Engine Revving Problem when stationary on 3.8 Ford Engine

mylabrodor

I have a 2004 Ford Mustang convertible with a 3.8 engine, manual transmission I am working on before putting it on the road. When the vehicle is at rest and I rev the engine it goes about 4000 rpm no problem then starts to stumble or engine shake unable to rev any higher. I was not sure if this is normal or not in this vehicle as it may have a rev limiter built in. Has anyone got any idea if this is normal or if it is an engine problem
Thank you

Mr_Shiftright

Sounds like either an ignition issue or fuel starvation, or bad injector, etc. You should first pull codes and see if there's anything to be read in there. If not, I'd try to scrounge a fuel pressure tester and see if that's up to spec. Then, if that's ok, I'd do basic tune-up stuff unless you want to have a shop scope the engine for you.

How's your maintenance been? Fuel filter?

mylabrodor

Thank you I will try what you have suggested. I understand that the vehicle has always been professionally serviced but has been sitting unused over this last year.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah well if it was stored for an entire year without a fuel additive, then the gas in that car is probably no good anymore.

thecardoc3

A lot of vehicles have rpm limiters built into them that only become active under specific conditions and a lot of the time service information doesn't even alert technicians to their presence. Being in Park/Neutral might limit RPM when in the presence of some condition that is otherwise not yet observed. To find out the next step is get it out on the road with the capability to monitor and record serial data for playback and analysis. Don't be surprised if the symptom isn't present but scan data reveals some issues are present.