Sick of this money pit.

[shurur]

Not to be mean but just throwing parts at it isn't gonna fix the problem you need to diagnose the car. Figure out if its drivetrain related or suspension related. Couple tests you could do is.

Nuetral engine run up.
Hard acceleration
Google nvh diagnosis

I'm not saying he should start shotgunning parts. just saying he could look at the DS and get it checked for balance and sloppy joints.

I seem to remember some tsb for vibration on the 1999 and or 2001...TSB Number: 12831, 12869

http://www.obd-codes.com/tsb/1999/ford/mustang_cobra/

but 6641, 6388, 12803,



bothers me that the tranny was dry too!!

 

[93_chargedcobra]

I would be happy if I could get the thing to ride smooth, never heard of drive shaft going out of balance, read something about crank being out of balance in the 99s.

If it is strictly speed related it somewhere from trans back, if its RPM related you should get a vibration free revving to say 3000 RPM just sitting still.

Drive shafts can get out of balance sometimes the weights falls off or big flaky rust on steel shafts can fall of over time causing gradual imbalance.

Once and a while you get lucky and re-clock the drive shaft 90 degrees at a time to the pinion gear and you'll find one that doesn't vibrate.

 

[MrSteve]

I got my 01 for cheap!! I knew it needed some love, and I'm paying for that love, but I lucked out and got it cheap enough that I can swap a fresh engine in it (maybe termi swap) when the old one goes and I think it will retain the value pretty well.

I've done all kinds of stuff for it, since it needed the general maintenance, I upgraded as I went along, I bought used springs (the old stock ones were bent inward!) and barely used shocks/struts all for around $300. Next up is to replace all the rotors since I am having braking vibration.


Welcome to mustang world, a lot of people trash these cars brotha, my engine with 160K on it seems to be doing alright though, you should have seen the air filter though :S

 

[1mike1]

Hang in there!

I bought my 01, low millage and mint condition but I could feel it had been driven very hard with little to no maintenance.

I was prepared for the worse, well the worse happened, a main bearing went two months after, syncs worn in transmission, separate issue from the worn out clutch! and my rear end was leaking oil as well as vibration developed from the rear, mechanic found piece of the ring gear at the bottom! I ended up with a 5.0l stoker with 12.1 compression, 3.73 gears, fresh transmission, new bushing all the way around in the IRS as well as shocks.

The car is a dream to drive, handles great, smooth and the engine is stout for NA. can’t wait for the weather to warm and put her back on the road this year.:banana:

 

[1mike1]

And I was lucky my Wife did not bury the car with me in it!

 

[po-po 5.0]

Let's be perfectly honest: American cars were NOT built well prior to, oh, 2008. So you take a car that wasn't assemblied well, and you add a decade of use and abuse to it. Yea..it's going to have issues. That's just the way it is. If you expected different, you picked the wrong price-point to get into this hobby.


I'm in the same boat: I purchased my '01 off here in early December, and the check engine light came on 2 hours into my drive home. $1200 and a month in the shop later (that doesn't include tons of hours of my own diagnostic time) and it FINALLY is driveable. And I ain't even mad.

 

[slonech]

I have just learned to accept they are money pits. I have had my 01 for 6 years and only put around 10k miles on it. Lost second and third in the trans, pulled the IRS out for a solid, grenaded the solid, built a new solid rear, melted a piston.... now i have a built cammed teksid and running into tuning issues. I actually ended up buying a 89 notch to start building so i could have something that wouldnt cost as much when it broke at the track

hang in there!

 

[Black*Death]

Let's be perfectly honest: American cars were NOT built well prior to, oh, 2008. So you take a car that wasn't assemblied well, and you add a decade of use and abuse to it. Yea..it's going to have issues. That's just the way it is. If you expected different, you picked the wrong price-point to get into this hobby.


I'm in the same boat: I purchased my '01 off here in early December, and the check engine light came on 2 hours into my drive home. $1200 and a month in the shop later (that doesn't include tons of hours of my own diagnostic time) and it FINALLY is driveable. And I ain't even mad.

Why 2008? American cars are no worse than any other cars. buying used is a bit of a risk.

Never truly know how abused a cra was. OP likely bought a poorly maintained car and is paying for it. suxs but not unfixable...

 

[po-po 5.0]

Why 2008? American cars are no worse than any other cars. buying used is a bit of a risk.

2008 is based on my anecdotal evidence of driving a significant number of American-built cars. Depending on when a particular model was redesigned, it might be a few years before or after. For instance, the '05 mustang is remarkably better put together than the '04, but the superduty didn't become the same level of quality until the '08 redesign.

so '08 is really just an average.

 

[Mac99Snake]

So six months ago I got a 99 cobra convertible. I paid $8000 for it which might be a little much but it has all original paint and body panels. As soon as I got home it needed new tires $750, the trans had no fluid in it, and the rear end had so much in it was puking out the front. Even after new ballanced tires car had a bad vibration at 70 mph. I then lowered the with Vogtland sport spring, had the caster camber set. Car still vibrates. I replaced bushing in the IRS with some from FTBR, another $300. Entire car still vibrates so bad at 70 mph it gives you a headache. To top it off the top is leaking and needs replaced, and the clear coat on my all original paint is peeling. So here I am burried in this car, still can't take it to mid Ohio like I got it for cause it still needs a roll bar for that. I haven't drove the car in two months and I'm sick of dumping money into a car that is worth nowhere near what I have in it. Rant over.

OP, since you already have some FTBR gear installed, call up/email Bruce with a synopsis of your issue. With the appropriate details, I'm sure he can provide some credible direction for you to pursue.
I had a 99 Coupe and had the driveline vibration issue also. At the time, Ford sent a tech rep down to diagnose and correct the issue. He indexed the driveshaft (rotated) until the vibration was minimized. It was never really fixed. When you look at a stock 03/04 driveline, you'll see that Ford added a big weight at the front of the diff, which seemed to lessen the issue. Again, check with Bruce and I think he'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Good Luck

 

[01yellercobra]

When you look at a stock 03/04 driveline, you'll see that Ford added a big weight at the front of the diff, which seemed to lessen the issue. Again, check with Bruce and I think he'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Good Luck

That weight is there on pretty much all Mustangs. My 01 had it until I took it off when doing the diff bushings. I haven't been under our 06 enough to see if it has the weight as well.

Misspelling brought to you by Tapatalk

 

[RioSnake]

OP, since you already have some FTBR gear installed, call up/email Bruce with a synopsis of your issue. With the appropriate details, I'm sure he can provide some credible direction for you to pursue.
I had a 99 Coupe and had the driveline vibration issue also. At the time, Ford sent a tech rep down to diagnose and correct the issue. He indexed the driveshaft (rotated) until the vibration was minimized. It was never really fixed. When you look at a stock 03/04 driveline, you'll see that Ford added a big weight at the front of the diff, which seemed to lessen the issue. Again, check with Bruce and I think he'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Good Luck

The front diff brace helped me out a ton; the other thing that you might check out is the trans/motor mounts. Another tip is to switch up where the driveshaft is bolted into the diff and take it for a ride. Ford had some goofy tolerances and if the driveshaft has been taken out before it may not have been put back into the correct position. There are like 8 different positions to bolt into and its worth trying out and seeing if that helps out!

As far as money pits I know about money pits with these things. I have just been working on fixing the issues caused by our lovely relatives on the other side of the pond (Living in the UK and my Cobra has been here for years, they had no clue what they were doing with it). I've had driveline issues, my entire suspension has been or will be replaced, clutch, flywheel, rims, full brake systems, power steering pump (this is why the car is sitting in the garage at the moment :fm, the fuel line clip in the engine bay exploded, rear end is getting rebuilt, and then my mods! It's taken me a year and $5k just to fix what has been left to rot on my car in the UK and my car only has 55k miles on it!

These will always be a labor of love and a work in progress. If you wanted a perfect one you definitely got the wrong model; would I trade mine for anything? nope!

Good luck :beer:

 

[RioSnake]

Field Balance

Here is a link about the field balance; Basically what I was talking about one post up.

 

[RDJ]

sounds to me like someone failed to get a proper tech inspection and thorough test driver before paying a premium for a vehicle.

So six months ago I got a 99 cobra convertible. I paid $8000 for it which might be a little much but it has all original paint and body panels. As soon as I got home it needed new tires $750, the trans had no fluid in it, and the rear end had so much in it was puking out the front. Even after new ballanced tires car had a bad vibration at 70 mph. I then lowered the with Vogtland sport spring, had the caster camber set. Car still vibrates. I replaced bushing in the IRS with some from FTBR, another $300. Entire car still vibrates so bad at 70 mph it gives you a headache. To top it off the top is leaking and needs replaced, and the clear coat on my all original paint is peeling. So here I am burried in this car, still can't take it to mid Ohio like I got it for cause it still needs a roll bar for that. I haven't drove the car in two months and I'm sick of dumping money into a car that is worth nowhere near what I have in it. Rant over.

 

[RDJ]

I would be happy if I could get the thing to ride smooth, never heard of drive shaft going out of balance, read something about crank being out of balance in the 99s.

both the drive shaft and the harmonic balancer can go out of balance. I had it happen on my 95 at the beginning of the return trip from Mo. to Texas. that drive sucked ass. The drive shaft has weights on it and if one or more of those puppies drop off it makes for a very rough ride.

the harmonic balancer just came apart on me on an in town trip. that was a bitch to replace but the vibrations stopped.

 

[01RedBeardCobra]

sounds to me like someone failed to get a proper tech inspection and thorough test driver before paying a premium for a vehicle.

Yeah I beat the sh*t out of mine before I grabbed it. And I let it run for an hour and payed attention to every detail. Checked everything for leaks or accidents. And scanned te check engine light. (02 issue) And the week after I brought it home I ran into a sh*t ton of problems. Sometimes it's just hit or miss. My paints still excellent though! At least it looks good in my spot. Lol

 

[RDJ]

Yeah I beat the sh*t out of mine before I grabbed it. And I let it run for an hour and payed attention to every detail. Checked everything for leaks or accidents. And scanned te check engine light. (02 issue) And the week after I brought it home I ran into a sh*t ton of problems. Sometimes it's just hit or miss. My paints still excellent though! At least it looks good in my spot. Lol

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: yeah sometimes shit happens that you can't avoid. but overfilled or underfilled reservoirs, bad tires, etc pretty much tell the tale. No hate from me either way

 

[TBCobra]

Join the damn club.