Fix Or Repair Daily?

[RUTHLESS]

Rant on...Good god this car is killing me. So far I have fixed an outer CV boot (had to call all over the country for it and then had to buy a used one). Then I noticed a chirping clutch noise that seems to be a known problem on alot of these cars. Oh and today I get a big exhaust leak from the rear passangers side of the engine that I have not even looked at yet. All this in under 2k miles. WTF...I swear I am going trade this thing in on a Z06!

UPDATE: I found a screw in my tire Tuesday! I forgot about that one. LOL

Rant off... So today I and driving to work and cross a set of railroad tracks at a low speed and when I get on the gass, I get a loud exhaust pop and the car starts popping when I hit the gass. No engine lights of any kind and it still has power. I limp the car up the road 1/4 mile and pull into my grandmothers drive way. The car has a loud exhaust leak from the rear of the passangers side but I cant feel any thing with my hand. There is no metal on metal noise or knocking at all so I dont think its anything bad. I pulled the coil cover and didnt feel any loose spark plugs so thats another good sign. I also never heard an exhaust leak prior to this so I dont think is a header gasket on the Bassani mids. That and I dont think a seal would go from dead silent to major leak all at once. The only thing I can think of is that the shop didn't tighten the bolt in the bung after the dyno day event and it came out?!? Well I guess I will see when I get home after the nice drive in my grandmothers 04 GT. lol

[03 OW SVT]

Glad i bought my white one instead of that one.

[scott5]

i hope i dont run into little problems with mine..

Dont trade it on a Z06 trade it on a 95GT.. lol.. let us know what the conclusion is.

[J-rod]

be glad you dont have a fox

[RUTHLESS]

Glad i bought my white one instead of that one.

I dont think the extra 50hp are worth it either. I hope the bolt just fell out from where the A/F sensor was installed at the dyno day or I am going to freak out.

I hope I get it fixed so I can make it to the FLD so I can get some payback for that comment. lol

be glad you dont have a fox

I have a thirdgen f-body so that close enough. lol

[SonofaBish]

Once upon a time I was a Camaro guy but then I saw the light! LS what? lol

ah ha see... z06 ftw...

i'll show you LS what....

haha, but on a serious note ... good luck finding your problems... that's the only problem with buying off a dealer... you can't really have any clue who the prev. owner was and how well he/she took care of it....

[RUTHLESS]

I pulled the coil cover and didnt feel any loose spark plugs so thats another good sign.

I might have over looked the one under the TB because I was a little upset and in a hurry. Anyone want to bet that its not screwed into the head anymore? I just hope it didnt take any threads with it.

[Viper_ed]

I might have over looked the one under the TB because I was a little upset and in a hurry. Anyone want to bet that its not screwed into the head anymore? I just hope it didnt take any threads with it.

Good luck seeing it, especially if the stock K-member is still on the car. You'll have to see by the feel of your hands.

[03 OW SVT]

I dont think the extra 50hp are worth it either. I hope the bolt just fell out from where the A/F sensor was installed at the dyno day or I am going to freak out.

I hope I get it fixed so I can make it to the FLD so I can get some payback for that comment. lol

I have a thirdgen f-body so that close enough. lol

Bring it on boy.

[RUTHLESS]

Bring it on boy.

Sorry I can't because I blew the plug, directly under the TB, out of the head and all 4 threads are gone. Damn you FORD! Lol I guess laughing is better than being ticket off.

I will bring the noise in Grandma's GT tomorrow so look out!

BTW Everyone run out and make sure your spark plugs are in right.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that this had nothing to do with detination from what I can tell because all of the other plugs looked great. The one that blew out had a bit of carbon around the bottem and the last 4 threads were rounded off.

[99 GT Coupe]

Holy shit! that sucks man

[2001GTTT]

Thats weird....my buddies 2000 GT did the same thing the other day...blew plug 4 right out of the head....its currently at Ford as it suffered internal damage....shit happens.

[realitycheck]

Sorry I can't because I blew the plug, directly under the TB, out of the head and all 4 threads are gone. Damn you FORD! Lol I guess laughing is better than being ticket off.

Any ideas why these things do this? Mine did the same exact thing. it was just sittin there idling and started makin that distinct poppin sound and the plug looks like someone peened it over. Shredded to coil pack. If you have any info on what caused it to do this please let me know.

[RUTHLESS]

It seems that the spark plugs like to back out because FORD only put 4 threads in the heads. The best part is that the coil packs hold the plugs in just enough to allow the engine to force the plug out taking a few threads with it.

I have found a kit made by time-sert (kit #5553) that will repair the threads back to factory but with SS threads. Some guys say it will cause a cooler plug but from what I can tell these guys never gave it a try and replaced the head only to have it happen again down the road. lol The guys that used the time-sert fix are all very happy and running some big power. I think this is more common with the Lighting guys.

If anyone else with a cobra runs into this here is a list of parts and tools I ordered.
1. ProVision borescope (Not needed but I want to have a look inside) $150
2. Advance auto parts sells a Coil on Plug Boot kit that comes with 2 boots and the internal spring. (My coil was ok but a few other places I stopped at didnt sell just the boots and wanted $45 for a new coil.) $19
3. Time-Sert kit 5553 $400
4. New spark plugs. lol (I guess you should know this since its beat to hell from its trip.)

I will let everyone know if this works or not. Wish me luck!!

[RUTHLESS]

On a side note...My car made 472 rwhp with one plug that was not fully inserted. Maybe with all eight in correctly I can get that 500 mark!

[blkp42e]

welcome to FORD. ive been dealing with this shit for 3 yrs now

[bgblockelcamino]

think there is a cheaper kit. thought i just bought a heli coil kit. i had this happen ona customers truck. thye have been blowing plugs out since the MOD motor came out

[JETHRO]

Thats why I got rid of my 01 F-150. They shouldve never got rid of the 302 and 351.

[burntire]

Glad i bought my white one instead of that one.

Yep white is fast

[burntire]

I am glad I have an 04 with 9 threads.