vibration

**Sbosserman** · 11-23-2002, 11:16 AM

I work for a ford dealer,bought an 03.This is the most awesome car Ive ever owned!I only have 500 miles on the car.Driven to 130mph so far.Yup Ive also got the vibration.My build date is 08/02/02.I placed my order the end of May,finally delivered in September long after promised delivery date. No one could tell me where my car was.Ford finally said mine among others that was held for a routine quality check.They said the cars are taken around the test track.I guess they didnt notice the vib.There is now a ssm#16341 If the vib is felt at 45mph and increases in intensity as speed increases replace rear axle assy.IF vib is felt driving 65mph and increases in intensity as speed increases replace drive shaft #2r3z-4602-ba. If the vib is felt driving at least 65mph and does not increase in intensity, but is constant as speed increases,neutralize the exhaust system.Im going to turn my original driveshaft 180 degrees and go on from there.I don have any of the engine noise Ive been reading about but Ford also has a ssm#16354,Its not pretty.Problems with oil press. to the heads,tensioners sprockets,missing spacers behind sprockets and debris under cam ladder bosses.I hate to take any thing apart on my own vehicles if possible so I sure hope I dont start hearing engine noise.

**ox03** · 12-02-2002, 01:30 PM

> I work for a ford dealer, bought an 03.

A Ford tech...Perfect! What are the latest SSMs and TSBs? Anything involving a resolution for intermittent stalls on deceleration? Aside from: 16293 2003 MUSTANG COBRA - STALL ON DECEL

**Sbosserman** · 12-06-2002, 05:19 PM

I ran through all the ssms & tsbs for 03 cobras.There isnt much info other than the ssm to update the pcm for the stalling concern.The only other ssm is the one concerning the vibration.I just checked last week.Mine never stalled but I ran the update anyway. Sometimes the update changes other parameters which may help the engine perform better.Ill keep checking.I neutralized the engine & trans & replaced the driveshaft no more vibration.

**Rocket** · 12-07-2002, 07:50 AM

Hey SBosserman,
I too have the vibration, originally really
bad at 80-85 mph, had the driveshaft replaced,
cured the major vibration, but I still
have a vibration from 45-50mph around 2,100rpm.
And again at 85 mph 6th gear 2100-2400rpm
5th gear same speed higher rpm, funny thing though
the vibe at 45-50 is most noticeable during acceleration
the 80-85 is still pretty bad on acceleration but most
noticed when I let off the gas. I can match RPM and
push in the clutch and the vibe goes away. Before I had the
driveshaft replaced I couldn't do this, maybe I
had more than one problem. Any ideas, sorry so long.

Does yours have the "ticking noise" at idle? Mine
does, I've seen a few that do, just concerns me as I dont
buy the "it's just the injectors bit. "

**Sbosserman** · 12-07-2002, 10:47 AM

Hi Rocket. I agree you may have more than one problem. Here are a few ideas. First get the car to operating temp,loosen the trans crossmember to body bolts and the two large nuts on the motor mounts.Start engine power brake in 1st gear then same thing in reverse then rev engine several times Now retighten everything. next get engine hot and loosen all exhaust bolts from manifolds back and retighten. Drive and see if anything has changed.The drive shaft at the diff can be turned to 8 different positions.Mark original location and turn to next location.Drive and see if vib has changed.Turn to next position and drive again.You get 8 tries.A lot of work But one of these may help.Let me know what happens . The dealer should do this for you if you have a decent dealer who will listen.

**Rocket** · 12-07-2002, 12:15 PM

Thanks Sbosserman, I'll give that a try if I can't
get my dealer to do it. Isn't there a TSB on the
procedures you mentioned? My dealer initially ckecked
the torque of all the bolts, not loosening them etc.
Hope this helps, makes sense. I just posted a dyno
graph I got yesterday totally stock 376hp 373tq

**Sbosserman** · 12-07-2002, 04:32 PM

Hey Rocket. The dealer should have tightened all diff mount bolts and pretty much everything related to the diff. Thats all Ford is reccomending at this time.So I doubt anything else was done.About your engine noise. Fords not saying much specificly. Get a long scredriver around 3 feet long let the engine idle put your ear against the handle and place the other end at various engine locations see if you can isolate noise. I would change the oil and cut the filter open to check for metal. If its clean at least you can have a little peace of mind.Your HP specs sound great. I wish I had access to a dyno. Later.

**Rocket** · 12-07-2002, 04:45 PM

Hey Sbosserman.
Thanks for the reply, yep the dealer just checked the torque on
the whole driveline, There were some TSB's on the national TSB
site that refered to isolating the exhaust etc, just like you previously mentioned, loosening the bolts etc. Did you use
the "E" brake for the fwd and reverse after you loosened the bolts? I'll do what I can. As far as the ticking goes, I've had it on
a lift and it's definately comming from around the drivers side
next to where the bell housing bolts up to the block, next to the drivers side exhaust collector. Had some conversations with some
driveline folks, could be pressureplate, throwout brg or flywheel,
who knows. Thanks again.

Oh yea, almost forgot, on the shutdown issue you've had,
I had mine do it twice but I figured out that with the trac-loc
on and going pretty qwik into a corner, if the trac-loc kicks in
it dumps the rpms, kinda spooky, 65 mph downshifted to make a turn got halfway through the turn and seemed like everything
shutdown, actually dropped from about 6000rpm to about 2000.
Whew!!

**Sbosserman** · 12-09-2002, 05:15 PM

Hi Rocket. I hope you have some luck with your vibration I know its frustrating. If your still having problems as time goes by I'm sure Ford will come out with more info. Another possibility is to take your Cobra to a dealer and ask them to call Ford hotline.These guys get new info before anyone. Yes use your E-brake and then rock the engine. Sorry to hear about your engine noise. I dont have that problem, knock on wood. I only have 600 miles on mine. I have read of some flywheel problems on svtperformance.com, but nothing from Ford yet. Trac-Loc ,what a joke it's as bad as the upshift lite. Like anyone with a Cobra is worried about gas mileage. When I first got mine if I goosed it a little around a corner it would cut out . Then I snapped it's the Trac-Loc duh. I thought it had to be engaged each time the car was started not the other way around. I'm trying to find a way to keep it off. My problem now is the noisey trans. Ford says it's normal. I'm going to wait awhile then I'm putting in an additive I've been reading about. Anyway this is still the most awesome car I've ever owned and I wouldnt trade it for the world! GOOD LUCK.

**counihan** · 12-09-2002, 10:20 PM

Noticed same upon "delivery". Noticeable at low speed, 40+mph, but looses it, probably due to overall noise, at well "choose not to say the mph". Definitly rotational. Can the basic SVT Ford Dealer correct it??? Tom

**bhartman** · 12-11-2002, 06:55 PM

Ordered my Cobra in February. It was built in May. Ford lost it until August. It arrived with a busted console, body scratches, a chipped wheel, a nasty vibration and 41 unexplainable miles! The Regional Sales manager told me to just be thankful I received the car.

The vibration was so bad, that at 80 mph I could not see out the rearview mirror! I returned it to the dealer. After keeping it for 2 weeks, they ended up changing out the driveshaft and a bushing.

I still have a minor vibration at around 40 mph and again at 80 mph. It's worse during acceleration. The dealer told me this was normal for the car.

I LOVE the car, but so far I'm VERY UNHAPPY with Ford's attitude.

Reading the threads, it appears that Ford is finally acknowledging that there are vibration problems. Unfortuneately, my Cobra is garage-bound until the Spring thaw. I suspect by Spring thaw, there will be a whole list if items that the dealer will have to check for. Is there a web-site that lists all of the Cobra's Ford Acknowledged Problems?

**Sbosserman** · 12-12-2002, 05:06 PM

Hey bhartman.Wow you have had the worst experience I've heard of. It really sucks. If possible I'd suggest trying another dealer. Some are way better than others. I dont believe any vib. is acceptable and I don't think Ford would disagree. I'm not aware of a web site the public can access. Does anyone out there know of one? The only things Ford has addressed so far is the stall returning to idle, driveline vib. and engine noise. I'll keep checking. Small world I was born in York PA.

**davideast** · 12-17-2002, 05:41 AM

Sbosserman,

How about posting those TSB/SSM for 03 cobra so the rest of us can use them to get our dealers to act. It seems my dealer doesn't know mustangs much less cobras. Maybe we can start a new thread "TSB/SSM" for 03 Cobra. Or is there a way to view them for the average Jo. I've check-out Alldata with no luck.

BTW, its great to have a Ford technician amongst us.

PS do ya think the dealer will notice the new pully on the SC if I ever take it in?

Thanks

**Sbosserman** · 12-17-2002, 05:02 PM

Hi Dave. I really doubt any dealer would notice a pulley change,unless you are having a problem with the supercharger. I do know that if you put in an aftermarket chip it sets a code in the PCM that cant be erased. So if you have a PCM failure and remove the chip Ford will still know. I've been in the buisness 30 years and there are some really excellent dealers but there are a lot more marginal dealers. If possible I'd suggest asking around to find a better dealer. I'm going on vacation tomorrow for three weeks. After the 6th of Jan. I will print out all TSBs and SSMs. Sorry I can't help sooner.