Check a VIN

1996 Ford Mustang GT engine problems

25 complaints (78% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 91,500.

owner complaints
25
of this car's complaints
78%
typical mileage
91,500
crashes
0
recalls
0

Which part fails

  • Exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
    10
  • Cooling system
    5
  • Engine
    4
  • Cooling system: fan
    1

At what mileage

Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.

0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+

Ford Mustang GT engine problems in other years

19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

What 1996 Ford Mustang GT owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Dec 4, 2012 · Engine · 102,000 miles · PA

Cracked intake manifold caused var to overheat.

Filed Sep 27, 2010 · Engine · 46,000 miles · LA

On my 1996 ford mustang gt with the 4.6l engine 3 spark plugs blew out of the engine. I took the car to the local ford dealer and they informed me that it was a problem that ford was aware of and that it would be $1,341.98 to repair the damage. I looked it up online and saw that ford blames the damage on improper torquing of the spark plugs. As the car only has 49,000 miles it has never had the plugs changed in any way. Three blew out and 2 more would not come out of the engine as the aluminum head and aluminum spark plugs had seized. Ford knows about the problem and refuses to fix it.

Filed Aug 7, 2007 · Engine · 152,000 miles · FL · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford mustang gt. While parked in the driveway, the vehicle caught fire underneath the hood. The front end of the vehicle up to the dashboard was destroyed. There were no injuries. Ford was notified and they stated that nothing could be done. The current and failure mileages were 152,000.

Filed Apr 9, 2006 · Engine · 105,343 miles · FL

I bought a used 1996 ford mustang gt, soon after having the vehicle I noticed that the car ran hot and could sometimes smell coolant when exiting the car, after my husband changed many parts in the cooling system, which did not resolve the issue, we called a local ford dealership and explained the issue the parts department employee stated that he thought there was a recall so he sent us to talk to a service manager, after giving the VIN # to the service manager we were informed that our car did not have any recalls. A few days later my husband found a crack in the intake manifold we replaced it ourselves at our own expense only to find out through research that this is a known problem with these vehicles, I find it sad that an american car company can get away with knowingly selling defective vehicles and getting away with it. I will remember this next vehicle and buy a foreign car.

Filed Mar 6, 2006 · Engine · 180,000 miles · TX

This is regard to a 1996 ford mustang gt coup with a 4.6l with the now known faulty plastic intake manifold. I am the second owner of this car, it was purchased from car max in early 2000. So far the repair cost is just $1,000. I am aware of the just finished class action lawsuit but my case was not included due to it being outside the 7 year window. The car was serviced at ford dealerships well with in the 7 years but they never said a word. I feel this is unfair practices by ford and their affiliated dealerships. I want to make you and everyone else aware that I am prepared to join any subsequent litigation to help cover the many, many other intakes that were not handled in this class action suit. I am asking you to please encourage ford to make good on the right thing to do.

Filed Jan 19, 2006 · Engine · 48,753 miles · MD

The intake manifold on my 1996 ford mustang cracked with 48750 miles on the vehicle. This failue occured within a few miles of my home and I was able to limp the car back. This manifold is known by ford to be defective and was recalled in fleet cars and was also the subject of litigation (which ford lost). While the manifold on my car is no different than the manifolds on the recalled vehicles or the ones covered by the lawsuit, ford will not accept responsibility for this failure. While the lawsuit has been settled, and it appears that the lawsuit is costing ford money, I beg to differ. Their statisticians know the half life of this part. They also know that all cars with this engine will be affected sooner or later. If they make money on unnecessary repairs that are not covered (my parts cost was triple that of what I could have bought the part for online), then they can afford to cover their recalled parts and either break even or worse yet, make a profit off of a manufacturing defect. This sets a poor precidence. Additionally, the manifold leaked for approximately 3 years before the failure. The leak was small, requiring that I add about 2 quarts of antifreeze a year. Vapor from the antifreeze could be smelled inside the cabin of the vehicle from time to time and I'm not sure that this is great for the health of an individual riding in the cabin.

Filed Dec 17, 2005 · Engine · MO

I own a 96 mustang gt that has a cracked intake. Why is the 96 excluded from being replaced under the lawsuit, whenever the intakes are the same? There should not be so many cars excluded from this,that have the same intake as the ones included, if ford really cares about its buyers!

Filed Oct 3, 2005 · Engine · 91,500 miles · MI

We owned a 1996 ford mustang gt that had a plastic intake manifold that cracked and failed. The manifold cracked on the coolant crossover passage, directly behind the alternator. There was no crash or injuries. I replaced the manifold myself by purchasing a new one from auto zone on 8/16/05. The cost of the manifold was $264.94.

Filed Sep 10, 2005 · Engine · 92,950 miles · MD

Hello please forgive my poor english but my problem is that I had just bought my first car from a car dealer within 35 days the plastic intake started spray out of the engine area every time the gas pedal was push then causing other problem to the engine. The 1996 mustang gt 4.6 has a cracked plastic intake that should never been on this car please help it cost a lot of time and money.

Filed Aug 2, 2005 · Engine · 122,441 miles · KS

Engine and engine cooling system I bought a lot of new parts for this car to try and keep it cooled down everything there is to buy I was finely told by the shop that works on the car I should check with ford because if they did anymore work on my car it could become up in the thousands and that ford should be paying the bill or recall the whole car there is a lot of miles on my car but I take very good care of it and as many parts I buy and as many times that it has been in the shop almost everything on the car is new I have tried everything to make this car run good the reason the owner before me sold the car he was always fixing something on it with everything he done to the car I thought if I just did a little more it would run good but there's no way I replaced the intake manifold 2 times because of cracking I was told by ford they know there is a problem with the intake manifolds but they don't recall them anymore so second hand buyers are out of luck we just keep replacing that part while ford gets richer on a part they know will not work on that car I replaced the clutch a little over a year ago and again something 's wrong I had it checked and they found that all the bolts that hold the transmission in where all almost out I have had them put back in place 2 times and the same with starter only with the starter there was only one bolt left holding it the shop said they don't even know how it had been starting so I fixed that but worried about them all the time ford has been no help on any thing I called about but they say they know of the trouble people are having but sorry no one has put any recalls on these problems and that they will send me a letter if any recalls come out anything that cost ford to much never gets recalls only thing like hood latch seat belt those 2 things I have never had trouble with but they also don't pay much to have them fixed.

Questions about the 1996 Ford Mustang GT engine

Does the 1996 Ford Mustang GT have engine problems?

Owners have filed 25 complaints about the engine of the 1996 Ford Mustang GT, 78% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.

At what mileage do 1996 Ford Mustang GT engine problems start?

The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 91,500 miles.

Was there a recall on the 1996 Ford Mustang GT engine?

There is no recall for this problem on this model year.

What year does the Ford Mustang GT have bad engine?

The Ford Mustang GT model years with the most engine complaints are 1998 (44 complaints), 1996 (25 complaints) and 2000 (24 complaints).

Other 1996 Ford Mustang GT problems

Seat belts 3Electrical 1Steering 1Suspension 1Transmission 1

VIN decoder

See the problems and recalls for an exact car

Buying a used 1996 Ford Mustang GT?

Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.

Check its history