SpectorV: Is this guy talking smack?

[00vertstang]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...QQcmdZViewItem


WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWO THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU BUY A 03-04 COBRA!!!!! This info could save you Thousands. (If u don't believe me do an internet search the results may surprise you.)

#1: Little do you know the 03-04 Cobra shortblock DOES NOT handle 500+ HP reliably. Why? There has been thousands of 03-04 Cobra engine failures even at stock HP levels? Why? After the last version of the SVT Cobra came out costumers complained about the engine making piston knock at warm up. So what did Ford do to for the 03-04 Cobras fix this? They made the piston to wall clearance tighter to make the engine quieter at startup to prevent piston slap. (All high HP engines have this *duh*) What does this mean? By ford doing this the engine now generates MORE HEAT at the pistons!!!!! So everytime a Cobra makes a high speed blast they risk piston failure. This is the number 1 killer of 03-04 Cobras. Even forged pistons give way to excessive heat.

#2: The 03-04 Cobras have poorly made Cylinder heads. Thousands of Cobras have already had their Cylinder heads replaced do to this flaw (Which will cost the owner without a warranty 4K+ to fix) Why? The first version of the SVT Cobra Cylinder heads did not flow coolant well enough which caused the valve guides to warp due to excessive heat causing what is know as the famous 03-04 Cobra TICK. SVT in 2004 tried to fix the problem but failed. Many 04 Cobras still developed head tick. Ford came out with the last revision of the head to fix the problem in Feb. of 2005. So no stock Cobra has this problem fixed!!!!!!!!! This excessive heat build up in the head further adds to the problem of the heat at the pistons. The 03 Cobra cylinder heads also have less spark plug threading than the 04 heads and the 05 revised Cobra heads. So there is a large number of cobra owners who have had their spark plugs shoot out on the cylinder heads.

[fast64]

i bet most of the people that break their shortblocks in the 500-600 hp range is do to bad tuning.

[Dom]

Yea. There was a turbo '03 Cobra that never touch the anything but the intake and made some crazy power. It was in MM&FF a long time ago.

[bbunt302]

If I'm not mistaken, 600 rwhp seems to be the mark where any more power will begin to cause cooling issues due to excessive piston heat. Some of the Cobras do indeed have the "tick", but as far as know, the issue was indeed fixed in the 04s and not all of the 03s suffer from it either. I've rode in SpectorV's car many times (an 03 with 40k miles by the way), and have never once heard any sort of "tick".

[Thomas91169]

obviously that guy has never seen the svtperformance forums, where if you have a cobra under the 500hp mark, youre a waste of human flesh.

500hp is easy for a 03/04. blowing motors that are that built are due to bad tunes or horrid drivers who rag on their cars too much.

and the fact he mentions a 05 cobra just blows his accountability right out of the water. nice try scooter, come again when you have some real info.

[Riversnake]

With a good tune a sensable driver, these cars will live with 500hp all day long. I've driven mine for a year now with only a couple minor hiccups (none internal engine related--idler pulley failed) but the dealer fixed these under warranty with no problems.

You run a engine lean, whether it be a 4.6 Cobra motor or the venerable 5.0, it aint gonna last too long when you go to thrashing on it. When you go to modding-go to a reliable tuner: RWTD, Dynospeed, Coastal, etc etc and get the car tuned to run with what you have.

[PureVenom]

Well, all the problems he mentioned are true....however he did exagerate a bit. It isn't until the 600ish hp range do you start to see some failures (assume good tunes). If you are running over 600 hp, a good thought is to replace the pistons due to the rediculous clearance.

The coolant flow problem is true...however there is a nice $190 kit to fix that. The head issue is true, however it caused a tick...anyone with the bad heads would have known by now and had it fixed under warranty.

But...as he says...he built that one right...except for the fact that he used the smallest and cheapest aftermarket intercooler ... The fluidyne has been shown to underperform the other two main options out there....Gordsford and the LFP. Overall, I think he did way more than he needed to on a car that has the stock eaton...

[PureVenom]

Quote: Originally Posted by Riversnake With a good tune a sensable driver, these cars will live with 500hp all day long. I've driven mine for a year now with only a couple minor hiccups (none internal engine related--idler pulley failed) but the dealer fixed these under warranty with no problems. You run a engine lean, whether it be a 4.6 Cobra motor or the venerable 5.0, it aint gonna last too long when you go to thrashing on it. When you go to modding-go to a reliable tuner: RWTD, Dynospeed, Coastal, etc etc and get the car tuned to run with what you have.

Did you get the idler blow up? I replaced mine with the billietflow ones once I started seeing pics of people having them blow up. Some of those pics are nasty. lol

[SpectorV]

The engine tick as far as I know has never been directly linked to any issuse other than a noise. Some have been driving with the tick for years with no problems. As far as most are concerned its annoying. If you have it and you can get it replaced they will put on the 05 revised heads which also fix the coolant flow problems. The cooling mod has not been 100% proven to prevent issues but its a GREAT thing to do regardless while you have the tranny out.

The piston wall clearence is very tight, ford has many complaints about knocking when the cars were cold due to forged pistons expand more and have to have a little bit of clearence made to account for when they get hot. The sidewall is like .001 or something~ when you get her to hot (to much HP or just strictly DOGGING the motor for long periods of time it will scorch the sidewall and you will need a rebuild. This usually only happends with 600+rwhp/tq. I plan to mount my temp sendor on that side of the block (passenger) and keep an eye on the temps for myself.

The rear end is nice but you will get WHEEL hop like a bitch when its cold. My vert does it horribly.... when its warm it doesnt really do it. Wheel hop will grenade the rear end. A billitflow IRS brace along with a few mods will nearly eliminate the hop. This is the main reason cobras dont run any faster at the track.. they cant hook up... and when they do they blow a half shaft (axle shaft).

Most cobras from the factory are 370rwhp/tq~ which is over 400 at the crank, 500+ hp is EASY. All you need is catback, cai, small pulley, and a tune to be over that mark all day long. MANY are at this level and when an engine failure happends people blame the motor instead of the fact that their tune blows chunks. You simply can not put a over the counter tune on these cars. Even with JUST CAI and catback they have been shown to run dangerously lean (can do this not all).

There have also been some issues that have just recently come around about alternator charge problems in the high rpms (4500+~) where the charge is droping and the MAF is going lean due to not enough power. This has not been proven and only shows up when you start pulleying the car~ with a modest size pulley. Many people with REALLY good tunes have blown engines and this may very well be why, ford didnt put a good enough alternator on the car~ and it max's out to low. There are other items needed with a larger pulley and they also require power so the extra stress can tax the system~ so they say... this is still not proven just an FYI~ that some have seen happen. When the maf loses juice it leans the system out and this is bad

If you take care of the car and dont pulley the crap out of it and do things right you should not have a problem with the car. I personally do not want 600rwhp/tq on my car.... and I wont be going to the track so I dont see any issues related to to much boost or what not.

[Riversnake]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectorV You simply can not put a over the counter tune on these cars. Even with JUST CAI and catback they have been shown to run dangerously lean (can do this not all).

Exactly correct! Mine was WAAAYYY lean when I added the K&N. Coastal Dyno had previously tuned the car; but the guys at Dynospeed said adding the K&N would def run it lean-and it did. So much so the first dyno run was aborted very early in.

Quote: Originally Posted by Smurfin Did you get the idler blow up? I replaced mine with the billietflow ones once I started seeing pics of people having them blow up. Some of those pics are nasty.

Yes. It looked like torn cardboard. Pulley surface actually tore apart. Nasty Nasty Nasty. Thought I had pics here at work, but coldnt find any.

[wrecked2001]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dom Yea. There was a turbo '03 Cobra that never touch the anything but the intake and made some crazy power. It was in MM&FF a long time ago.

In the current 5.0 there is a '03 cobra putting 854hp and 874ft lbs. to wheels with a twin turbo kit on a stock engine sans the Sullivan intake system(so he says). I'm pretty sure he dosen't run that horsepower all the time, but he did run 9.65 at 143 mph, so it is not a dyno queen.

[DarkShadow]

If I ever get a Cobra, it would only take me a year before I got the money up for the few mods it would take to get over 500 hp. It's just too easy, they were hand made by Chuck Norris afterall!

[SpectorV]

my goal is not much over 500hp/tq~ I dont need any more really... (so i say now) at least not while its my DD ... until I find another job..

[Riversnake]

Just for clarity: are we talking 500hp at the crank or rear wheels? Because there is a huge cost difference in the two.

[SpectorV]

crank for now

[Riversnake]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectorV crank for now

SO basically you are looking at $2k for 500hp (exhaust, CAI, pulley & tune). Not too shabby indeed. Plus you still get 20+ mpg on the highway.

Take that 60's era muscle cars!!

[PureVenom]

Quote: Originally Posted by Riversnake Just for clarity: are we talking 500hp at the crank or rear wheels? Because there is a huge cost difference in the two.

Huge cost difference? Steigmeir port on top of the original ~1.5k of boltons (Pulley $150-400, CAI $150ish, Exhaust $750 full price, Tune $100-250)...that will do it. I think his stage 3+ or 4 (whatever they are calling it these days) is only like $600ish or so last I knew.

Now....If you happen to peg the MAF, then a MAF.ia ($250) and if you are pegging the fuel pumps then a KB BAP...other than that, nothing should be needed. So, in total, a max of about $1k more.