Warped camshaft or crankshaft?

As far as I know this was only a problem with the wood crankshafts that Ford experimented with in the '70s. I don't think any '90's came with wood cranks, but it's possible your Dad's might have had an engine swap.

sno> My father had a 1990 Mustang GT that lost some its "guts" or power so

Umm, yeah...

Car was in Philadelphia, now in South Jersey. I was just wondering because I had my mind made up on yanking the engine out for a rebuild, but I didn't want to waste my time if it isn't necessary. Also, I wanted to keep the orignal engine so I thought of swapping for a crate engine and holding onto the orignal until we could rebuild it. Engine is orignal, only one owner so I assume the numbers match, etc.. Thanks.

That wouldn't have warped the cam shaft. He probably meant a valve.

No. Simply because it was still running. The mechanic has no way of knowing what was bent without opening it up.

You're going to have to get it running again and then diagnosis it. Or at the very least get so you can crank it over get some oil flowing, etc and then do a compression test.

There are lots of things that could cause that symptom. If a compression test was done way back when to determine that something was wrong internally it would still take further testing or disassembly to figure out just what.

If water go in the cylinder, then the head gasket is faulty or the surfaces of the head or block are damaged. This alone will cause power loss and result in a failed compression test. On disassembly it can be determined the extent of the damage.

No, not even close to plausible. Now if he had said "wiped" the camshaft, there is a remote possibility it isn't nonsense. If coolant got in the oil the abrasives that form sometimes cause camshafts to lose their lobes. But not usually roller cams (and that's what a 1990 Mustang would have). So even in the most generous interpretation, odds of the statement being correct are pretty slim.

Yes, start with basics.. Check the ignition timing, check the cam timing (see if the timing chain is stretched or slipped.

See if you can run it in your lawnmower. If not, call your city's waste disposal department and see if they have a program for disposing of household wastes like paint thinner, gasoline, etc.

That's interesting advice... I usually take old or questionable gas from the boats & lawn equipment and use it in the Taurus!

Rob

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

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...