Google)

if the wiring harness is ok then it is probably the duraspark box itself