Yes or no: my '03 Cobra has bad vibration at > 80 mph

[Jim S]

On stangnet a number of folks--not all-- have complained about a wicked vibration and shaking of the car at ~ 85 mph and some at 115 mph. How many '03 Cobra owners on this board have this or other major problem.

I'm not starting a flame thread or trolling. I am thinking of ordering an '03 Cobra coupe but some of the gremlins are a bit unnerving.

 

[SVTyballz]

Don't have any problems at all. I am 1600 miles in and about the only problem I can think of, is that I don't have an 02 Carrera C4S............hehhehe. I'll prolly see a few Porsches up in Jax next weekend. My buddy and the Porsche Club he's in are having an autocross event there, and I'm bringing the Cobra. Back to the 03 Cobra...... I've heard and read about the problems that ppl are having but none of them have surfaced on my car. No vibration ( I researched the problem by taking the car to 130 on I-95 just to make sure) , no leaks (mines a vert), no pulling to the right (just the normal road following that a 275 tire makes) So all in all I couldn't be happier. It's too bad that all the car's couldn't have been this good but it is still a Mustang no matter how you slice it. And I have had a couple bad Fords in my time. I have a great relationship with the Ford service dept I use so that helps alot too. I wouldn't worry about it, just be aware of these things if you test drive one, and you should be ok. My 2 centz.

gary

 

[92LX5.0]

Yeah, I read the forum also. I told my sales person today, when I test drive it, I need to do atleast 80. He said no problem. My car is being built Aug 5th :beer:

 

[Fred G]

Jim,
I had the same problem with mine. The minute I pulled out of the dealership I felt it. Actually I felt (heard) a resonance begin around 45 MPH or so and by the time I hit 80, the rear view mirror was shaking so badly, I could not see out of it. I brought it back the next day and they overnight-ordered a new drive shaft that definitely solved about 90 % of the problem. I posted this on the BON and we all felt that there was still obviously something with the drive shaft, whether it be indexing or electronic balancing. Joe Lynch describes the indexing procedure, which I probably would have done, rather than go back to he dealer, but he also mentioned that there isn’t a vibration out there that Ford Driveline Specialist Bill Franco couldn’t fix. Based on this, I requested (through my dealer) to have the factory rep call me, which he did do. When I described the problem, and I mentioned the indexing deal and Bill Franco, he said that he knows Bill and that he could fix the vibration in an hour. I could go on and on about this, but to make a long story short, he did fix it…personally…well, maybe it took 2 hours, but that was because he got interrupted a few times by other techs. He did have to index the drive shaft and actually used a meter to read vibration and resonance (I’m sure he had a lot of practice with this fix). So, I would suggest going this route, rather than letting your dealer try a lot of crap that isn’t going to work. Speak to the rep personally and ask him about indexing the drive shaft. You shouldn’t have a problem.

 

[T3 Cobra]

I also do not have any problems vin #354 Thursday 6/6/02 build.

I mean ZERO problems, except I need an oil/filter change on Friday.

:thumbsup:

:burnout:



:burnout:

 

[92LX5.0]

Fred, just curious.............. Why did you take the car knowing that it was like that. Also, thank you for telling us the outcome. Ive read about all these vibration problems but nothing on fixes.

 

[Steve Snake Driver]

No vibration in mine at 80 and I checked for it (had a 99 Cobra so I'm familiar that there was a problem).

 

[i8u]

perfect at 1270 miles.

 

[Mowgli]

Originally posted by Fred G
Jim,
I had the same problem with mine. The minute I pulled out of the dealership I felt it. Actually I felt (heard) a resonance begin around 45 MPH or so and by the time I hit 80, the rear view mirror was shaking so badly, I could not see out of it. I brought it back the next day and they overnight-ordered a new drive shaft that definitely solved about 90 % of the problem. I posted this on the BON and we all felt that there was still obviously something with the drive shaft, whether it be indexing or electronic balancing. Joe Lynch describes the indexing procedure, which I probably would have done, rather than go back to he dealer, but he also mentioned that there isn’t a vibration out there that Ford Driveline Specialist Bill Franco couldn’t fix. Based on this, I requested (through my dealer) to have the factory rep call me, which he did do. When I described the problem, and I mentioned the indexing deal and Bill Franco, he said that he knows Bill and that he could fix the vibration in an hour. I could go on and on about this, but to make a long story short, he did fix it…personally…well, maybe it took 2 hours, but that was because he got interrupted a few times by other techs. He did have to index the drive shaft and actually used a meter to read vibration and resonance (I’m sure he had a lot of practice with this fix). So, I would suggest going this route, rather than letting your dealer try a lot of crap that isn’t going to work. Speak to the rep personally and ask him about indexing the drive shaft. You shouldn’t have a problem.

This is the best advice I've heard yet.

 

[bassin247]

I have a minor vibration. The mirror definately doesn't shake violently, but when I keep change in the center console, I can hear it shaking around 80mph

I am bringing it in for "repair" tomorrow.

 

[postban]

No issues except, minor squeak from engine belts once in a while.:nono:

 

[p3pete]

For what it's worth, I've run my vert up to just over 130 (obviously on a deserted stretch of highway) with no vibrations and no pulling. I'm still not convinced I'm making 390+ hp, though. I've got to find a dyno up here in NE FL. Best of luck everyone.
Pete

 

[islandmon]

I hope all of you who have experienced problems get them resolved to your complete satisfaction. I have over 3000 miles on our car - no leaks, no bad vibes, tested to 140 mph - but if something does go wrong - isn't is great to have a full factory warranty and a company that wants to resolve all the problems their machines have. These are of course, machines and all machines and machine systems encounter problems.

 

[03vertPA]

I have noticed it at certian speeds?

 

[Mowgli]

I don't know, have you noticed it at certain speeds?

 

[Black2003Cobra]

Although not quite as violent as Fred G. describes, my car does this same thing. Vibration starts to set in at around 75-80 mph. It gets progressively worse from there. If I push the clutch in, it is still there. (I also feel a vibration in the clutch pedal.) I happend to buy my car from the same dealer as Fred G., so I can suggest my local dealer call them for advice. (My local dealer said the car seemed fine, to them. Maybe they didn't take it up to 80mph?) Sounds like I should also tell them to call Bill Franco? I could also tell them to check the TSB's for the '99/'01 vibe problem. (This local dealer is not an SVT dealer, so they probably aren't aware of this problem.) Sure wish I could take it back to the dealer I bought it from! (But they're 400 miles away!)

Fred G. - is this Bill Franco fellow the person who ended up fixing your car (after your dealer replaced the driveshaft)?

Thanks.

 

[Fred G]

Originally posted by 92LX5.0
Fred, just curious.............. Why did you take the car knowing that it was like that. Also, thank you for telling us the outcome. Ive read about all these vibration problems but nothing on fixes.

Hey 92LX5.0,
Well now, it kind of goes back to when I picked up my ‘01. The car came in on 7/13, that was a Friday the 13th …, I ran down to the dealership, to check out the car, and it was absolutely flawless. But, it being Friday the 13th and all, I decided to wait till Saturday the 14th to bring it home…..yeah, yeah I know, no flames please…..Well, needless to say, some idiot at the dealership dented the left door between when I saw the car on the 13th and picked it up on the 14th. I really don’t want get into that whole thing, but in either case, when the ‘03 looked like a go w/the 32V motor, I got an early order in, hoping to get a low serial number, which I did. The deal was when the car came in, the dealer wouldn’t put so much as a hose to the car…they would just do the NYS Inspection, and I would take it home in the wrappers. I documented every sticker and ID mark on the car, and put all that stuff in a scrapbook (sorry guys, too many years of mid-year Corvettes). I then clayed and Zaino’d the car. Since the ‘01 door damage episode, believe it or not, I’ve developed an excellent relationship with the dealer and sales staff so they would have taken my word for any hidden paint damage not found as a result of them not cleaning the car. I’d prefer to leave it at that and not say anything good or bad about the service dept, as you never know who reads these boards. Suffice to say, they just don’t understand what this is all about. And I have to say, speaking as an ex-Chevrolet service director for 20 years, the problems or successes in service start at the top and work their way down the line, as the Chevy’s I had to deal with over the past 20 years were made no better than the junk Ford is pushing out the door today, and my CSI was among the highest in the NY Zone. ANYWAY, the way I looked at it, when SN3000095 hit the ground, it was mine, no ifs ands or buts! Now, I may be a fanatic, but I’m not stupid, so don’t ask me what I would have done if there was a serious problem with the car. In this case, I immediately knew what the vibe was, so I wasn’t too upset about it. I will say, that I would NEVER, EVER, leave my car unattended at the dealership, regardless of the circumstances.

Hey, I grew up in the 60’s and either owned, drove, or raced just about every factory hot rod ever made. I will say that for the money, this SVT Cobra is probably the best all-around car I have ever driven or been lucky enough to own. It’s gonna be a round a long time.

 

[92LX5.0]

Originally posted by Mowgli
I don't know, have you noticed it at certain speeds?

:lol: lol

 

[Fred G]

Hey Black2001Cobra,
Pleased to meet you. Jim called me the day your car came in and I ran down to the dealer to see it….Your car was living proof that these cars weren’t even close to being built in VIN sequence.

Bill Franco did not work on my car. He is not a factory rep, but is a driveline and vibration analysis expert. Justin, the Ford factory rep handling the NY metro area along with the tech, did the work on my car. He told me he knew Bill, who I’m sure had a lot do with disseminating the field fix down to the factory reps. I don’t know whether or not there are any TSB’s on this, but on my first time back to the dealership, I did witness the service tech call someone at Ford who told him there was no bulletins on the issue (or at least that’s what the tech said). If you’ve got the vibe, I’d recommend asking the service manager to schedule a meeting between you and the factory rep. Anyone who’s into this, knows how to do the indexing procedure. So that’s not the main issue. The main issue is who is going to authorize the extra diagnosis time allowing the dealer to get paid for the job. You have to realize that without a meter to measure vibration and resonance, each time you move the drive shaft 90 degrees (to the yoke) you’ll need a road test…did the vibration increase, decrease, or just move to a different speed. And that basically only covers the index to the rear end. The drive shaft also has to get indexed to the output shaft of the trans. Typically the factory rep will authorize the tech’s extra time on the job. I have a feeling all regional reps know how to perform the fix, and I’m sure they all have access to one of the meters that my rep had.

 

[Black2003Cobra]

Fred G. - thanks a bunch for the advice and getting back to me. I did call the local dealer and gave them Bill Franco's name, and his position. I also told him about your car, and the dealer to call for further advice as to what was done. (I also mentioned the '99 TSBs.) Do you happen to recall Justin's last name? I would like to be able to give him his name, as well. My local dealer took all the info I've given him so far and said he'll make calls to see what he can find out. He did ask about measurement guages to look into this while it's on a rack (so they don't have to drive it 80mph). Good to know the tools are available. Hopefully, they could get Justin to come to Rochester since he's familiar with the problem.

BTW, sorry about the "built out of sequence" thing. Jim did tell me about the problem. No clue what happened there! (Not that I was exactly upset to get my car early!)

Thanks again Fred,
Eric