Hey guys I need your help/expertise. My 04 cobra has 28,000 mile on it. I had an accident a while back and it sat for years inside the body shop. The guys who owned the shop died and it was Legal battle to get my car back, which I won.
Any way, I got the car back last august and have been working over the last 9 months. Today was that exciting day where I was finally ready to start her up. Thought my BAP was acting up so I bypassed it and put the car back to stock. We tried to start it maybe 8-10 times waiting in between to not overheat the starter or be too hard on the ole girl. Figure out it was the stock MAF by unplugging it, and she fired right up, idled for a few seconds and shut it off.
Later I pulled the JLT intake and there was a little dark drown/black oil in front of the blade. I wiped it up and then hit the throttle blade to look inside and clean the edge of the blade when holy Shiz there was a large puddle that came running out. I grabbed a rag before it poured on to the valve cover.
The intake is a brand new JLT Hi boost & I had just pulled the throttle body and the elbow off to hit them with my bench polisher inside and out, there were some surface pits in the aluminum from sitting, so I know how clean it was inside. Throttle body is an Accufab big single blade which was just cleaned & pristine before reinstalling it. There was no prior evidence of excess oil anywhere in the past not even from the stock PCV setup. She has only ever had a tiny bit of normal vapor from the PCV that never needed cleaning up.
The car sat for 6 years before I got it back. It was inside a heated and air conditioned shop all that time while we battled out the legal stuff.
The car only ran today for a few seconds. I had just installed a new fuel filter and pressure sensors so I expected to have a few tries to get the air out. I did get it started after unplugging the MAF, so I know that was the issue then she ran totally fine. Idled for 10 seconds and I shut it down. Later I found the oil when putting the intake back on.
I am freaking out something is really wrong from it sitting. The oil in the throttle body was super dark almost brown/black. All fluids in the entire car are brand new. Where this gross dark oil came from, I have no idea.
What we have checked:
- The PCV tubes on both sides are dry.
- The blower is full and the oil is pristine in it. I had changed it not long before it was parked.
- engine oil is fresh AmsOil, just put it in
- oil filter was not excessively pre filled.
- put a scope down each cylinder and pistons look fine. Little dirty but no pieces missing.
Couple notes:
Since it sat so long, I did spray a very small amount of Marvels Mystery Oil into each cylinder and let it sit for a week before starting it. I didn’t want to risk any thing being stuck like a piston ring, dry cylinder walls, etc. however, this was a small controlled amount through a spray head we made to up to create a fine mist, just to moisten things as a precaution. Again, a very small amount just to pre lube the top of the pistons and rings from sitting. I scoped each bore as I lubed them to ensure it was barely damp in each cylinder as I went.
We also made up an engine pre-luber with a pump sprayer we tapped an air fitting into and pumped a full 6 quarts of fresh oil into. We used the extra port by the oil temp sensor to pre lube the entire top end. We could hear it trickling down into the oil passages and into the pan nicely.
The car did sit with what ever coolant was in the block due to the radiator being taken out from the accident.
The entire block was flushed with hot water that was 135 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours. The water was exchanged in 20 min intervals so it could soak to clean the block and coolant passages. I wanted to get all traces of ford gold out and happy to report no gunk, rust, or chunks. When we filled the system we used a vacuum coolant setup. We vacuumed it down and let it sit for 1 hour the gauge never moved so I know there are zero leaks in those areas.
I know we went a little overboard to make sure she was in the best possible condition as we repaired her, cleaning and flushing every system to ensure it was pristine. I do change fluids early and always do full flush and fills every other year in all systems.
Tomorrow we are planning on doing a compression test and leak down but wanted to get your thoughts. Why would there be so much oil after only running for a few seconds and maybe 8-10 start stalls from the bad MAF?
As we wrapped for the day, we started it one last time let it idle for a few seconds with the MAF disconnected and pass side valve cover tube disconnected then shut it down. We then waited, checked the throttle body and didn’t find any oil like before, there was tiny spot but I think it was just residual. I put my scope in the blower and it’s super clean in there nothing looked coated or dirty.
My dad is finishing the car for me since I recently moved across the country to Scottsdale AZ. He is hoping to ship the car out soon so I can get it Dyno tuned with the new mods and 2.76 pulley (had a 2.91 previously). But this oil today was a real concern and we don’t want to ship it if he is going to have to tear into it again. Sucks since it’s been many months in the making. Hope it’s just some residual from something and a fluke but it doesn’t feel that way
Look forward to your thoughts.
P.s. Anyone know a really good tuner in the Scottsdale / Phoenix area.
Someone recommended Cordes Tuning, feedback welcome.
Forgive my typos wrote this on my phone.
Night all ! Thanks again.
Any way, I got the car back last august and have been working over the last 9 months. Today was that exciting day where I was finally ready to start her up. Thought my BAP was acting up so I bypassed it and put the car back to stock. We tried to start it maybe 8-10 times waiting in between to not overheat the starter or be too hard on the ole girl. Figure out it was the stock MAF by unplugging it, and she fired right up, idled for a few seconds and shut it off.
Later I pulled the JLT intake and there was a little dark drown/black oil in front of the blade. I wiped it up and then hit the throttle blade to look inside and clean the edge of the blade when holy Shiz there was a large puddle that came running out. I grabbed a rag before it poured on to the valve cover.
The intake is a brand new JLT Hi boost & I had just pulled the throttle body and the elbow off to hit them with my bench polisher inside and out, there were some surface pits in the aluminum from sitting, so I know how clean it was inside. Throttle body is an Accufab big single blade which was just cleaned & pristine before reinstalling it. There was no prior evidence of excess oil anywhere in the past not even from the stock PCV setup. She has only ever had a tiny bit of normal vapor from the PCV that never needed cleaning up.
The car sat for 6 years before I got it back. It was inside a heated and air conditioned shop all that time while we battled out the legal stuff.
The car only ran today for a few seconds. I had just installed a new fuel filter and pressure sensors so I expected to have a few tries to get the air out. I did get it started after unplugging the MAF, so I know that was the issue then she ran totally fine. Idled for 10 seconds and I shut it down. Later I found the oil when putting the intake back on.
I am freaking out something is really wrong from it sitting. The oil in the throttle body was super dark almost brown/black. All fluids in the entire car are brand new. Where this gross dark oil came from, I have no idea.
What we have checked:
- The PCV tubes on both sides are dry.
- The blower is full and the oil is pristine in it. I had changed it not long before it was parked.
- engine oil is fresh AmsOil, just put it in
- oil filter was not excessively pre filled.
- put a scope down each cylinder and pistons look fine. Little dirty but no pieces missing.
Couple notes:
Since it sat so long, I did spray a very small amount of Marvels Mystery Oil into each cylinder and let it sit for a week before starting it. I didn’t want to risk any thing being stuck like a piston ring, dry cylinder walls, etc. however, this was a small controlled amount through a spray head we made to up to create a fine mist, just to moisten things as a precaution. Again, a very small amount just to pre lube the top of the pistons and rings from sitting. I scoped each bore as I lubed them to ensure it was barely damp in each cylinder as I went.
We also made up an engine pre-luber with a pump sprayer we tapped an air fitting into and pumped a full 6 quarts of fresh oil into. We used the extra port by the oil temp sensor to pre lube the entire top end. We could hear it trickling down into the oil passages and into the pan nicely.
The car did sit with what ever coolant was in the block due to the radiator being taken out from the accident.
The entire block was flushed with hot water that was 135 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours. The water was exchanged in 20 min intervals so it could soak to clean the block and coolant passages. I wanted to get all traces of ford gold out and happy to report no gunk, rust, or chunks. When we filled the system we used a vacuum coolant setup. We vacuumed it down and let it sit for 1 hour the gauge never moved so I know there are zero leaks in those areas.
I know we went a little overboard to make sure she was in the best possible condition as we repaired her, cleaning and flushing every system to ensure it was pristine. I do change fluids early and always do full flush and fills every other year in all systems.
Tomorrow we are planning on doing a compression test and leak down but wanted to get your thoughts. Why would there be so much oil after only running for a few seconds and maybe 8-10 start stalls from the bad MAF?
As we wrapped for the day, we started it one last time let it idle for a few seconds with the MAF disconnected and pass side valve cover tube disconnected then shut it down. We then waited, checked the throttle body and didn’t find any oil like before, there was tiny spot but I think it was just residual. I put my scope in the blower and it’s super clean in there nothing looked coated or dirty.
My dad is finishing the car for me since I recently moved across the country to Scottsdale AZ. He is hoping to ship the car out soon so I can get it Dyno tuned with the new mods and 2.76 pulley (had a 2.91 previously). But this oil today was a real concern and we don’t want to ship it if he is going to have to tear into it again. Sucks since it’s been many months in the making. Hope it’s just some residual from something and a fluke but it doesn’t feel that way
Look forward to your thoughts.
P.s. Anyone know a really good tuner in the Scottsdale / Phoenix area.
Someone recommended Cordes Tuning, feedback welcome.
Forgive my typos wrote this on my phone.
Night all ! Thanks again.
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