Broadcast Message - New Car, No boost

[BrianR]

0165 - 2003 MUSTANG COBRA SUPERCHARGED - LACK OF POWER AND NO BOOST, LOW MILES
SOME 2003 COBRA VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE 4.6L SUPERCHARGED ENGINE MAY
EXHIBIT A LACK OF POWER AND NO BOOST WHEN THE VEHICLE IS INITIALLY DELIVERED
TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE VEHICLES AFFECTED WILL HAVE VERY LOW MILES AND THE
CONCERN WILL TYPICALLY BE NOTICED DURING THE PRE-DELIVERY INSPECTION. IF THE
VEHICLE HAS NO BOOST AND LACK OF POWER, CLEAR THE KEEP ALIVE MEMORY AND
RETEST. THE ALTERNATIVE CALIBRATION IS USED DURING THE ASSEMBLY PROCESS TO
DISABLE BOOST AND PREVENT PLUG FOULING. BY CLEARING THE KEEP ALIVE MEMORY OR
DRIVING THE VEHICLE FOR AT LEAST FIVE CONTINUOUS MILES, THE VEHICLE WILL
REVERT BACK TO THE BASE CALIBRATION AND BOOST WILL BE ENABLED.

 

[2F2F]

> BY...DRIVING THE VEHICLE FOR AT LEAST FIVE CONTINUOUS MILES...

I hope that doesn't mean that techs will opt for the five mile drive as opposed the the clearance of keep alive memory.

 

[Dana]

This happened to me when I picked up my car. I complained and the problem mysteriously fixed itself. No one at the dealership ever had an explanation for it. This was one thing that I did consider though, a temporary disabling of the boost through the computer for x miles. My car had less than 3 miles on it when I first picked it up.
Nice of Ford to FINALLY tell everyone about it.

Brian, where did you find this info. I'd like to help the dealer out and advise him of this.

 

[03TRMN8R]

I too witnessed the same problem upon driving my cobra home from the dealership. It made me very nervous until it finally kicked in. I almost turned around and brought it right back to them. It was about five miles too before it kicked in.

 

[Dana]

I didn't even take mine at that time. I left it there for them to fix. There was obviously a problem and I wasn't taking it until it was repaired. The saleman and the tech took it out to verify the problem and it just started working all by itself. We didnt know if it was a defective boost gauge or a S/C problem, but there was definitely ZERO boost when I first drove it. The salesman was with me at the time too. The problem was he didn't know the difference as at that time he had no experience with the '03 Cobras.
Dana

 

[i8u]

Originally posted by ox03
> BY...DRIVING THE VEHICLE FOR AT LEAST FIVE CONTINUOUS MILES...

I hope that doesn't mean that techs will opt for the five mile drive as opposed the the clearance of keep alive memory.

Even if they cleared the keep-alive memory they would still most likely have to take it for a drive and turn the key off and on a number of times to make it relearn certain peramiters that would be lost. Otherwise they would have a very unhappy customer when the car stalled and drove funny while it relearned it's driving strategy.

The best thing to do would be to take it to a dealor you trust. :beer:

 

[Sonic03]

This is exactly what happened to me...my car sat at Ford for about 10 days, because of fouled plugs...I fugured that there was something wrong when a stock LS1 walked me from a 40 punch...bad. How nice of ford to figure this out....

 

[RSXFMCJWR]

I didn't even realize that I had no boost and I thought I was driving around with 390 horses until the 5 mile mark came and my car's speed skyrocketed(the fact that I was used to driving a 120 horsepower import didn't help either).

 

[i8u]

Originally posted by RSXFMCJWR
I didn't even realize that I had no boost and I thought I was driving around with 390 horses until the 5 mile mark came and my car's speed skyrocketed(the fact that I was used to driving a 120 horsepower import didn't help either).

:lol: :beer:

 

[King03Cobra]

How do you clear the "Keep Alive Memory", remove battery cable ?????

 

[i8u]

Originally posted by King03Cobra
How do you clear the "Keep Alive Memory", remove battery cable ?????

That will do it.:beer:

 

[IcebourgGT500]

I had the same issue. My car had only 6 miles on it. I drove about 5 miles to a gas station. Filled her up(had a 1/4 tank). I restarted the car and she was totally different!!

 

[rezcobra]

Icebourg, the dealer gave you a car with a 1/4 tank of gas?

 

[davidmax]

1/4 Tank butt ho..s.I came off the lotand did a 0-120 very nice 8lbs. of boost,no complaints.Dave S.

 

[Cobra 2997]

Same thing happened here, ZERO boost on my first test drive (3.9 miles on car) and felt sluggish. It was the first thing I noticed, told the sales guy and I pulled it into the service bay, they took it up the street and back and it came alive....

 

[OH3Cobra]

MMMMMM This triggers something in my memory. The guys from fordchip were in Indy in August or September. They were doing dyno tunes. I had to work that day (damm Saturday) and went by to talk with them. They were working on cars till 2 am I think.

The point: The head tech for Fordchip said that ford was changing the computer code set up for a reason. The people on the line were running the cars hard out of the plant. Loading up the cats and causing problems. The new program would curtail boost until they had cleared the plant. This sounds like it fits your experience.