new to forum... cobra questions..

[CobraCommandr]

hello guys...

so i just picked up a 1996 cobra this weekend with 50k miles on it. needless to say.. a car with that many miles at this age has been sitting for awhile. i actually drove the car from LA to SF with no problems outside of a check engine light throwing a P0340 error and rough acceleration.

my questions are.. for a car that was sitting for over 5 years... what are some of the things i need to worry about? the car is completely stock and i want to make sure that i take all the necessary precautions before i start enjoying it. where should i start on this car. i would like to keep it stock for now and get it running 100% before i start doing anything crazy.

thanks

 

[FastDriver]

Just do the basic tune-up stuff (fuel/air/oil filters, plugs, wires, cap & rotor, etc...), and don't start hauling ass on potentially flat-spotted or out-of-round tires.

Other than that, I don't think that a car sitting in storage for 5 years is really that negative a thing. It's always a good idea to crank the oil pump over with a drill and send some lube throughout the rotating assembly first, but that's true of a car that sat for 2 months or 5 years.

 

[Lugnuts]

Basic tune up stuff is a good start but I would want to know more about how it was stored. Was it stored indoors/outdoors, fuel in the system (was it stabilized), was it cranked periodically, etc. How it was stored will determine what things are more important to check. A quick once over on hoses, lines, wires and plugs is not a bad idea.
By the way. let me know if you find a cap and rotor or turn the pump with a drill.. This would be exciting with a DOHC 4.6.
It is obviously past this point but I would spray a small amount of oil in the cylinders and crank it over without fuel or spark to prime the oil system. Then fire it.

 

[FastDriver]

lol, thanks lugnuts... Wrong section...thinking pushrod motors

 

[CobraCommandr]

awesome.. thanks for the advice.. going to do a tune up this weekend. wires, plugs to start.

 

[Lugnuts]

It has been sitting so check all the normal stuff - belt, coolant, etc as well as just a normal tune up. Then go enjoy the car!