Finally bought a Cobra, now some questions

Apr 14, 2003
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I bought a 98 Cobra with an S-Trim and a mixture of MM and Kenny Brown suspension and chassis parts. It's quick and it's fun to drive.

How much oil does this thing take? The owner said the Vortech uses the engine oil, so do I need to add more when I do an oil change?

What plugs do I use and what do I gap them at?

If I do a COP conversion, will I need to be retuned at all? I would do this for cosmetic purposes only, I'm not looking for more power.
 
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I believe the owners manual for our 97 Cobra says it takes 6 quarts with filter change. I can't say for sure if you need to add more for the supercharger or not.

Why would you want to eliminate the dual coils for a coil on plug setup? I really to not care for COP
at all.

These are the spark plugs we run in ours. Motorcraft SP432 (ACF-SP432)

http://www.summitracing.com/search/.../Brand/Motorcraft/Submodel/COBRA/?Ns=Rank|Asc
 
I've had a few 4.6s and they usually take 6 quarts, but I wasn't sure with the supercharger. I thought it might need a little more oil.

I'd like to switch to COP because it looks cleaner and you don't have to replace spark plug wires. I've never had a COP fail.

I thought I read somewhere once that with a supercharger, you don't want platinum plugs?
 
^ Generally speaking, platinum plugs are more friendly for extended "change intervals" and most guys still like the tried and true copper plugs for performance. Copper means you'll have to change them a little sooner than a platinum plug, but if you're a gearhead who wrenches a lot that's usually not an issue.

I'm not sold on the fancy high dollar Iridium (or other precious metal style plugs) due to their high cost ratio - that's money that could be better spent elsewhere IMHO if looking at cost-per-performance. But, if you have a lot of disposable income and feel the need for "high end" sparkplugs, go ahead and purchase them.


Not sure about number of quarts of oil for your supercharger application. The owner's manual should call for 6 quarts naturally aspirated. Might want to check the Vortech website to see if you can find any literature regarding the oil issue when running their superchargers or maybe contact their tech support. :shrug:


You could also monitor the oil level (preferably right after an oil change, so you have a "known" starting value) to see where 6 quarts "rates" at on the dipstick (assuming the dipstick reads accurately). For example, if the dipstick is reading "low" after 6 quarts are added after the car has been sitting for awhile, then you can safely add another quart or so and have a better feel for the number of quarts to use.


If possible, try to contact the previous owner for more info about the tune and sparkplugs if you can. They might have been running one range "colder" of a sparkplug possibly. Pulling a few of the plugs currently installed should give you a good clue as to what to run (re-check the gap) as well.

If you want to be really safe and thorough, take the car to your own dyno tuner if you want to get everything "just right."


G'luck :cheers:
 
I have seen COP failures on Mustangs, Crown Vics, Town Cars, and trucks. I want nothing to do with it. I have seen it were just after one was replaced another fails. These were mostly on 100,000 miles vehicles, but still. I see it as a hassle and don't like them.
 
Just wondering why having a supercharger would change how much oil is needed during an oil change. I see how it increases the amount during install. It seems to me that once filled, the same amount of oil is in the supercharger itself. So during an oil change, the PAN is being drained and refilled. That amount of oil remains the same.