Valve Rattle

[railroad]

99 Cobra, 32K miles, KB supercharger, 9-10 lbs of boost, 3.73 gears, alum flywheel and DS.
I drive the car about 1 time per month, just cruising around. I run 93 octane with some Sunoco or VP canned gas added to the tank. Never had an issues with car, since new.
Today after about 5 miles on the interstate, I get into the boost a little, about 8 lbs and the valves rattle, like they are on a switch. I back out and cruise a short distance and ease into boost again, same rattle. Before I get it home the radiator/fan light came on. Instant check on the temp. eveything is good.
At home, I check the coolant, full, intercooler fluid, full, fan runs with a/c off, intercooler pump runs with key on. Only questionable issue, I cannot see the intercooler fluid move in the reservoir. Outside temp was 84*F. Engine temp on gauge is below half way.
I cannot remember the last brand of gas bought. I was going to go by a new Sunoco station and fill up with 93, but after the incident, I put 5 gallons of 110 in the tank.
I thought I would post here and see if anything jumps out, before another road trip.

 

[01yellercobra]

Sounds more like you had detonation. If the intercooler fluid isn't moving then your IAT was probably pretty high. I watch mine on an Aeroforce gauge. I'd fix that pump before anything else.

 

[railroad]

Yeah, detonation, valve rattle, probably depends on semantics.
The pump sounds like it is running. The reservoir is a metal can with a pipe thread plug in the top.
It might be pumping, cannot see in the reservoir. I guess I will pull one of the lines and see if it shoots coolant out. I am hoping I got some bad gasoline. I do not run the car into boost every trip, so,,,
Thanks for the tip. I doubt my computer has a sensor for IAT2, since the car was not factory supercharged.
Maybe I will get brave enough for a short trip and see if the 110 corrects it.

 

[01yellercobra]

It depends on where the IAT sensor is. Ideally it should be in the lower intake. But I don't know if the KB kit has that provision.

My pump went out the beginning of summer. Tapping on it made it work for a bit. You might try tapping it with a hammer to see if it comes back to life.

 

[railroad]

Ken Christly, tuner for KB indicated the 99 Cobra, nor the KB set up is adaptive. It cannot add or pull timing in relation to engine parameters.
The pump is running, key on, engine off. I do not know if the impeller is working or not. I guess I will pull a hose and turn the key on.
Thanks for the tips.

 

[01yellercobra]

It's been a while since I had the program for my 01 open, but I vaguely remember something about being able to retard timing with IAT. Nothing like what the 03/04 has, but it was there. Granted, I'm sure there are some differences between 99 and 01, but I can't see Ford not having some kind of protection in place.

For the 03/04 set up the easy way to tell is if the reservoir looks like a jacuzzi. Also, an electric motor can hum and not work. It usually means something is stuck. But if the pump is ok I'd check fuel pressure. Do you have a wideband on the car?

 

[railroad]

No wideband monitor. I do have a fuel press gauge. It was showing 40 lbs under accel. You have to remember the engine originally was normally aspirated. Probably IAT1 being sufficient for that. It does have knock sensors, but the range is not nearly enough to address it being supercharged. When I find the issue, I am sure everything else will be fine. Thanks for the advise.

 

[01yellercobra]

No wideband monitor. I do have a fuel press gauge. It was showing 40 lbs under accel. You have to remember the engine originally was normally aspirated. Probably IAT1 being sufficient for that. It does have knock sensors, but the range is not nearly enough to address it being supercharged. When I find the issue, I am sure everything else will be fine. Thanks for the advise.

I understand. I used to have a 2001 Cobra. I went from stock to a big bore stroker with an F1A. And I tuned it myself.

 

[RX1Cobra]

It's been a while since I had the program for my 01 open, but I vaguely remember something about being able to retard timing with IAT. Nothing like what the 03/04 has, but it was there. Granted, I'm sure there are some differences between 99 and 01, but I can't see Ford not having some kind of protection in place.

For the 03/04 set up the easy way to tell is if the reservoir looks like a jacuzzi. Also, an electric motor can hum and not work. It usually means something is stuck. But if the pump is ok I'd check fuel pressure. Do you have a wideband on the car?

Yup, you can. When I put me Eaton on I put the IAT as post blower. So if the pump takes a shit or the car heatsoaks it pulls timing. The only difference is that I don't know the temp of the air going in, only out.

Coolant splashes all around in the overflow. Not sure if you wired the pump to be key on but if you can turn it on with the car off you'll for sure hear the water moving. Not just the pump noise.

 

[railroad]

Coolant splashes all around in the overflow. Not sure if you wired the pump to be key on but if you can turn it on with the car off you'll for sure hear the water moving. Not just the pump noise.

It is wired key on to run. I have had the car since 99 and KB on it about since 02 or 03. I cannot remember for sure if I could see the coolant flowing, but it does not seem so now. I have so much other stuff going on right now, I have not had a chance to check it out. I hope it is something that simple. I cannot think of anything else. I have not made any changes or mods to it, so hopefully it is just a minor parts failure. I do have a boost a pump on it, but the fuel pressure stays up OK. I might need to double check it under acceleration. If the pump is OK, I know where to go.
Thanks,