Run out of oil - come in

[K2AHollywood]

*sigh* It is with a very heavy heart that I even make this post as I, like many of you, can already anticipate the answers but…..

Hi I am a Cobra owner who didn’t meticulously check their oil and I got low and it appears I starved my motor for an unknown period of time.

So I guess for all of you with spun rod bearings how did you notice the noise and was it constant?

I now have what really sounds like bad valve train noise. At idle I don’t hear it and low RPM nothing, but mid 3-3.5K it’s fairly loud, but doesn’t seem to increase with RPM. Its isolated to the right bank, and reving in neutral its hard to hear but constant with a load. At first I thought it was an exhaust tick. So it’s making me think (fingers crossed) its maybe not a rod bearing. Anybody have some good tips for diagnosis, things to look at. I’m pulling the valve cover tomorrow to start there. The noise seems to have quieted down following the addition of much need lubrication.

Anyway let the help…and beatings begin…..

 

[Hunter9003]

Go throw some marvel mystery oil in there or whatever its called at autozone or advanced. Quieted mine down to before, within a few miles. No issue since

 

[Top Fuel Friday]

When I spun the rod bearing on my 00 GT it was very noticeable, at idle it was just a light clicking sound, but when the revs went it it was like a mad gnome with a brass hammer hitting the block.

 

[COBRA90GT]

...Hi I am a Cobra owner who didn’t meticulously check their oil and I got low and it appears I starved my motor for an unknown period of time...

Ouch!

...The noise seems to have quieted down following the addition of much need lubrication...

How many quarts low were you? :??: Or how many quarts did you add to the engine? :shrug:

…and beatings begin….

No beatings here, but hopefully your thread will remind many of the newer 99/01 Cobra (or any other year for that matter) owners to keep tabs on their engine oil levels.

G'luck with the repair/rebuild process or whatever route you choose... :beer:

 

[K2AHollywood]

When I spun the rod bearing on my 00 GT it was very noticeable, at idle it was just a light clicking sound, but when the revs went it it was like a mad gnome with a brass hammer hitting the block.

Yeah when I did this in my Mazda it sounded like i had a machine gun for an engine. But as more and more time goes on, its not going away, seems to be present when the engine is warm but not cold and seems to be more constant.

Ouch!

Right?

How many quarts low were you? :??: Or how many quarts did you add to the engine? :shrug:

2 and change



No beatings here, but hopefully your thread will remind many of the newer 99/01 Cobra (or any other year for that matter) owners to keep tabs on their engine oil levels.

G'luck with the repair/rebuild process or whatever route you choose... :beer:

Unfortunatly I ahve just gone through 2 car wrecks which totalled out my other cars (one of which I had just put a motor in), the Cobra was the last one left. There is no money for a rebuild at this time so if i can hold onto it, its going to get the tarp and garage treatment for a long while.

 

[MT0911]

Good luck man - from the sounds of it you may be looking at having to rebuild your bottom end. Hopefully everything works out for you. If I were you I would drain the oil and cut the oil filter open, check for any metallic flakes (shiny); if you see any then it's time to start tearing her apart. Depending on how mechanically inclined you are - this will either be a decent chunk of change and a lesson learned or it will get very expensive if you are charging a shop labor. Either way - I would stop driving it immediately until you cut that filter open and further diagnose.

 

[MT0911]

Unfortunatly I ahve just gone through 2 car wrecks which totalled out my other cars (one of which I had just put a motor in), the Cobra was the last one left. There is no money for a rebuild at this time so if i can hold onto it, its going to get the tarp and garage treatment for a long while.

Depending on how bad it is, you may be able to use a lot of the parts in your engine. You'll most likely need new rods & definitely new bearings. You don't want to make things worse so if I were you - I'd definitely stop driving it and I'd pull the engine and disassemble it. If you don't have the money for everything now then I'd do it little by little. Find out what you need and slowly get it together - then get everything machined and balanced and assemble it.

 

[black4vcobra]

Ouch OP, sad to hear about your recent string of bad luck. I can't remember if it was in the Cobra forum or Mach 1 forum, but recently I read a thread about a guy who spun a couple rod bearings. He removed the k-member, dropped the oil pan and micropolished the crank journals with the engine still assembled. It was painstaking work but very inexpensive. He then replaced the rod bearings with slightly oversized bearings and saved the major cost of tearing down the engine. I will see if I can find the thread.

 

[K2AHollywood]

Ouch OP, sad to hear about your recent string of bad luck. I can't remember if it was in the Cobra forum or Mach 1 forum, but recently I read a thread about a guy who spun a couple rod bearings. He removed the k-member, dropped the oil pan and micropolished the crank journals with the engine still assembled. It was painstaking work but very inexpensive. He then replaced the rod bearings with slightly oversized bearings and saved the major cost of tearing down the engine. I will see if I can find the thread.

Yes if you can find this let me know! I was toying with this being a possability.

 

[na svt]

If a bearing is "spun" it cannot be repaired without removing and disassembling the engine. Also, running it with low oil is not bad luck.

 

[black4vcobra]

If a bearing is "spun" it cannot be repaired without removing and disassembling the engine. Also, running it with low oil is not bad luck.

Shoot, I was hoping you'd know the thread I was referring to.

A few months ago I read a thread either in one of the Cobra forums or the Mach 1 forum where a guy used strips of leather, fine sandpaper and emery cloth to polish the crank journals with the engine in the car. He used the leather strips to move the sandpaper/cloth over the journals. He used a micrometer to make sure the journals were still within spec and he reinstalled slightly thicker bearings.

It was a well written thread with plenty of pictures and he claimed it solved his problem. I can't find it right now though.

 

[MT0911]

The problem is - even with that I would be worried. Low oil means excessive heat and worn bearings. Even if you cleaned & replaced everything you could get to with the engine in the car, I would believe you're still on borrowed time since you know there's got to be metal flakes / bearing material floating around in the engine, oil cooler, etc. The only way to address the issue is to disassemble the engine and go through it properly. You would hate it if you tried to "bandage" the problem and the engine still ate itself up. Then its a waste of time and money. I say do it right the first time - even if you dont have the money now, start disassembling and save up for what you need.

 

[black4vcobra]

Found it! It's probably worth a try and I'm sure the guy who did it would be willing to talk you thru what he did

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...-what-does-cobra-do-when-pcv-valve-fails.html

 

[na svt]

Found it! It's probably worth a try and I'm sure the guy who did it would be willing to talk you thru what he did

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...-what-does-cobra-do-when-pcv-valve-fails.html

He may have had a bad bearing but it was definitely not spun.

 

[black4vcobra]

He may have had a bad bearing but it was definitely not spun.

Very true, but OP also doesn't know what's exactly wrong with his engine either. Before pulling the engine, I would say it's worth a try to pull the k member and oil pan to inspect.

Of course, if he ran it real low on oil then there is no chance this will work though.

 

[K2AHollywood]

He may have had a bad bearing but it was definitely not spun.

Very true

Very true, but OP also doesn't know what's exactly wrong with his engine either. Before pulling the engine, I would say it's worth a try to pull the k member and oil pan to inspect.

Of course, if he ran it real low on oil then there is no chance this will work though.

Well it is toast. Its all valve train now but most likely will develop into rod issues within the next 1k miles. Now just weight options as to the best way to fix this. Im thinking take on the machine work, buy a forged piston/rod combo from MMR and figure out the heads.

 

[olgreydog7]

Depending on how bad it is, you can get away with polishing the crank, replacing the effected rod(s), and a new set of bearings. You'll have to do a full tear down to know. That is all I replaced when I did it.

 

[DHG4410]

Yeah when I did this in my Mazda it sounded like i had a machine gun for an engine. But as more and more time goes on, its not going away, seems to be present when the engine is warm but not cold and seems to be more constant.



Unfortunatly I ahve just gone through 2 car wrecks which totalled out my other cars (one of which I had just put a motor in), the Cobra was the last one left. There is no money for a rebuild at this time so if i can hold onto it, its going to get the tarp and garage treatment for a long while.

Change to a dyno oil forget the synthetic.

 

[K2AHollywood]

Depending on how bad it is, you can get away with polishing the crank, replacing the effected rod(s), and a new set of bearings. You'll have to do a full tear down to know. That is all I replaced when I did it.

You know I have been thinking about this alot but it doesnt make a ton of sense to pull the motor pull it all apart and do the bear minimum, and still have a sizable bill afterwards. I was looking ast MMR and a forged piston rod set and then bearings will be about $2k and then its done. Has MMR reputation gotten better for worse? Im considering just shipping them my motor and having it built.

 

[MT0911]

You know I have been thinking about this alot but it doesnt make a ton of sense to pull the motor pull it all apart and do the bear minimum, and still have a sizable bill afterwards. I was looking ast MMR and a forged piston rod set and then bearings will be about $2k and then its done. Has MMR reputation gotten better for worse? Im considering just shipping them my motor and having it built.

MMR is definitely great to go to for parts. They actually have pretty competitive prices. The word being spread is that their assembly is shoddy. I have friends and know a few people who have had great luck with MMR and have a lot of miles on their setups with no issues but then you hear those bad experience stories pop up every once and a while that don't look good. I wouldn't hesitate buying parts from them though.