Saturday, January 12, 2013

2004 Ford Mustang GT from North America

Front brake rotors were rusted and warped when car was bought brand-new. Dealer machined the rotors at no cost instead of replacing. A year later rotors were warped again and I had them machined again. This time I'll have to replace them myself.

Steering rack mounts got squeaky after a while - car sounded like an old wooden ship when turning. Fixed myself by lubricating the rack mounting bolts twice. Easy to do when you're a mechanic and have all the tools.

Parking brake cable would freeze on cold winter days (Below -10 C) and not release the brake pads. Will end up driving with parking brake on until it smells. Dealer said it's normal and there was nothing they could do.

I didn't think it was normal.

Ended up pumping the parking brake cable full of grease, which was hard to do and required special equipment and custom-made fittings. Never had the problem again.

Various squeaks and creaks heard from the center console when driving on bumpy roads. Attempted to fix by placing electrical tape between the center console bezel and the panel. Worked partially well. Still squeaks.

These are relatively small issues.

Engine feels unbalanced when revved up beyond 3,000 RPM. Very unpleasant feeling.

Lots of transmission whine inside, very annoying noise.

Driver's seat has no solid surface inside - it's just a rectangular frame stuffed with foam. After 1.5 years started causing back pains over long drives. Ended up fixing myself by installing a metal plate inside.

Cruise control malfunctions: when 'Resume' pressed while the car is in Neutral, engine starts revving up all the way to redline not knowing that the car isn't in gear. Scared me a couple of times.

Stock gear shifter makes very difficult to get into 3rd gear. This is a known problem. I've tried both Steeda Tri-Ax and MGW aftermarket short shifters. Steeda is insanely noisy. MGW much better, but still not completely quiet.

Clutch pedal position too close to driver to allow for the large travel it's designed for.

At the same time gas pedal is placed much farther, and brake somewhere in between.

Took me a long time to get used to this awkward sitting position.

No headrests in the back - can be very dangerous in case of rear-end collision.

Front seat headrests are flimsy and set too far back. Probably won't do any good in a collision.

Winter driving is very tricky even with best snow tires and a limited slip differential installed.

No attachment points anywhere at all: if you find yourself in a ditch or in a situation where you need to be towed - there's nothing to attach the tow rope to without braking or bending the bumpers.

Headlights poorly designed for side illumination - hard to see the turns or side of road at night.

When air flow selector is in the Windshield, or Windshield/Feet position, A/C automatically turns ON. This is a waste of gas most of the year when it's not hot enough to run A/C. If airflow position in a different place, windshield fogs up. I believe there should be a separate A/C button in a properly thought-out design.

Source: http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/ford/mustang/2004/

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