97 LX not shifting into 3rd

XR7-4.6 said:
I really can’t tell what intake that is with that big alternator bracket in the way(where did that come from btw(it’s not from a Tbird or a Mustang???)

The 01 Mustang 4.6 with the sole exception of the rare Bullitt with a totally different aluminum intake had the oil fill on the passenger side, so I assumed you swapped the ones from the Tbird on when you installed the engine. If those valve covers were on the engine to begin with it’s probably not a 2001 engine but rather a 96-98 npi
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so was the mustang engine swapped beforehand? thats what came with the car and everything looked factory on it.

theterminator93 said:
Since you swapped over the intake, do you recall if the intake ports on the heads were round or rectangular?
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I do not recall. should i take the intake off and look?
 
mysterymau0521 said:
so was the mustang engine swapped beforehand? thats what came with the car and everything looked factory on it.
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It’s possible, if something happened to the original motor and they just needed a quick cheap replacement they could have easily tossed in an earlier npi engine to get it back on the road.

mysterymau0521 said:
I do not recall. should i take the intake off and look?
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I wouldn’t go to that effort as there are other ways to tell. One unintrusive one that comes to mind is to shine a flashlight into the valley area behind the alternator and see what kind of coupler is attaching the heater core return to the block, if it’s rubber with a clamp it’s probably all non PI as that won’t work with a PI intake and I’d deduce no one swapped PI heads but nothing else.

You could also tell by the casting numbers on the heads though they aren’t easy to get to being above the exhaust manifold, but PI Romeo heads would start with the prefix 1L2E where npi heads would start with F5AE
 
XR7-4.6 said:
It’s possible, if something happened to the original motor and they just needed a quick cheap replacement they could have easily tossed in an earlier npi engine to get it back on the road.



I wouldn’t go to that effort as there are other ways to tell. One unintrusive one that comes to mind is to shine a flashlight into the valley area behind the alternator and see what kind of coupler is attaching the heater core return to the block, if it’s rubber with a clamp it’s probably all non PI as that won’t work with a PI intake and I’d deduce no one swapped PI heads but nothing else.

You could also tell by the casting numbers on the heads though they aren’t easy to get to being above the exhaust manifold, but PI Romeo heads would start with the prefix 1L2E where npi heads would start with F5AE
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This would be indicative of an npi engine?
 

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It was based off the NPI casting, so it performs about the same as the same. For PI applications it reduces output by 12-13 HP or so. On an NPI engine there's really no difference.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Just that it’s aftermarket, for a replacement on an npi it’s actually perfectly fine, if it were a PI engine the implication is it’s not as good performing as the factory PI intake.
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That would be why my intake gasket kit didn’t fit wouldn’t it. I had no idea it was aftermarket
 
Doorman intakes from what I've seen have integrated gaskets. You can use the genuine pi gaskets on npi but it takes a bit of silicone and cutting the tabs off. Worked fine for me. Supposedly you gain a good bit of power above 4500rpms with the genuine ford intake. even on all npi stuff (with a tune). i ran mine without a tune and it still had a noticeable difference. nothing ground breaking for a 300$ intake but still better.
The doorman intake still has an improvement on npi stuff. More power lower down but not as much up top like you would get with the long runners of a genuine pi intake
mysterymau0521 said:
That would be why my intake gasket kit didn’t fit wouldn’t it. I had no idea it was aftermarket
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theterminator93 said:
That it would.

On the bright side, no need to worry about a tune! :)
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LukesCougar said:
Doorman intakes from what I've seen have integrated gaskets. You can use the genuine pi gaskets on npi but it takes a bit of silicone and cutting the tabs off. Worked fine for me. Supposedly you gain a good bit of power above 4500rpms with the genuine ford intake. even on all npi stuff (with a tune). i ran mine without a tune and it still had a noticeable difference. nothing ground breaking for a 300$ intake but still better.
The doorman intake still has an improvement on npi stuff. More power lower down but not as much up top like you would get with the long runners of a genuine pi intake
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soooooooo...

I have made a discovery.
The mustang is actually a 98. my dad has been sure that the car is a 2001 but after checking the title it is actually a 1998. so I have caused you a lot of overthinking over nothing.
 
mysterymau0521 said:
soooooooo...

I have made a discovery.
The mustang is actually a 98. my dad has been sure that the car is a 2001 but after checking the title it is actually a 1998. so I have caused you a lot of overthinking over nothing.
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Ive been through similar stuff with my 96 cougar. It was a beater and had been tinkered with. Had the same doorman pi intake on it until i swapped on the ford pi. Me personally im just glad to be of use. I probably dont know all that much more about these cars than you do.
 
LukesCougar said:
Ive been through similar stuff with my 96 cougar. It was a beater and had been tinkered with. Had the same doorman pi intake on it until i swapped on the ford pi. Me personally im just glad to be of use. I probably dont know all that much more about these cars than you do.
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I'd swap on the intake from the mustang however its also a dorman and im realizing that ive never seen the stock intake
 
The stock npi manifold pulls to about 4200rpm, then drops off; the ford pi intake is solid to 5500. The real pi intake swap is worthwhile, if you drive like I do.
 
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