My 03 cobra keeps breaking thermostats!

8oh4terminator

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Well Ive got a 3.4 whipple 03 cobra and right before I got home today the temp gauge started going up and I made it home to discover coolant EVERYWHERE yet again. I bought the car about 3 months ago and have already replace the thermostat twice and now im assuming I will have to replace it once again. If anybody knows the cause or what could be the problem, your advice would be greatly appreciated
 

Cobra03SC

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I would start looking elsewhere. I highly doubt the thermostats are going bad like that. Most likely air in the system and it needs to be properly burped like he said.
 

Jimmysidecarr

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Check the crossover for air. Burp it good.


This!
I would start looking elsewhere. I highly doubt the thermostats are going bad like that. Most likely air in the system and it needs to be properly burped like he said.

And this!

A Terminator rookie may not refill the system though the burp plug on the crossover.

Even a bad radiator cap can introduce air to the system and cause an overheating event that looks like it is a bad thermostat, but likely is not.

Drop all those "bad" thermostats into a pan of boiling water with a meat thermometer and see where each one opens.

Air may have been the cause of your issue all along.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...ostat-cooling-system-reische-performance.html

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...e-you-post-read-terminator-faqs-new-guys.html
 

8oh4terminator

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Okay well ill start with a new cap and see if that fixes the issue. Thanks alot for the quick responses guys its muchly appreciated
 

Juiced46

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Like already mentioned, sounds like air in the system. Throwing Tstats at it is not the problem. Its a problem with the system not being bled properly or at all. Or its getting air from somewhere.

Or very worse case headgasket problem/cracked block which would be very rare but also a possibility
 

TVSCobra

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There could be many reasons why a car will overheat or run hot. We need more information on the history of your overheats and mods on the car.

Have you pressure tested your rad cap to see if it is holding pressure?

Like others have stated I would start with the car cold, fill the degas/expansion tank to the fill line, install the cap, open the coolant cross over plug, fill the system with a 50/50 mix, once it is full, start the car with the heater on. I recommend putting a funnel in the cross over bung. I recommend keeping the level in the funnel about 1/4 the way full, allow the engine to run with the heater on until there are no longer air bubbles coming out. This is the only way to properly fill and bleed the cooling system is through the coolant cross over plug. The expansion tank is isolated from the cooling system until the T stat is starting to open.

Once there are no longer air bubbles coming from the coolant cross over plug, shut the engine off and allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then open the degas/expansion tank cap, check the level. Top off the coolant cross over if needed.

If you find that air bubbles are still coming up through the cross over bung then you have air entering the cooling system. Then it is time for a compression and leakdown test. If you have a faulty head gasket, depending on where the failure is, you will have to perform a leakdown on each cylinder. Example, if you perform a leakdown test on cylinder 1 and you see air bubbles coming out the cross over plug then you know there is a head gasket leak around cylinder 1.


Is your cooling fan working? If so what are your fan on/off settings?

What type of thermstat are you using? These cars are very sensitive to having the proper style thermostat install. I recommend this:

170° PERFORMANCE THERMOSTAT for Mustang Shelby GT500, Boss 302, Cobra, Lightning, GT & Mach 1

Best thermostat on marker. PERIOD!
 

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