Asking the experts - i have a '97 cobra with 130k miles = what things should/could do to my motor to "freshen" it up to bring some of the horsepower back? What things can i do to even add more hp short of supercharging? I've already added a BBK cold air kit and flowmaster 40s. Any advice would be appreciated!
Are you talking about going into the motor and tearing it down? How do you know it's down on horsepower? Have you had it dyno'ed recently? If so, what were the numbers? Have you cleaned the IMRCs yet? If you aren't looking at digging into the motor, then cleaning your IMRCs can be helpful. Sounds like you already have a clean air filter as well - when were your sparkplugs checked/changed last? Run a search for "IMRC" in our SVT section (tech) and you should find a handful of threads that link to the PDF cleaning document - very handy for 96-98 4v motors. There's a few other bolt-ons you could probably add, but they may not add too much more power (perhaps a chip/tuner/dynotune might be in order if you are done adding mods?). BTW - if you are still running the restrictive factory H pipe (with its 4 cats), you may want to switch to an offroad midpipe and/or an aftermarket catted (2 cats) midpipe to "free up" some power in the exhaust.
You may wanna try a can of Seafoam as well as a tune-up (spark plugs, air filter, etc). Also, some good mods are LT-headers, o/r x/h-pipe, pullies and a tune.
I'm new to the mod motor but from what i've read if it's well maintained it will run hard for a long time. I'm slapping a kenne bell on mine shortly. if i were you i'd check the plugs, run a can or two of seafoam through the intake an check to make sure the cats aren't clogged.
As mentioned before, Seafoam that motor!!! Check the compression, since I believe if you're down on compression, you're down on power. Although 130k seems high, for a Mustang, they're just breaking in! I had a friend buy a 94 Cobra with 120k... Sprayed a 150 shot and ran it at the track and on the streets for years. At 180k it STILL hadn't blown/broken/knocked/smoked/anything! They can take beatings, and still come back for more!
Guys, running Seafoam won't remove the sludge that has formed up on the secondaries after 130,000 miles on his engine. It'll require a little old fashioned elbow grease. Here's the article/PDF you want OP: http://www.svtmustangcobraclub.com/media/pdfs/tech/IMRC_Cleaning.pdf Credit to the original authoer and svtmustangcobraclub website.
Thanks for the note! You're probably right about the mileage not being to high. i'm just assuming power is down. i will do the seafoam!
thanks for the note! what's the best way to run the seafoam through the intake? i'm note sure which way would be the best entry point for the intake. thanks in advance!
