the infamous cobra idle stall.

[snakerider]

You will not harm the motor by re-flashing the ECU back to stock at the dealer. BUT.....you would need to stay out of boost and drive/shift like granny, which can be hard to do, but not impossible. So doing this would be fine as long as the custom tune will be done within a week or so. Is it recommended? No. But it can be done without harming the motor as long as you're easy on the throttle and shift at lower RPMs. In other words, staying out of boost. Going back to the (updated) factory tune will also show whether or not the stall issue is/was indeed in the present tune.

I would bet that the issue is in the tune. You want to get your car re-tuned just as quickly as possible. Do whatever you can to expedite this. JMO.

Thanks for clearing it up for me Bob. I for go to mention not to go into boost if he reflash the ecu. Yes as long as he stays out of boost, and shift like a granny there should be no problems. But what is the point of that fixing one issue and creating another one... What he really need to do is get it dyno tuned by a good reputable tuner, that should get rid of stall issue and plus give him piece of mind. Because right now he doesn't even know who tuned it.

 

[CallMeWonder]

I had this happen pretty often when I briefly installed a K&N FIPK intake. Basically, if the car was moving and I was in neutral, it could stall.

I went to Ford and asked them for the update. They looked at me like, "really?"...but they did it, and told me my car did in fact have the outdated version before that. Never stalled again.

How much do they charge for a re-flash?

 

[javierrflores]

happened to me 5 years ago. , car would stall coming to a stop or idling at a stop light after installing the k&n cone filter . went to ford and had the computer reflashed not a problem since.

 

[dwish]

How much do they charge for a re-flash?

My dealer charged around $100.00. The service rep at the front said she "felt bad." Lol.

 

[T-Pain808]

Mine stalls too, just out of the blue. But yes most times when its cold, and thats
in Hawaii. It does bother me, but like i said its rare. But more importantly it starts up every time. :rockon:

 

[CobraBob]

Thanks for clearing it up for me Bob. I for go to mention not to go into boost if he reflash the ecu. Yes as long as he stays out of boost, and shift like a granny there should be no problems. But what is the point of that fixing one issue and creating another one... What he really need to do is get it dyno tuned by a good reputable tuner, that should get rid of stall issue and plus give him piece of mind. Because right now he doesn't even know who tuned it.

You're right, he does need a tune very soon. But he can use a mail order tune, too. Mail-order tunes/canned tunes should have the anti-stall code in the tune. Not everyone has access to a dyno or to a good dyno tuner. The only tune I had in my '03 Cobra was a canned tune, and it contained the anti-stall code.

 

[333arod333]

I hav the same problem. I'm riding hard high in rpms, slow down and rpm will dive and it will stall. Horrible when going into a turn. I just rebuilt heads and will get a dyno tune after and that should cover it. I hav done all the cleaning and other stuff recommended but as far as all the research I've done can tell, it just needs a retune with the tsb update. I'm sure when u get a retune it will b ok. Ford can do whatever u want btw, ur car is out of warranty do that doesn't matter. The ford dealerships in my area will just do a tune patch where they insert the new update into the tune without modifying the tune itself.

 

[CobraBob]

I have to wonder how many Terminators are on the road without the revised code. It really is a potentially dangerous issue. There have been reports of drivers exiting a freeway, going around a curve, and having the car just die. Why this wasn't a recall is beyond me. A TSB at least helped, but many drivers still don't know about the problem.

 

[03dsgcobranc]

It's like dsg stated above, it's in your tune likely the dash pot settings . My first tune had that problem.

 

[ajt9229]

I had this happen pretty often when I briefly installed a K&N FIPK intake. Basically, if the car was moving and I was in neutral, it could stall.

I went to Ford and asked them for the update. They looked at me like, "really?"...but they did it, and told me my car did in fact have the outdated version before that. Never stalled again.

I just bought my Cobra and it was stalling like 40% of the time. Car has 12,000 Miles on it and was never taken to the dealer. I only got one key with the car. My buddy is a service tech at a Ford dealership. I went to see him to get a new Key and get it programed while it was on the computer and Because of this thread I asked if there were any computer updates. He hit a few buttons and said yes it needed 3 computer updates. It took longer to program the key but when all said and done the car doesnt stall anymore. :rockon:

 

[03miamisnake]

I had a new '03 back in '02/'03 with the same problem. Fixed with a reflash back then. Getting a 15k mile DSG delivered next week, hope not an issue with this one.

 

[Stein03Cobra]

Sorry to revive such an old thread but I can not get rid of the stall issue and its killing me!!!

A little history...had a pulley setup dyno tuned at Anderson Ford Motorsports...decided to go to the VMP TVS this past fall, took it to Anderson again for another tune and had issues since. Makes me think its in the tune as well cause I have a new Steeda air filter, new IACV, checked everywhere I can for vacuum leaks, etc...it does peg lean right before the idle bounces and it stalls out...pretty much as soon as my foot is off the pedal it goes lean otherwise it is perfect under any driving conditions. I checked my fuel pressure to see if I just wasn't getting fuel when not under load but everything checks out fine. Swapped fuel filter to be sure, and it still dies everytime I go to neutral while slowing to a stop and then idle bounces and it stalls out. Sucks when coming to a corner and ya stall and lose power steering! I only drive it 1,500 miles a year at most but don't want to cause of this!

How exactly do I get this fixed? Can something be done to my existing tune??? If so what is it I need to tell my tuner?

 

[black4vcobra]

I just put a Vortech V-2 on my 99 and I'm having the same stalling issue when coasting in neutral and letting the rpms drop a couple thousand. It is worse when cold now that I think about it.

I have to go back to the tuner soon anyway after I change fuel pumps and hopefully he can get the stalling issue figured out.

 

[gsxr03_600]

I just made a post yesterday in another thread like this one, here it is:

I had the same issue. Took the car back to my tuner and he fixed the problem. He said he turned the Hard Stop up and also turned the idle up. The car was idling around 1500-1600 rpms after he did this and he said after a couple times driving around the car would start idling around 750-800 rpms. He said the car has to learn this and would take about 75-100 miles. Every time I took her out the rpms would go down each time. Sure enough after about 100 miles no more stalling and perfect idling. And sitting in ATL traffic and your car stalls can suck. This resolved my issues and i've drove about 1k since this with no stall issues. Hope this helps somebody

 

[CashMoneyKC]

did a handheld tuner come with car?

sct xcal,,,predator?

I have a sct. Is it fixable yourself with it? I’m going to take it to a local tuner to have them help me with it. I don’t wanna screw anything up. It’s not terrible but does it from time to time.