1990 Ford Mustang GT Malfunction - Electrical & Lighting Systems

Question: I have a 1990 Mustang GT. The wipers work off and on and have since I got the car ten months ago, but if you fiddled with the lever enough, sometimes they would work. They've been working lately. A few months ago the horn would come on by itself, car off, and then shut itself off a few seconds, or minutes, later. This eventually happened when I wasn't home and drained my battery all the way down. I disconnected the horn and solved this problem. Today, I shut my car off at a store, came back out in five minutes, and it wouldn't start. The fuel pump came on, the dash lights and the stereo came on, but when i turned the key to "start" nothing happened. I checked under the hood to make sure the battery was hooked up snug, etc, got back in, tried it, didn't start, tried it again, and it started normally. I drove it again about half an hour later and the tach doesn't work anymore. It'll wind all the way around, and bounce all over the place. Idling, it stays at one, but as soon as you speed up, it goes haywire again. I figure obviously the probelm is electrical, and probably centered in the steering column, hence the wipers, horn, and now the tachometer and the ignition (I assume). My car gets really hot going down the highway, I mean so hot that if you lay your hand on the console you jump because it hurts to touch, and your feet sweat because there's so much heat at the front of the car. What could be causing the heat, do you think it melted some wires or something, and would you say the two problems are related? I'd like to figure out what the heat problem is because obviously it's not too handy in hot weather. Also, my sister has a 93 LX with a 302 as well, and it gets kind of hot inside and on the console, but not scalding hot like my car does. Is this a common problem with foxbody Mustangs, and if so, why is mine so extreme?

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Technican: Hi; The heat can be caused by the catalytic converters getting hot. They are probably clogged up and are overheating. The best way to check them is at night. Get the car up to operating temperature going down the road, as soon as you feel the heat building up pull over at a parking lot and look underneath the car. If they are clogged they will be cherry red. As for your electrical problem. I would probably start at the ignition switch. Sounds like is shorting out. Check it and if not then check your connectors at bottom of the steering wheel. Make sure that none of them are melted together or any bare wires touching ground. .

Owner: I checked under the car, and it turns out I don't have catalytic converters, or at least not so far as I can tell. The exhaust system is basically: headers to pipes to glasspacks, and that's about it. So I assume it's the way the exhaust is set up and the way it's routed from the engine and under the car causing the heat. Would you agree? It just seems to me that going down the highway at 70, the exhaust shouldn't get so hot with all the air passing over it. I think some sort of heat shield on the firewall might help, but I don't think it would be very easy to get it back there behind all the stuff that's in the way. Also, it turns out one of the battery cables wasn't hooked up very well to the metal part that goes around the post (please forgive my laywoman's terms) because when I tugged on it, the cable pulled right out. I was told that sometimes a poor battery connection will cause a tachometer to malfunction; is that true? That doesn't explain why my wipers, horn and cruise control don't work but at least my car always starts now. I wish I could get the heat problem figured out though, because I hate to take it anywhere on a hot day. Thanks a lot for your help.

Technican: Hi; You can check with a muffler shop about wrapping the exhaust. They make a special tape to wrap up the exhaust to cut down on the heat. As far as what you are taking about that at 70 it should be cooler due to more airflow is not so. For example nascar races at 200 mph and tha car in the inside get real hot. .

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