98 Cobra clatter on cold start

[VooDoo95Cobra]

Like the title says, when I start my car on a cold start I hear a clattering noise for about 1 sec, until the oil psi comes up. Is this normal? Its my first modular motor.

 

[copmagnet]

sounds like your oil pump is going bad, I wouldn't drive your car until you replace that or it could blow your motor.



























































HAHAHA, just fuckin with you.

 

[Musturd]

Timing chain guides

 

[VooDoo95Cobra]

Hmm. That sucks. Its only got 73k on it. To replace the guides all of the acc have to come off and the timing chain cover right? basically the whole front of the motor? How long can I drive it like this? I baby the car everywhere except every other sat night and it gets a good driving, that and the occasional stop light to stop light random stuff.

 

[sn95jones]

IMO I see this as normal, my 5.4L did this in my 99' F150, once oil pressure built up it went away, only did this because there's no oil sitting in the top end of the motor.
I wouldn't worry about it, yours has very low miles.
From what I read this is normal with all modular motors, not just Ford modular's.
But then again I could be wrong you never know.
Take it to Ford have them listen to it.

 

[VooDoo95Cobra]

I would take it to them but its only on a very cold start ( i was thinking the same thing, oil drained out of the top end). It has to sit at least 3-4 hours minimum for it to happen again. I would have to leave it overnight at the dealership.

 

[sn95jones]

Sounds completely normal to me man, hell even new cars do that.
I wouldn't stress out about it at all!

 

[VooDoo95Cobra]

Right on. I have always wanted a 32v and I finally got one and it scared the bejeezus out of me. I found it at one of those lots on Division. Kinda stole it, not sure they knew what they had.

 

[sn95jones]

Lucky man! I financed mine for $8000 up in Oklahoma City, 80,000 miles saddle leather interior, mach460, the full package.
Now I'm kicking myself in the ass for not looking for a Cobra..

 

[VooDoo95Cobra]

Thats what I ended up paying for this one. Put down $3500, financed the rest. It had 72500 when I drove it off the lot. Bone stock save for Pro5.0, Steeda crank pully and an O/R X pipe. Stock Mufflers. Had a diff sound to it for sure. REAL quiet until you get on it. I kinda dig it! lol

 

[ademily87]

Piston slap.

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[VooDoo95Cobra]

Piston slap.

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I have been wrenching since i was 10 and i haven t heard that term.. details..

 

[ademily87]

Lucky man! I financed mine for $8000 up in Oklahoma City, 80,000 miles saddle leather interior, mach460, the full package.
Now I'm kicking myself in the ass for not looking for a Cobra..

8k? Did you know you can get a 99-01 cobra or a Mach one for the same price give or take $1000 with similar miles?

Sounds completely normal to me man, hell even new cars do that.
I wouldn't stress out about it at all!

Valvetrain noise is normal in new cars? No wonder you thought the grand prix was a gem.

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[Brian95SVT]

...

 

[ademily87]

...

.....help me? Lol

I have been wrenching since i was 10 and i haven t heard that term.. details..

"Piston slap occurs when the piston skirt wears and the piston rocks back and forth about the wrist pin as it travels up and down--"slapping" the cylinder walls.

It is caused by far too infrequent oil changes; once the the anti-wear additives have completely broken down the piston skirt is one of the high load areas that takes the biggest hit.

Heavier oil may quiet it, also one of the "mechanic in a can" products like STP oil treatment. The good news is that it can occur for a long time before the engine dies--I had a 1973 Jeepster that slapped so badly you could hear coming from 1/2 mile away, drove it"

^this sums it up perfectly. My Mach started doing the same thing after I abused the crap out of it haha.

Take it out for a ride while cold and leave it in second and start at a low rpm and slowly accelerate with the windows down so you can hear, and really start listening after 3k rpm all the way up to atleast 5500 rpm. You'll more than likely hear the same noise you hear at start up. Just remember to accelerate veeerrryyyy slowly.



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[VooDoo95Cobra]

Ill do that on the way home from work in the morning. I guess the good thing is that im not going to do any big mods to this motor. Just a few bolt ons. Im going to start building a 5.0 Stroker when the finances look a little better.

 

[Brian95SVT]

.....help me? Lol

I had posted a URL to an explaination of piston slap but didn't like the informatoin then figured you'd be responding haha.

 

[sn95jones]

I searched high and low for a Mach and couldn't find one for that price with low miles, not to mention I was in Oklahoma at the time so finding a Mustang that wasn't beaten to hell and back was very hard to find.
My car books for $7350 so I did not lose out on much

 

[1997GT4.6]

Ummm that's not normal. My 97 Cobra doesn't sound like that upon start up at all. Every Ford owner must be aware of the tiny ticking sound from the heads, since just about every ford does that (due to oil passageways I believe don't quote me on that. 97 GT does it, expedition, and F150) but not at start up like you describe. Could you possibly get a little video together for us? Might be easier to diagnose.


And wtf? $8000 for a 96-98 GT. I would NOT pay that much for one ever lol. Danny got his Cobra for like $6xxxish and I got mine for $9800 with 57k miles on it and in mint condition with zero rock chips lol.

 

[Brian95SVT]

I would have paid the $8500 for JiMi_DRiX's GT but that thing was MINT, very tastefully modded, and low miles.