San Diego: 03 Cobra needs fixin'

[Mike_Hawk]

Looking for anyone experienced and available to take a look at my car and help me diagnose/repair any of the issues, or at least recommend a place to take it to. I stopped driving it for almost 2 years because of these problems and I can't stand to see her hurting anymore.

-Rear differential leak, back side
-T-56 transmission needs rebuilding, synchros busted
-Make sure clutch and TOB is properly adjusted (Centerforce DFX, Fiore adjuster) [DONE]
-Front suspension makes a lot of creaking and squeaking noise, mostly when turning the steering wheel [DONE for now]
-Front coil-overs need adjustment. I never got a wrench to adjust them [DONE]
-Some parasitic load is killing my battery. Alternator should be good, battery replaced yesterday.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

UPDATE:
Looking to hire someone to remove and reinstall the diff for me. IRS will have to be taken apart. I can't tackle that job myself. I can do the sealing. Anyone up for it? Name your price.

 

[suaveflooder]

take her up to RET in LA. You won't go wrong and it will get done correctly the first time. Just my opinion...

 

[Mike_Hawk]

take her up to RET in LA. You won't go wrong and it will get done correctly the first time. Just my opinion...

That's where I got her dyno tuned years ago. It's a little too far to bring her for repair though.

 

[laruei]

Diff leak could be cracked cover or bad seal. Either way the whole diff has to come out to fix it.

Synchros will be fairly expensive as its usually a good idea to do a complete rebuild

You should have 1/4 of slack in the clutch cable at the firewall. As for the TOB there isnt any adjustment unless you have a adjustable ball which is inside the bell housing.

Could be any number of things, prob just needs grease if you dont have zerks then you could replace tie rods or ball joints.

You should order a set of spanner wrenches online:
coil over spanner wrench, great deals on eBay Motors on eBay!

You might do better to order them from who made em...

You can put a multimeter on your battery and start pulling fuses till your amp draw goes to 0..

hope that helps let me know if you need more info on something..

 

[Mike_Hawk]

Any advice for sealing the differential? Fluids?

 

[laruei]

Yes. Do it correctly and pull the while pumpkindown and seal it up. it's honestly not a hard job it just seems like it. You will need a alignment afterwards.

As for fluid I run royal purple in 75w140 weight. To seal it I just use black rtv and a CLEAN mating surface..

There are instructions online for pulling every part of your car apart..

 

[Mike_Hawk]

You need friction modifier too, right?

 

[laruei]

Neg. Royal purple does not require it as its integrated. Another reason I use it. Its the cheapest synthetic you can buy that doesnt need a modifier.

 

[Mike_Hawk]

Neg. Royal purple does not require it as its integrated. Another reason I use it. Its the cheapest synthetic you can buy that doesnt need a modifier.

I had no idea, thanks! Now I need to find a place that sells it.

 

[laruei]

Pepboys sells it.

 

[68gtscode]

Pepboys sells it.

+1 on Pepboys- they're the best/easiest place I've found to buy it. I would also consider installing an IRS brace when you repair the diff leak... my shop said they help prevent leaks from occuring, especially in high HP cars.

 

[03terminator77]

Chicane Sport Tuning in Torrance...Joe is legit when it comes to mustangs...its gonna cost you, but you will definately have peace of mind.

 

[laruei]

Actually, I didnt think I had a shop to reccomend. But (and I know its a drive) I went to Impulse Engineering (Impulse Engineering [Hunington Beach]) saturday to get my subframe connectors put in and I will tell you im PICKY when it comes to my car. Which is why I do 95% of the work myself. I just dont trust other people cause no one cares about my car as much as I do. Eric at impulse... I can tell you I would leave my car with him with out giving it a second thought. Totally straight up dude, knoledgeable, nice, competitive costs for the quality level of work and a great place to spend your money. Give him a call and just talk to him about your issues if nothing else: 714-895-1000

Later

 

[Ray Lucca]

Hey Ian, we thought we'd see you at Car's on Sat. before you went up to Impulse. Eric and Brian brought two cars and got a lot of attention. Glad to hear things worked out, they do great work at a more than fair price, and they do everything in house including 4 wheel alignments. 400 more miles and I get mine on the rollers, for a re-tune, and see what she puts down...Breaking in a new motor for 1500 miles, with no boost, in a Cobra is no fun...

 

[laruei]

lol, we were there and actually looked for you. we saw your car and your chairs but no one was in either. wrong place wrong time i guess. I decided not to show my car as i didnt get a ton of cleaning time in the night before.. I installed a 7" in dash dvd player. We have a BIG road trip planned soon so we need entertainment since I cant logically do 150 everywhere.. lol

Good luck on the car and im sure I will see you and see what it puts down.

Oh also this Friday at Qualcomm i am testing out the new DRs we will see how she does and what if anything isnt happy with them... lol

 

[Mike_Hawk]

UPDATE:
Went under the car, took the tranny cover off, and adjusted the clutch/TOB properly via firewall adjuster. Looks like it was over-tightened for who knows how long. I'm hoping there was no permament damage.

Picked up a coilover wrench and adjusted them to my satisfaction.

Found the bushing on the front driver side that needs replacement, but I greased it up for now.

Attempted to refill the rear diff for the time being in case I need to drive it somewhere to get fixed.

I realized I don't want to, or can't, take on the rear diff resealing. Anyone want to help me with it? Name your price.

 

[laruei]

Pm'd you

 

[thomas91169]

might as well get a IRS brace installed while you are at it.

 

[Mike_Hawk]

might as well get a IRS brace installed while you are at it.

Are you referring to the BF differential brace? If so, I have one on already.