New '96 Cobra Owner.. Tons of questions!

Serfma

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215 is not too hot and 220 is certainly not overheating.

The optimal perfect temperature to operate the engine in a perfect world is 212 degrees. The safe engine coolant temperature is around 250 degrees. It is perfectly fine and wont hurt anything at or below 250 degrees. Just above 250 degrees is where metal starts warping so above 250 its not wise to operate an engine. In all of my cobra tunes I shut the engine off when coolant temp reaches 244 degrees for safety. I have had several hundred people (myself included) hit the over-heat protection limit when cooling fans failed and it saved the engine. Never once had an engine failure.

Flushing the coolant system depends on how dirty the coolant currently is. If its still green basically drain the coolant and fill it with water. Get it up to operating temp and shut it off and let it cool enough to safely drain the cooling system again. Fill it up with water again and run her to operating temp. Repeat until the water coming out is as clean as it is when you put it in.

If the coolant is rusted then you will have to remove the thermostat and run the hose through it with the engine running until it comes out clear and repeat the method mentioned just above.

The eec-v pcm in your car does not support an oil temp sensor. The value your logging is completely bogus.

We did a test run today. 245 max coolant. First 5 minutes it was doing good but them after that it was shooting up temps quick. We got back home and felt the right side of the radiator is cool, left side is hot. It's also leaking. So we're thinking radiator is clogged.
 

Serfma

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Also forgot to mention -- was running around 60mph down a straight stretch, or attempted to, past about 3k RPM it would produce no power. Would rev, but no power / speed increase and almost wouldn't rev far past about 3.5 - 4k. In neutral it'd rev fine. Plugs definitely do need to be replaced, 2 O2 sensors are completely gone on driver-side exhaust pipe, and hearing depressurization when unscrewing gas cap (unsure if that's ok). Any ideas?
 

Serfma

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Does t-stat orientation matter? If so, what's correct orientation? Can't find it anywhere if it does matter.
 

ViciousBlack97

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Does t-stat orientation matter? If so, what's correct orientation? Can't find it anywhere if it does matter.
Generally the side with the large spring goes towards the block side of the cooling system. Alot of thermostat housings are designed so you physically can't put them in backwards though.
 

Serfma

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Thanks everyone for the help so far!

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Next question.. -snip- i'm a dummy, figured it out
 
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Serfma

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update: New radiator fixed overheating problems haha.

Took her for a spin, stopped to get some food and when I came out all of my lights exterior and interior were blinking. Can't find any answers thru Google. Theft? Possible short? Hazards were not on.
 

03 Cobra DSG

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You can try the multi-function switch it’s basically in between the steering wheel and the dash on the top it’s pretty easy to get to. sometimes the connector breaks and the harness starts to slide out and it will cause all sorts of electrical problems like lights and blinkers not working etc.


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Serfma

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Thanks, I'll give that a look.

-snip-

At my PC so I can write a better explanation:

This could be a result of poor cable routing and/or poor knowledge in general.

Purchased a Pioneer clutch cable that is non-adjustable and replaced it today. It did not include an L bracket so it is currently not mounted to anything and was routed the same way as the old cable, to which tomorrow I'll get pics of the routing. We have no firewall adjuster at the moment, and a metal quadrant installed that is double hooked, cable is in the hook furthest from the firewall. Our issue is the clutch pedal is incredibly stiff and it is very hard to shift into gears once everything gets warmed up.

Could the shifting issues be linked to improper cable set-up, or do we need to take the next step of replacing the entire clutch?
 
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ViciousBlack97

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Thanks, I'll give that a look.

-snip-

At my PC so I can write a better explanation:

This could be a result of poor cable routing and/or poor knowledge in general.

Purchased a Pioneer clutch cable that is non-adjustable and replaced it today. It did not include an L bracket so it is currently not mounted to anything and was routed the same way as the old cable, to which tomorrow I'll get pics of the routing. We have no firewall adjuster at the moment, and a metal quadrant installed that is double hooked, cable is in the hook furthest from the firewall. Our issue is the clutch pedal is incredibly stiff and it is very hard to shift into gears once everything gets warmed up.

Could the shifting issues be linked to improper cable set-up, or do we need to take the next step of replacing the entire clutch?
To answer the clutch question, was it stiff before the cable swap? If so, then yes the clutch may be your issue. If not, then I would double check the routing of the cable to make sure it has nothing but smooth transitions, as well as the adjustment of the cable. Since you have a non-adjustable cable as well as a replacement quadrant (I assume the factory adjuster mechanism was removed when that was installed), the lack of a firewall adjuster leads me to believe that your adjustment may be 100% of your issue. Just double check the amount of play at the TOB and fork. The bearing should be lightly resting on the fingers of the pressure plate.
 

Serfma

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To answer the clutch question, was it stiff before the cable swap? If so, then yes the clutch may be your issue. If not, then I would double check the routing of the cable to make sure it has nothing but smooth transitions, as well as the adjustment of the cable. Since you have a non-adjustable cable as well as a replacement quadrant (I assume the factory adjuster mechanism was removed when that was installed), the lack of a firewall adjuster leads me to believe that your adjustment may be 100% of your issue. Just double check the amount of play at the TOB and fork. The bearing should be lightly resting on the fingers of the pressure plate.

Yeah I'm pretty certain after today that it's the clutch and not the cable itself. Firewall adjuster installed and initially with the first routing the cable was softer than normal, but returned to being so stiff that it's nearly impossible to press all the way to the floor without both legs or using the steering wheel to pull on. Tried my brother in law's '99 V6 manual and the pedal was absolutely night and day different, so much easier and softer. (I've never driven stick before this vehicle so I never knew what a good clutch in general felt like) Going to drop the transmission and replace the entire clutch + fork + bearing + pivot stud. Cable slides in and out of the sleeve smoothly, is not binding at all, and is routed perfect.

Was tinkering around and got a video of the fork: it sorta looks like the bearing needs replacing and looks like the -- while watching the video again I noticed the throwout bearing isn't even under the fork spring properly!!!!
upload_2019-9-15_23-3-56.png
ahhhh i'm going insane
 

ViciousBlack97

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Yeah I'm pretty certain after today that it's the clutch and not the cable itself. Firewall adjuster installed and initially with the first routing the cable was softer than normal, but returned to being so stiff that it's nearly impossible to press all the way to the floor without both legs or using the steering wheel to pull on. Tried my brother in law's '99 V6 manual and the pedal was absolutely night and day different, so much easier and softer. (I've never driven stick before this vehicle so I never knew what a good clutch in general felt like) Going to drop the transmission and replace the entire clutch + fork + bearing + pivot stud. Cable slides in and out of the sleeve smoothly, is not binding at all, and is routed perfect.

Was tinkering around and got a video of the fork: it sorta looks like the bearing needs replacing and looks like the -- while watching the video again I noticed the throwout bearing isn't even under the fork spring properly!!!! View attachment 1599282 ahhhh i'm going insane
Yeah, that's ALOT of play in the fork. And you'd be surprised just how many people install the TOB wrong on this style of clutch fork. With the amount of effort you're feeling, make sure to check the sleeve on the transmission for excessive wear as well. It's my guess that you will take it apart and find that something has broken loose either in the clutch disk or the pressure plate itself.
 

Serfma

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make sure to check the sleeve on the transmission for excessive wear as well.

What do you mean by sleeve on the transmission? Any pics or further explanation for what to look at?



Also -- are o2 sensors interchangeable from a V6 automatic SN95?
 

Serfma

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Well I was prepping the tranny drop when I realized we've got long tube headers that are welded directly to the mid pipes. How much fun! I suppose my two options would be to either disconnect the headers and lower it, or cut right after the headers and drop the rest normally.
 

Shifty Powers

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Welcome to the club! Hope you get it to where you can enjoy it, at least by spring, which i think you will.
At least you knew you were getting a project car

Everyone else is answering and helping in a more technical way then i can. So I will let them handle that.
 

Silverboost

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Pretty sure you will need to remove at least a header to get the transmission out. Those headers look rough as hell and if you are going that far I would scrap them for new ones. Let’s see some pics of the rest of the car


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Serfma

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Screams project. It's been up on it's side. Front fender I temporarily placed so the rain didn't dirty up my new CAI filter, so it's not aligned whatsoever. Focus is getting her running and then worry about cosmetics later. As for the headers, they'll definitely be replaced but not anytime soon. Black SN95 stang is the parts car for the body parts, eventually going to either wrap it or get a decent paint job on it.

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Shifty Powers

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Hopefully the frame isnt tweaked. But luckily enough between here and facebook pages, parts can be had cheap that are good to get it back up and running (OEM and aftermarket)
 

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