A few concerns from a noob Cobra owner

[Majck123]

So I got my 03 Cobra back in April with just over 75k miles on it and was so excited because I've always wanted one. I had a 02 V6 about 3-4 years ago so I'm sure you can understand my excitement. Now I know this thing is about to turn 10 years old and it will show its age a little but I've done my research and I have just a few concerns left that I would like to get off my chest.

1. I have the burnt oil smoke on startup. I added an oil separator, which is collecting oil, but the smoke hasn't seemed to die down any. I've heard I need to clean underneath the supercharger but I've yet to do that and I really can't believe that would be my only problem.

2. I was told when I bought it that it has an aftermarket clutch and I also noticed after buying that it has a firewall and quadrant cable adjuster. My clutch is really stiff which I don't mind but I do feel a lot of vibration in the pedal when I really get into the RPMs. Is this normal or something I need to look into?

3. What is normal idling oil pressure? I think my gauge reads around 20 and then 60 while driving.

These are all the questions I can think of at the moment. I love this car so much and I'd much rather dump a bunch of money into fixing any problems than have to get rid of it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[sabotage]

1.Oil in the intake like you stated ..unless you have an oil leak...

2.Vibration on the clutch pedal is a broken tob sleeve ....or a bad tob ...but most likely the sleeve they are week replace it with a leathal tob sleeve much stronger unit....

3.My oil pressure is allways past half ways on the cluster....my bosses 2004 is right at the half way point i use 5=30 mobil one he uses 5-30 =royal purple

 

[Majck123]

1. So you think it is just oil in the intake manifold?

2. I was thinking it may have to do with the TOB because I get a little squeal when I first let out the clutch when its cold.

3. I'll have to look what it is on the cluster. I use an aftermarket gauge.

 

[DSG2NV03]

1. could be yes
2. agree with above
3. Stock cluster gauge is a dummy switch. Reaches a set psi (not sure what it is) and centers right up.

 

[gamatt]

1. Could be valve guide leakage, it oozes down the valve while sitting and burns off when you crank it up. My Mach1 did this a lot, switching to Valvoline High Mileage Synth helped a lot.

 

[SVT Pille]

3. Stock cluster gauge is a dummy switch. Reaches a set psi (not sure what it is) and centers right up.

I believe it's 6 psi.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

All oils thin when hot and thicken when cold.

Cold, thick oil will produce the highest oil pressure, hot thin oil will produce the least.

Oil pressure is also RPM dependent up to a point, there is a pressure relief valve in most oil pumps including ours. Rev the engine and the pressure goes up.

Oil is available in many viscosities. These 32 valve DOHC Cobra engines have a Cobra high volume oil pump that will produce some very high oil pressures with a cold 5W-30. Even the spec (CAFE induced) 5W-20 will show very high cold oil pressure.

Always let your oil warm up before "getting on" an engine.
Oil temps lag behind engine coolant(water) temps during warm up, so our oil cooler actually functions as an oil heater as soon as the thermostatically controlled engine coolant becomes warmer than the oil.
When the oil is hotter than the coolant,(after lots of heavy WOT usage) the oil cooler is no longer heating the oil but truly cooling it.

The generally accepted industry guide for the HOT oil pressure "sweet spot" is between 6 to 8 psi per 1,000 rpm. Unless the oil becomes incredibly hot even a 5W-20 will usually run higher psi than that on these engines.

I can only imagine what the actual cold oil pressure readings look like...
On a 2013 Ford Mustang GT 5.0L track pack with the spec 5W-50 oil in it.:uh oh:
You would of course need an aftermarket gauge, but considering that engine was designed around a 5W-20 and no changes were made to the engine, it's got to be pretty darn high.

 

[gamatt]

Oil is available in many viscosities. These 32 valve DOHC Cobra engines have a Cobra high volume oil pump that will produce some very high oil pressures with a cold 5W-30. Even the spec (CAFE induced) 5W-20 will show very high cold oil pressure.

What am I missing here? 5w-20 and 5w-30 are the same rated weight cold, aren't they?

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

What am I missing here? 5w-20 and 5w-30 are the same rated weight cold, aren't they?

GREAT QUESTION!!! A very common misunderstanding:
"If both are 5W why would they not be both the same viscosity at the same cold temp?"

The first number in a viscosity grade is simply just a description of the cold flow characteristics of that oil.

Since one is a thicker 30 weight at operating temps and one is a thinner 20 at operating temps they are different oils though out the range.

The cold start cold temp viscosity of a "5W- oil will be proportionally thicker as you go up the scale.
5W-20
5W-30
5W-40
5W-50
The cold flow viscosity of each of these oils is not directly tied to the 5W number.

The second number however will be very consistent when compared to other oils of the same second viscosity number.
For example:
a 0W-40
5W-40
10W-40
15W-40
20W-40
and a straight 40, will all be very close in viscosity at operating temperatures, because they have to in order to be classed a 40 weight. But they will all thicken incrementally less when cold as you go from the straight 40 down to the 20W-40, to the 15W, the 10W- and so on.