My father had a 1990 Mustang GT that lost some its "guts" or power somy father purchased another car and let it sit idle for the last 4years. Anyway, I have a 15 year old kid who begged for it and Ifinally caved. When I asked my father why he thought it lost its powerhe said that when he took it to a mechanic, the mechanic thought thatwater may have gotten in through the exhaust manifild and warped thecamshaft (he also could have said crankshaft not sure). Does thissound plausible?I started reading up on working on engines because I thought this wouldbe an interesting, and costly journey, and from a lot of stuff I readit seems that a lot of things can happen to rob power from your engine,and suggestions at minimum were a compression test, and even better avacuum (leakdown) test to diagnose the issue. I started thinking thatmaybe I could avoid a rebuild if I did some further tests like vacuumand compression, but now I am afraid of what the inside of the enginemight look like after being idle for 4 years. Especially because welive in the Northeast.Also, what do I do with the old gas that's still in the car? Iimagine I could try and siphon it out, but what do I do with it then?Thanks for any advice.

I don't believe a warped cam or crank is a plausible issue with this car, both conditions would have cause catastrophic engine damage as well as these things don't happen to a running engine. All of whatever fuel is left must be done away with, and the fuel system should be flushed out. Oil and filter change, engine cranked over with no plugs and fuel pump shut off. There will other issues with a 4 year improper storage. But see if you can get it running first. Where in the NE?, check with local regs for fuel disposal. Of course at best all this will bring the car back to the original no power problem.

Hmmmmmm .... I wonder what they did with all the jelly fuel they usedin the SR-71s...... had the oxygen impregnated into the jelly so theengines would run in thin atmosphere of 84,000+'.Spike1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-LokVintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 4016" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

Warped camshaft or crankshaft?

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Ted Mittelstaedt 20 years ago

Same here. A gallon or two of old gas mixed in with a nearly full tank for a car will burn fine. But old gas in a lawnmower will get you a lawnmower that won't start.

Ted

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Spike 20 years ago

Years ago a friend found an old gas mower at the dump. We were young GIs with very small incomes ($96.90 a month- and he got a bit more for being married). Drug it home and cleaned it up. Nice repaint and everything. The day came to give it a workout. In goes the fuel from a can in the garage. After what seemed like forever, he got it started and it ran like a banshee for about 15 seconds, and then the engine became a one piece unit. A bit of investigation... guess you're not supposed to use old jet fuel in a mower. The mower was returned to the dump. Spike

1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40 16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

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Ritz 20 years ago

Yeah, but I bet a John Deere lawn tractor running on JP4 would be quite the hotrod....for about 15 seconds. 8-)

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Spike 20 years ago

yeah, but it sure would be an expensive 15 seconds. Spike

1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40 16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

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Spike 20 years ago

Spike

1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40 16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

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Steve 20 years ago

My lawnmower will pretty much run on swamp water. The cars get a lot more persnickety about gas quality. And they cost a LOT more to repair when bad gas gums something up...

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Warped camshaft or crankshaft?

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