How Reliable are the 96-98 ?

[Bluesn95]

The earlier 4v 96 and maybe 97 had issues with trannys breaking when they were dogged. Then ford switched from a borg warner t45 to a tremec t45 and everything was better.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

Uh, Borg Warner and Tremec are the same thing. If they did fix anything it was a faulty part they replaced but a T-45 is a T-45.

As for the 94-95 cars. Dead nuts reliable and the aftermarket is HUGE. It is MUCH easier to make a 94/95 car fast than a 96-98 car and this includes the 4V Cobras. I raced a bolt on 4V Cobra with my bolt on 5.0 Cobra and I tore his ass up from a stop no problem. From a roll it was close but I still won. I can't wait to fire up my HCI'd 5.0(this weekend hopefully) and see what it does.


IMO the only reason to buy a 96-98 car is that its a 96 Mystic or as a project to rebuild and add a blower to. I will admit that a modular 5.0 stroker with some decent heads and a blower is SCARY.

 

[AaRoN]

Yeah as Scotty said, my 98 GT has a Borg Warner tranny.

 

[realitygt]

i've got my plastic intake on still.

the ONLY problem I've had with this car is the horn fuse blows if I hold it down longer than five seconds. other than that I've never had anything go wrong with it. I flushed EVERY fluid in the car at 83k miles.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

The one REALLY nice thing about the 4.6, though, is the block. The 4.6 block is strong as hell and with just a basic forged rotating assembly and a turbo the 4.6 cars can make big power. However you guys do NEED to go power adder to keep up with our windsors lol.

 

[94Pro-5.0]

I had a 96 GT vert for 2 years (now my sisters car)

it broke so few times that i can easily rememebr all of them

only things that have gone wrong w/ the car: MAF, small oil leak (most likely main seal) and vert top latch.


car has over 120k, is an auto, w/ shift kit and gears and is still running nice

 

[AaRoN]

The one REALLY nice thing about the 4.6, though, is the block. The 4.6 block is strong as hell and with just a basic forged rotating assembly and a turbo the 4.6 cars can make big power. However you guys do NEED to go power adder to keep up with our windsors lol.

That's the price to pay with small cubes.

 

[rigsvt]

I cant wait to get one !!!!

 

[AaRoN]

The one REALLY nice thing about the 4.6, though, is the block. The 4.6 block is strong as hell and with just a basic forged rotating assembly and a turbo the 4.6 cars can make big power. However you guys do NEED to go power adder to keep up with our windsors lol.

That's the price to pay with small cubes.

But, then again, we don't make the same power as a 346 so we all might as well sell our cars.

 

[realitygt]

the 4.6 def needs a power adder tho. I'm planning on doing the rest of my suspension(which is alotlol) and maybe some gears and then working a KB

 

[CanaryGT]

how about the 94-95's ?

I would say the same.....very reliable if you can do little things to the car.

I kind of wish I would have gotten a 5.0.. o well

I dont know Justin, your cars fast for a NPI Auto....

As for the 94-95 cars. Dead nuts reliable and the aftermarket is HUGE. It is MUCH easier to make a 94/95 car fast than a 96-98 car and this includes the 4V Cobras. I raced a bolt on 4V Cobra with my bolt on 5.0 Cobra and I tore his ass up from a stop no problem. From a roll it was close but I still won. I can't wait to fire up my HCI'd 5.0(this weekend hopefully) and see what it does.

Im not saying I dont believe you, but what mods did you have and what did he have. a 96 cobra stock would KILL a 94-95 Cobra stock.... But then again like you said, there were Mods...

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

He had 4.10 gears, catback and CAI I THINK... I had full exhaust, pullies, 3.73 gears, CAI with a bigger MAF and my timing at 14 degrees. Maybe he couldn't drive?? I also have the A9L conversion on mine. I dunno I put a car length on him right away from a stop. From a roll I was just pulling slightly on him. Again, probably had alot to do with the drivers.

 

[CanaryGT]

With those mods from a stop I can see where you jumped him, but the HP difference between the two, even when you were modded, would favor the DOHC hands down.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

Eh, a friend of mine with similar mods ran a 12.9 on the stock Cobra HCI. He had fatter tires out back and could DRIVE though. I'm sure he eventually would have pullled past me if we kept going but we both shut it down at 100mph. Again, I think the guy probably just didn't know where the proper shift points were in his car. Maybe he was afraid to rev the DOHC all the way up to redline???

 

[reivaxtorres]

i have a 98gt, and have 1696xx miles on it, only major problems that ive had with it are transmission related for the most part, but then again it was also my fault (missed a gear...bent a shaft or two.... :wall

other than that, the other non-my fault issues are:

crank pulley failed. replaced with u/d pullies.
practically all the bushings were non-existant. replaced with stock bushings
the foam in the front seats kinda fell apart.....replaced with recaro


and thats about it, at least from things that werent my fault. and i abuse the hell out of it too, im pretty much constantly at the redline....i know its not a good idea, but still.

 

[AaRoN]

My car (minus the motor) has 164xxx on it. No problems :thumb:

Stock tranny, clutch, starter, alt, water pump, etc... :blah2:

 

[realitygt]

My car (minus the motor) has 164xxx on it. No problems :thumb:

Stock tranny, clutch, starter, alt, water pump, etc... :blah2:

stock clutch at 164k miles?! wow.

 

[AaRoN]

My car (minus the motor) has 164xxx on it. No problems :thumb:

Stock tranny, clutch, starter, alt, water pump, etc... :blah2:

stock clutch at 164k miles?! wow.

Yup

 

[Goldmember]

My car (minus the motor) has 164xxx on it. No problems :thumb:

Stock tranny, clutch, starter, alt, water pump, etc... :blah2:

stock clutch at 164k miles?! wow.

Yup

That's impressive, I'm at 103K and it's catching at the very top of the pedal with a noisy TOB. Babying it until I can get to it...

As far as reliability, it's one of the reasons I bought mine- take care of it, and it will take care of you for many miles. One of the pluses of having a relatively "simple" car! Just did a 200-mile round-trip at constant 65-80 MPH and the car gave me 28 MPG. Only major thing for the 2V cars is to replace the intake if it still has the stock plastic crossover.

 

[fivepointnine]

my 96 has 172xxx miles on it, runs like a sowing machine, only thing besides the clutch and quadrant and exhasut I can tell has been replaced is the intake, mine has the aluminum crossover on the front.