98 Cobra Driving After A Few Years. Need Help.

ejnama

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Jun 11, 2014
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So i got my 98 Cobra back on the road again after a couple years of the occasional start here and there. I ended up having to replace the thermostat a couple months ago due to over heating. I had a hell of a time getting the system burped using the crossover pipe. Its sucks having to do it that way. I had left the coolant as full as I could and gave it up for a couple months again. When i went back to work on it again it wouldn't start. had to replace the fuel pump and now its running. Got the coolant figured out and get it out on the road. I drove it about 2 blocks with no problem and parked it for a couple hours. I went back to it to drive it home and it was driving like the clutch was going out. I had to rev it up to 3000 to get it to move and it would jerk like crazy threw 1st and 2nd. I drove it home about 5 miles and parked it in my driveway. On the way it was very hard to drive with it wanting to lunge and jerk a lot. I got it home and parked in the driveway. An hour later I went out to check it out and started it up put it in first and it drove normal. I took it for a trip around the block and it was fine. The check engine light was not on for the 5 mile drive home and drove like crap. On the trip around the block the check engine light was on and it drove fine. I know this was long winded. I just wanted to be as descriptive as possible. Has anyone had an issue like this. any ideas whats going on? Any ideas of what I should look in to?
 
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I thought about getting the code for you guys after I posted. Kinda a big detail to skip on. I'm wondering if I am having a misfire on one of my coils or maybe I need to clean the mass air flow sensor. Ill get it read tomorrow as long as I can get it to town without it going nuts on me. I want to get a scanner but they cost a lot.
 
Got home and did some testing. I had 12.3 on the battery with the car off and 14.1 with the car on.
I decided to go ahead and take it around the block and had the same shifting problem as before. Had to rev it to 3000 to get it to not die and the check engine light was on. I shut it off and started it back up a couple seconds later and it shifted fine. I will get the code read as soon as I can. I have to take my truck to town to get a new stove and cant do that with the car. I will try to get it out there tomorrow but don't know about time with first job then second.
 
The code was for the Mass air sensor. It's nasty. I got some cleaner to spray it down with tonight. I have the battery unhooked right now to clear the check engine light. if all is well after the cleaning and reset I will start holding on to money to do a tune up.

Im looking at MSD Coils and wires. What spark plugs are good for this car.
I also have some squeaking pulleys up front. Any suggestions on getting that taken care of?
Also the cars in need of some breaks so I will have to get that taken care of before I take the car out on daily adventures.
What else should I look at replacing on the car since it sat for so long?
 
Stick with Ford wires and the stock coils, pulleys you will hear positives and negatives on stock vs aftermarket so I cannot tell you which way is best here. Brakes I would go with Hawk pads and rotor pro rotors. I'm guessing you now have new fuel in it? I would check all the fluids though and see which ones needed to be changed and go from there for minor things until you see if any other issues pop up.
 
I got the oil changed right before the pump died. It is installed and running. Cleaned out the MAF and its running pretty good. I need to replace the idler and that will get the motor sound other then the plugs wires and coils to tune it up. I will try to get the wife to let me get the break parts tomorrow.
 
It was the MAF. I have a K&N and it was nasty after sitting so long. Im not to sure how the MAF got so nasty but i got it cleaned up and it runs like a champ now. I have the breaks all torn apart now. They were rusted in place. took a few hours to get them all off of the car and on the bench. Gonna give them a good scrubbing and replace all the rubber on the pistons. Thanks for all the help guys.
 
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