Warranty Horror Story!!

[trmn8er]

I stopped in my dealer early Christmas eve morning to finish off some minor warranty work on my '03.

While I waited on the car, I talked to the service manager about modified '03 Cobras. I asked if the had dealt with any mod issues yet. He said YES! An owner of a Red '03 with 1100 miles on it had done a pulley and chip mod. He was racing a buddy who had a Z06 Vette. At 130mph, his engine went south. The owner put things back stock and brought it to the dealer to get it fixed.

A Ford factory rep was called in to investigate, standard procedure on a blown-up '03 Cobra engine. The rep determined that the pulley had been changed by observing marks on the pulley and the shaft. He also analyzed the computer and determined it had a chip installed at one time.

Ford denied the warranty claim. A new engine is approx. $13,000 according to the service manager. Even if the guy could afford it, he was told a replacement engine would not be available for months!

This story woke me up. I don't know the exact reason as to how the guy blew his engine, but it tells me they will blow and that Ford will not cover an engine that was modified. It's not the dealers call on warranty of a new engine, even if you think your in good with them.

So I will just put on my K&N, a Bassani Cat-back and call it quits for a while. The 3.1 pulley I have already purchased will remain in the box on the shelf!

Upside is that I'll be able to run "A STOCK" in SoloII autocross instead of the higher modified class "B STREET PREPARED"! No pulley or chip mods allowed in A STOCK!

[Grin&Barrett]

I think the trouble in this instance might lie with the chip this guy had and what kind of tune he had burned on it. I have a lot of friends who are running about as aggressive a set-up as you can have with 2.8 uppers and 6# lowers and have had no problems (other than they cant keep from smoking their tires in every gear thru 4th.) and have 3000+ miles. But then you see a guy with a 3.1 upper only but he has the rev limiter removed on his chip and Bam, his engine goes. I have run a 2.8 upper with 100mm idlers a AR CAI and QMP 3" with an amazon chip and have had no probs at all. I think you are safe with your 3.1 trmn8er, IMO.

[trmn8er]

Yeah, I hear what you are saying. Removing the rev limiter is a very bad idea. And that may be what he did. The service manager said he 'dropped a valve'. He said he also bent several others?

These stories are always second or third hand. It just gave me goose bumps thinking what I would do if I blew an engine and Ford wouldn't fix it!

I was planning on doing the 3.1 with the Diablo from Amazon Racing, K&N in stock air box plus the Bassani cat-back. Fairly mild mods by most standards.

I know you want to run a AF ratio between 11 and 12 sitting on the dyno.

I was even thinking of dropping the rev limiter to 6200, if pulley modified. I have had a couple of tuners say that you do not need to shift past 6000 with these engines.

Driving mine yesterday, all stock, in 30 degree air, I could not keep the rear end planted when doing a rolling FT start. As soon as I got around 4500, the rear would start spinning and wheel hop soon followed.

It will be interesting to hear how the creative guys keep their modified cars hooked up while keeping the IRS setup!

[dwtalso]

Why do you think removing the rev limiter is bad? This motor is, internally, no different than any other 4v Cobra motor, and there are many on the road with forged internals. The motor's redline has no direct impact on AFR or other tuning issues.

I think that other than possible long, long term reliability issues with the motor (more mass in the rotating assembly), or reliability of the blower, there's no reason to be concerned about the rev limiter. I seem to recall that the main reason the rev limiter was lowered was pretty much because the Eaton is a "low rpm" blower, in terms of both efficiency and reliability.

Now, having said that, a pulley gets the job done by overspinning the blower anyway, so that point is moot :).

As for shifting at 6k, you can do it but you will be throwing away some available torque :). An analysis of the shift points will show that this car should go to redline in every gear. In fact, on my car the rev limiter is moved out to 7k and the dynos show that it should be shifted at red line then too. The amount of available torque at the rear wheels is still high enough to warrant this.

[trmn8er]

The reason I wouldn't remove the rev limiter is that I believe an electronic watch dog is very important for engine protection. It's too easy to overspin a high horsepower, free revving engine and possibly damage something, i.e., valves, blowers, etc. Rev limiters are a big plus as far as I am concerned.

The blower is why I wouldn't want to seriously over rev the engine as you pointed out. Doing a pulley mod will give you more power over the entire rev range, especially down low and midrange, where street racing and autocrossers need it the most. Shifting at 6000, IMO, would reduce the stress on the blower while still having a signicant HP gain.

Ringing out these torquey motors to 7000 grand or better just doesn't seem necessary to me. One little tidbit I didn't mention in the original post. The service manager said that the computer analysis done by FORD showed that the driver had over revved the engine past the point of the stock limit. This indicated that the chip either had the limiter removed or set higher than 6500.

But we all know that the 2003 Cobra is one amazing car that can be driven many different ways, in many different types of use/competition.

I'll I can say is "Drive it like you want!" We all paid $35,000+ for the thrill! :tmb:

[Jonny Bolt]

so who won the race? i hope that zo6 was TERMINATED before the pistons flew through the hood.

[trmn8er]

:cool: Yeah know, I didn't hear who was winning. I just heard who the big loser was! It was the poor guy with 1100 miles on his modified, Red Cobra with a blown engine. It cost him $13,000 to race a Z06. Just think what the Corvette guy is telling his buddies! :wtf:

[Jonny Bolt]

OH MY GOD..............YOUR SO RIGHT. Dude, you are soooooo right.

That's just horrible. Horrible.

[white venom]

i agree with you on the rev limiter trmn8tr, and i never really thought about it as an "electronic watchdog" i like that. but i dont have to worry about it anyway. im 20 yrs old with a 99 cobra and the highest iv EVER gotten the rpms is about 4500.(i don't like risking any damage to my baby) but all i want to say is I AGREE.

[white venom]

wrong click, sorry

[Jonny Bolt]

You only hit 4500 RPM in a Cobra? Wow. Why not just get a '88 Chrysler mini van then?

You've never taken your car to an Auto-X or some of track course? If not, your missing out on the performance your car is capable of/built for.

[dwtalso]

Originally posted by white venom
i agree with you on the rev limiter trmn8tr, and i never really thought about it as an "electronic watchdog" i like that. but i dont have to worry about it anyway. im 20 yrs old with a 99 cobra and the highest iv EVER gotten the rpms is about 4500.(i don't like risking any damage to my baby) but all i want to say is I AGREE.

New Years resolution for white venom: hit the rev limiter twice.

Ok, maybe just redline it ;). Truly, you are causing zero (0) damage redlining that car. If the car has problems internally keeping the rpms low will not mask it: it's going to give out, period. The rev limit is ultra-conservative. It's designed to protect the motor for 100,000+ miles. Keeping the revs down won't extend that any and will probably foul your plugs and choke the fuel injectors faster and allow more surface deposits to build up in the cylinder, on the piston head, and the valves. The occasional romp to the limit is good for the car ;).

But it is heartening to hear of a [teenager: woops, sorry, should have been twenty year old...the eyes go quickly as one gets older] being safe :). It balances out the stupidity that I committed at that age ;).

[white venom]

well the car is in the garage for the winter, but that sounds like a good new years resolution. i just love this car so much i dont want to f anything up. when i was 16 i had an 85 culass supreme(p.o.s.) then when i was 17 i had an 87 monte carlo (even bigger p.o.s.) then i bought an 81 ford e-150 from my sisters boyfriend, which im driving for the winter. so as you can see the jump from all those old ****py cars to a 99 cobra is kind of eyeopening. and i do pay for it all by myself so i dont want to break it before its paid off. but in closing i promise you all i will have some REAL fun with it come spring.:tmb:

[rachrse]

White venom drive your car like you want to, I don't blame you for taking care of it. I do agree with the others you don't know what your missing till you stand in your Cobra and feal the g's drive you back in your seat. As for the guy who blew his Cobra at 130 mph the z06 will hit 170 no problem so what was he thinking anyway were they going for land speed record.