The "tick" and the cooling mod... effective???

[tfoster405]

My car has 3600 miles and has the blue striped head (late 03). I know that it seems that all the heads are infected the the design flaw that overheats the driver side rear of the head eventually causing the infamous "TICK" (with or without the blue stripe)

I don't have the tick... yet.

My question is... what do experienced people familiar with the Terminator think the percentage is for cars getting the tick without the cooling mod.

Second question... Has there been anyone here who has seen the cooling mod NOT work, meaning there have been cobra owners who put on the cooling mod on a car without the tick and end up getting the tick (simply put...is the cooling mod effective?) I know that it makes perfect sense that circulating the water through the head is better in theory than the coolant just dead heading there... but what does the actual evidence say...

Any takers?

 

[bigbadwolff66]

Straight from the FAQ section of our website:

WIll the Even Flow Cooling Mod(or the other available cooling mods) GUARANTEE that my engine will not develop the "Tick" or score a piston?

A) ABSOLUTELY NOT, and if anyone tells you different keep reading.
There many issues that can contribute to the often talked about "tick" and "piston scoring" on the 03-04 Cobra engines. Driving style, engine power, duration under boost conditions, cooling mods, base engine clearance set-up, total boost pressure, intake air temp, and exhaust efficiency can all contribute.
The bottom line is this: NO COOLING MOD IS GOING TO OVERCOME THE FACT THAT THE 03-04 COBRA ENGINES LEFT THE FACTORY WITH LOW PISTON TO WALL CLEARANCE THAT DOES NOT ALLOW FOR HIGH EXPANSION OF THE PISTON BEFORE IT SCORES THE CYLINDER WALL.
Modified engines, higher boost levels, high speed runs, and horsepower levels that can easliy exceed 100 horsepower more than what the factory gave you all contribute to higher heat and higher loading conditions.
CREATING HORSEPOWER MEANS CREATING HEAT. THE PISTONS, ALTHOUGH FORGED, ARE MADE OUT OF ALUMINUM AND THEY WILL EXPAND.

 

[Dana]

The cooling mod does not have any direct effect on whether or not you get the "tick".
The cooling mod improves the coolant flow through the driver's head, that's all it does. Not that that isn't significant, it is very significant, but not the cause of the tick.
The "tick" is the result of a mechanical condition that allows the valve to move around in the guide more than it should. This in turn causes other bad things to happen, like valve seats loosening up.
The added coolant flow created by the installation of the coolant mod helps prevent hot spots in and around cyl #7 & #8.

Dana

 

[Kevin the Clean 1]

Dana,

That is some good info man... ! ;-)

 

[tfoster405]

Which Kit...

Hey, thanks for the info...

I plan to do the mod... just trying to figure out which kit to use... I noticed that there is an older kit that simply "t"'s to the passenger side line from LDC (which requires removal of the trans...)

And, there is a newer kit from "EvenFlow" which does not interupt the passenger side coolant line and runs directly back to coolant hose up top on the engine.

 

[CobraBob]

The fact that your car has only 3,600 miles on it means it is hard at this point to predict if you'll develop the tick. The only cure is to replace the heads with the latest version. Percentage wise, the number of cars that have developed the tick is very small. So the odds are with you. I personally wouldn't spend money on new heads until you actually develop the issue. Which is honestly very unlikely. Doing the cooling mod (either one) is smart, though.

 

[Dana]

Hey, thanks for the info...

I plan to do the mod... just trying to figure out which kit to use... I noticed that there is an older kit that simply "t"'s to the passenger side line from LDC (which requires removal of the trans...)

And, there is a newer kit from "EvenFlow" which does not interupt the passenger side coolant line and runs directly back to coolant hose up top on the engine.

Both accomplish the same thing. The biggest difference is in the install.

Do one of them. Your motor will like you for it.
I prefer the LDC mod ;-)

Dan

 

[tfoster405]

Thanks for all the info...

My car has been essentially been stock for 4 years (CAI and Cat-back only)

Last week I finally installed a RR 2.93 and Amazon's SCT flash tune.

The car seriouly "woke" up. G-tech readings went from 380-390 to 445 hp in second gear with some spin.

After only a few hard run through the gears and looking at logged data from the SCT, all looked pretty good. MAF was at 4.8 volts, Fuel pump duty was at a max of .84. Short term fuel trim during WOT was at .82 which I understand to be the factory O2 sensor voltage (plenty rich), Factory boost sensor was reading was 56 (I think inches of mercury) ~13 lbs.

Then with the car really hot, I stop to listen to the engine and I thought I heard "some" ticking, not too loud, but definetely a ticking that I never heard before. I turned the car off, let it cool off and later started and drove it and did not hear the ticking. So far, has not come back.

 

[BLK03SVT10TH]

Your not going to get the "Tick" if you don't drive the car. Damn, 3600 miles on an 2003 Cobra. Get that Garage Queen out and put some miles on it and enjoy the ride while you can. Life is too short.