1998 Ford Mustang GT
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Have the VIN?
Vehicles › Ford › Mustang GT › 1998
These records cover every 1998 Ford Mustang GT. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
Owner complaints
53 complaints2 involved a crash3 involved a fire2 injuries
What owners report most
Latest complaints
- Seat belts
Passenger seat belt failing extended and locked. Unusable *tr
- Engine and engine cooling
The plastic intake manifold cracked and leaked coolant onto the engine and other related components. Car died on freeway. the plastic intake manifold cracks. The coolant will leak onto the top of the block and then down the back of the engine. This intake design IS a known defect by ford.…
The plastic intake manifold cracked and leaked coolant onto the engine and other related components. Car died on freeway. the plastic intake manifold cracks. The coolant will leak onto the top of the block and then down the back of the engine. This intake design IS a known defect by ford. below IS an "owner notification letter" from ford: 97m91 april, 1999 ford motor company IS providing a no-charge service program number 97m91, to owners of certain 1996 through 1998 crown victoria taxi, town car limo prep & delivery package, 1996 and 1997 thunderbird, cougar and mustang vehicles equipped with 4.6L SOHC engines. This service program provides additional coverage for the intake manifold. reason for this program fatigue cracks may develop in some of the composite intake manifolds used on the 4.6L SOHC engines installed in the affected cars. This condition may result in engine coolant leakage which, if not detected or ignored, will cause engine overheating. Complete loss of coolant may result in engine damage or engine failure. what we will do if the engine of your car should develop a coolant leak at the intake manifold cross over coolant passage, located directly behind the alternator, your dealer will verify the condition. If the coolant leakage IS from the location described above, your dealer will replace the engine intake manifold assembly free of charge. this no charge coverage IS available for 7 years from the vehicle's warranty start date (no mileage limitation) and IS automatically transferred to subsequent owners. my complaint IS that my mustang did not leak at the given 7 years and now ford motor company will not do anything. everyone who owns these defective vehicles should have a replacement made available to them regardless of when the failure occurred. It IS a safety issue, as stated in above letter from ford. *kb
- Engine and engine cooling › Cooling system · Engine and engine cooling › Engine · Visibility
While driving on the interstate at 65mph, the intake manifold cracked, spraying coolant and steam from the hot engine out the back of the hood. This covered the windshield, causing me to lose all visibility. This IS very dangerous, had there been something in front of me, I would have caused an…
While driving on the interstate at 65mph, the intake manifold cracked, spraying coolant and steam from the hot engine out the back of the hood. This covered the windshield, causing me to lose all visibility. This IS very dangerous, had there been something in front of me, I would have caused an accident. I see that there are numerous recalls for the same part/engine on other years and vehicles. The dealer also replaces it, with an updated version to avoid failure, at a cost of $900.00. If it IS recalled on one car, why not the rest. It IS the same part number and the same engine, it shouldn't matter what model vehicle it IS in. Someday there will be a terrible accident due to this. *Tr
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine
Intake manifold failure on 1998 ford mustang GT / 4.6L / 2V per class action suit us district court / northern district of california. *tr
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford mustang GT. approximately fifteen minutes after parking and exiting the vehicle, the engine compartment became engulfed in flames. the vehicle was destroyed. there was damage to another vehicle and to a neighboring home; however, the contact did not know the…
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford mustang GT. approximately fifteen minutes after parking and exiting the vehicle, the engine compartment became engulfed in flames. the vehicle was destroyed. there was damage to another vehicle and to a neighboring home; however, the contact did not know the extent of the damage. a fire report was filed. the vin and purchase date were unknown. the current and failure mileages were 140,000. updated 03-04-08 *bf updated 03/04/08 *tr
- Electrical system › Wiring › Front underhood · Vehicle speed control
My complaint IS in regards to the 05n04 recall on my mothers 1998 ford mustang. last friday my 80 year mother got lost and I sent my niece to pick her up, and on their way home the car caught fire and died, my niece thinking quickly turned the car into fire station and was able to get help fast. I…
My complaint IS in regards to the 05n04 recall on my mothers 1998 ford mustang. last friday my 80 year mother got lost and I sent my niece to pick her up, and on their way home the car caught fire and died, my niece thinking quickly turned the car into fire station and was able to get help fast. I thank god my mother was not driving when the hood fire started, she would have wrecked for sure. I then had the car towed to walt's auto care the next day, which was on saturday and tests were run to find the reason why the car caught on fire without any type of prior warning from the car obc. it was not until then we were informed of the recall notice and told that it was covered under the recall notice. however, we received a call monday from walt's stating that they could not do the work and that they had the car towed to another service station named renton auto repair. I was contacted by them to find out who would be paying for the service repairs and it was then I informed him with the same information that was related to me by the first service station. upon looking it up, I was then told that they could not do the work and I would have to take it to a authorized ford repair center. I then contacted sound ford, the place of purchase and was told that it was too late to make a claim for repairs, because the campaign had closed for our car year in 2006 and it would have had to fail before that time. I then explained the car was brought in for repairs in 2004 and we were never informed of any such on-going repairs, part replacements or recalls notices. I truly feel this IS not just or fair treatment to consumers and customers. Because, we were never notified about the recall and the part failed after their cut off date, we should not have to incur the cost, specially when they (ford) had full knowledge of the problem but failed to inform us about the defect part which could have kill my mother if she were driving at that time. *jb
- Engine and engine cooling
Spark plug shot out of my mustang engine the dealer said they fixed the problem but it happened again. I paid for the repairs twice and then again for a 3RD time. it shot out on the road and could have caused an accident. *jb
- Engine and engine cooling › Exhaust system › Manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
TL* the contact owns a 1998 ford mustang. while driving 60 mph the contact smelled anti- freeze. the contact did not remember if the air conditioner was on or not. after removing the thermostat she noticed that the intake manifold was cracked. the vehicle has not been diagnosed by the…
TL* the contact owns a 1998 ford mustang. while driving 60 mph the contact smelled anti- freeze. the contact did not remember if the air conditioner was on or not. after removing the thermostat she noticed that the intake manifold was cracked. the vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. the manufacturer stated that there was nothing that they could do. the failure mileage was 94,000, and the current mileage was 95,427. *Ak
- Engine and engine cooling › Cooling system
Owned car for over 5 yrs. almost paid off. discovered coolant leak. Put in new water pump, new pulleys, new thermostat, new thermostat housing, new hoses. only to discover the junk plastic intake manifold IS cracked. now I found out by searching the internet that this IS a common problem on my…
Owned car for over 5 yrs. almost paid off. discovered coolant leak. Put in new water pump, new pulleys, new thermostat, new thermostat housing, new hoses. only to discover the junk plastic intake manifold IS cracked. now I found out by searching the internet that this IS a common problem on my year of car. ford IS aware of said problem due to crappy engineering and refuses to make it right with consumers. They made it right with the fleet cars that are 1998's and cars other than my year. *tr
- Engine and engine cooling › Cooling system
1) plastic manifold started leaking. No warning. 2) dumped all coolant on motor and left me stranded. 3) will have to replace at a cost of over $900. *nm
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine › Gasoline
Cracked composite intake manifold coolant crossover resulting in coolant leak. manifold being replaced with new aluminum manifold. I subsequently became aware of settlement in chamberlan v. Ford. I never received notification of settlement and my vehicle was past the 7 year limit at the time of the settlement. I feel that ford should extend coverage. *jb
- Engine and engine cooling
Last year I received notification of a class action settlement. I heard nothing else afterward, and have only just realized that I missed the march 16, 2006 deadline. IS there anything that people like myself can do in this instance? *nm
- Engine and engine cooling › Cooling system
1998 ford mustang GT intake manifold cracked and leaking antifreeze. Missed the silent recall by 6 months. *nm
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine
Ford recall plastic intake manifolds.i have purchased a 1998 mustang from a non ford dealer there IS a definite leaking intake on this motor,i have contacted a ford dealer in my area they said the recall time has expired.the place of purchase and my self new of no recall untill I started looking on the internet,and started to keep adding antifreeze to the system,you can see the leaking intake,
- Engine and engine cooling
My 98 GT mustang plastic radiator intake has ruptured at 89,000 miles. it seems all of ford's equipped with ford's 4.6L V-8 contain an intake manifold that IS prone to failure. Due to original design, this part has a tendency to crack resulting in sometimes over heating, engine failure and worse…
My 98 GT mustang plastic radiator intake has ruptured at 89,000 miles. it seems all of ford's equipped with ford's 4.6L V-8 contain an intake manifold that IS prone to failure. Due to original design, this part has a tendency to crack resulting in sometimes over heating, engine failure and worse case damage to other parts of the car's engine. Ford recognizes this problem but will not recall most cars other than fleet vehicles and those listed in the tsb #97m91. 1. 1998 mustang was overheating while driving down the highway. 2. When car was taken to a repair shop the mechanic noticed a crack in the manifold and advised me to take it to my local dealer. It was brought to my attention that if this part was not corrected engine failure could occur due to coolant loss resulting in severe damage. 3. Car was taken to local ford dealership and I gave them the tsb #97m91 and told them to replace the part. 1998 mustang was not listed and the car and can't be fixed at dealer's cost only consumer's. I called ford motor company and have not had any luck talking to customer service about this problem. Ford owners be aware of this problem.*ak
- Engine and engine cooling › Cooling system
Ford motor company settled the lawsuit with the defective intake manifold that was to cracking but did not include all vehicles and I happen to be one of them. I should not have to pay for their defective parts. They extended the warranties or seven years but only after a certain date and many ford owners were left out in the cold. They should replace all of them no matter what!! *nm
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine
After service of my 4.6 mustang GT, my car began missing and I had the diagnostic complete it reported a misfire on plug 7 & 8, so I had the plugs replaced. during the replacement, I saw coolant under both the 7 & 8 plug. the misfire continues, and I took it to the dealer they told me the intake…
After service of my 4.6 mustang GT, my car began missing and I had the diagnostic complete it reported a misfire on plug 7 & 8, so I had the plugs replaced. during the replacement, I saw coolant under both the 7 & 8 plug. the misfire continues, and I took it to the dealer they told me the intake manifold had failed and that there IS no remedy for the consumer even though ford IS aware of the problem and has a kit to sell to the consumer for 900+ dollars. fleet cars taxi, crown vic's used by sheriff departments were cleared for replacement, but no the consumer civilian. what sense does that make? if the engineering IS bad, and it IS, the replacement should be for all owners of the 4.6 liter engine. how IS the segregation of fleet cars from personal use vehicles legal in this country? everyone who owns these defective vehicles should have a replacement made available regardless of when the failure occurred, and what other damage can I expect to find? will this have a daisy chain of failures due to the bad design? I understand the cost to replace will be $1,200.00 + with the dealership estimate parts and labor. *Jb
- Interior lighting · Service brakes, hydraulic › Antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip › Control unit/module · Vehicle speed control › Cruise control
I do not know if this IS a safety hazard. I hope you will let me know. I own a 1998 ford mustang GT. It has 48,620 miles on it. About a year ago, the cruise control and inside lights stopped working. I took it in to a ford dealership. They told me it was some kind of sensor or something like that.…
I do not know if this IS a safety hazard. I hope you will let me know. I own a 1998 ford mustang GT. It has 48,620 miles on it. About a year ago, the cruise control and inside lights stopped working. I took it in to a ford dealership. They told me it was some kind of sensor or something like that. I do not remember specifics. They told me it would be about $500.00 plus to fix it. I could not afford to fix. last month the ABS light came on in the car. I took it in last week and they told me the hydraulic control unit was bad. It would be $992.00 plus to fix it. I spent $115.00 just so they could tell me this. I am financially strapped, I do not have this kind of money. The car IS in mint condition. Yes, it IS about 8 years old but, as you can see by the miles it has hardly been driven. Ford doesn't seem to want to do anything about it. I do not think all of these sensors and other things should be going wrong with it. I feel like this IS a manufacturing error and problems on fords end. I think they should be fixing these things. I could see if my card had more miles on it and I had these problems but, not at 48,620 miles. I do not know what can happen if the ABS unit IS not replaced. The ford dealership would not go into details. So, could you please tell me what you can do for me. *Nm
- Engine and engine cooling › Exhaust system › Manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
Intake manifold defects.. It's made from plastic and it can not withstand all the pressore and heat that it will crack very ealry and cause cooling fluid to leak , and with all that stem coming from the hood it will be so hard to see the road and will cause a fire from the electric system shorting out from the fluid.
- Engine and engine cooling › Exhaust system › Manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
Intake manifold cracked under normal operation with no real reason as to it's failure other than structural flaws in it's original design.
- Engine and engine cooling
Re: 1998 ford mustang 4.6 litre. defective plastic intake manifold split near thermostat housing. found out through internet research this was a common problem, with recalls to almost every vehicle made with a 4.6 liter engine except for my year, thus we had to find out the hard way. we now face…
Re: 1998 ford mustang 4.6 litre. defective plastic intake manifold split near thermostat housing. found out through internet research this was a common problem, with recalls to almost every vehicle made with a 4.6 liter engine except for my year, thus we had to find out the hard way. we now face replacing this part, at our own expense, because ford refuses to pay for the replacement. we were treated rudely at the local ford dealership, who even refused to tell us whether a upgraded replacement part was available. thus the internet research. thank god for the internet!!
- Engine and engine cooling
Coolant was leaking slowly for about eight months, then began to leak a lot the end of december, so the car was undriveable because of risk of overheating, and had to be towed to dealer. it was discovered that the leak resulted from a crack in the plastic intake manifold where the thermostat sits.…
Coolant was leaking slowly for about eight months, then began to leak a lot the end of december, so the car was undriveable because of risk of overheating, and had to be towed to dealer. it was discovered that the leak resulted from a crack in the plastic intake manifold where the thermostat sits. the dealer replaced the manifold with a new manifold that IS metal where the crack occurred (an indication of ford's awareness of the problem). the cost to replace the intake manifold was $1,070 and I have kept my old manifold. through my research, I discovered that ford will replace this part on the 1996-1997 mustangs and police and fleet cars. a memorandum to the dealerships shows that the 1996-1998 mustangs have the same intake manifold part number, so ford should reimburse me for the cost to replace my intake manifold. *jb
- Engine and engine cooling › Cooling system
There IS coolant leaking from the intake manifold. It was determined to be due to a defect that the intake has. *nm
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine
I currently own a 1998 ford mustang GT. It has approximately 90,000 miles on the engine. Iam the srcond owner. It has the 4.6 V-8 engine. At approximately 88,000 miles the intake manifold developed a crack and started leaking antifreeze. It has continually gotten worse and IS now to the point that…
I currently own a 1998 ford mustang GT. It has approximately 90,000 miles on the engine. Iam the srcond owner. It has the 4.6 V-8 engine. At approximately 88,000 miles the intake manifold developed a crack and started leaking antifreeze. It has continually gotten worse and IS now to the point that the vehicle IS inoperable. I contacted ford customer service on 12/27/2004 regarding 3 customer notification letters I found on line regarding the intake manifold failures and was told that my vin #'s were not involved in the recall for replacement. I have also learned that this IS very common failure. I contend that ford should replace all defective intake manifolds as they occur instead of designating only certain vin #'s as a failure IS a failure.*ak
- Engine and engine cooling › Cooling system
Ford automobiles equipped with ford's 4.6L V-8 contain an intake manifold that IS prone to failure. due to original design, this part has a tendency to crack resulting in sometimes over heating, engine failure and worse case damage to other parts of the car's engine. ford recognizes this problem…
Ford automobiles equipped with ford's 4.6L V-8 contain an intake manifold that IS prone to failure. due to original design, this part has a tendency to crack resulting in sometimes over heating, engine failure and worse case damage to other parts of the car's engine. ford recognizes this problem but will not recall most cars other than fleet vehicles and those listed in the tsb #97m91. 1. 1998 mustang was overheating while driving down the highway. 2. when car was taken to a repair shop the mechanic noticed a crack in the manifold and advised me to take it to my local dealer. it was brought to my attention that if this part was not corrected engine failure could occur due to coolant loss resulting in severe damage. 3. car was taken to local ford dealership and I gave them the tsb #97m91 and told them to replace the part. 1998 mustang was not listed and the car and can't be fixed at dealer's cost only consumer's. I called ford motor company and have not had any luck talking to customer service about this problem. ford owners be aware of this problem.*ak
Defect investigations
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
- Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton V-8 and V-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or…
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton V-8 and V-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi IS not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi IS aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it IS possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect IS very low.in view of the foregoing, it IS unlikely that nhtsa would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize nhtsa?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition IS denied.
Service bulletins
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
- 620287Some vehicles with manual transmission or with automatic transmission may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detach from the engine.
- 613762Some vehicles with a T-45 transmission may shift from 4TH to neutral (pop out) when the clutch IS released.
- 613630Some vehicles equipped with manual transmission and with automatic transmission may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detach from the engine.
- 612936Some vehicles equipped with manual transmission and with automatic transmission may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detach from the engine.
- 612717Some vehicles with manual and automatic transmissions may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detached from the engine.
Every Ford Mustang GT model year
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.