Yesterday my '04 Cobra stalled out on me several times and then finally would start but idle at 500rpm and die as soon as I touched the gas pedal. I was about 20 miles from home so I went to the nearest Ford dealership. They had the car towed there and got it looked at today.
The first problem is that they're waiting to hear back from Ford if they can even work on the car, since they are not an SVT dealership. They did the diagnostic work and concluded that it is the fuel pump, which is what I expected. So since they already know what it is, and it's a pretty standard repair, I'm hoping Ford will authorize the work.
The second problem is that the car has a different pulley on it and an aftermarket tune. (According to the previous owner, the tune was done by Ed at Running with the Devil.) Had this problem occurred closer to home, I would have just had the car towed home and switched it back to stock, but I am under the hope that since I don't think there is any way they can blame the fuel pump failing on the pulley or tune, I just had the car towed to the nearest dealership. Do you think there is any way Ford can refuse to replace the fuel pump under warranty because of the mods?
The third problem is that the dealership said that their diagnostic equipment cannot communicate with the ECU, and that means that it has been chipped. This is the part that I am not the least bit clear on. When a car has a custom tune done for it, how is the tune actually inputted into the car? Does the tuner hook up something like a Diablo Predator to the car and just change the settings (fuel, ignition, etc) in the stock ECU, or is there some sort of more permanent change made to the ECU? I have a hard time believing that a custom tune could cause the ECU to not communicate with diagnostic equipment.
Along the same lines, the dealership said that the car should have given a Check Engine light for low fuel pressure. It didn't do that--no warning lights at all went on. Is a custom tune or a chip something that would disable the car's self-diagnostics?
On a side note, I had the car worked on at a different non-Ford dealership earlier in the day to fix a coolant leak (I was driving to a client's office and the temp gauge started getting near the red zone so I pulled into the dealership that I was driving past) and mentioned that. So when I called for an update this morning, the dealer told me that I should have called Roadside Assistance, and that I'd have to pay $55 for the tow. Apparently they assumed that the car wasn't under warranty (I don't know why you would assume that about an '04--a car that's less than three years old) and called their regular tow guy, and not the "free to warranty" tow people. This is my first car that still has a warranty and the first time I've ever had to have warranty work done, so I had no idea who to call. Anyway, if they get my car fixed under warranty, I'll go along with them and pay the tow fee; otherwise I'm going to refuse.
So right now I'm waiting for the dealership to tell me what Ford has to say. Please give me your input so I can be informed about what's going on.
The first problem is that they're waiting to hear back from Ford if they can even work on the car, since they are not an SVT dealership. They did the diagnostic work and concluded that it is the fuel pump, which is what I expected. So since they already know what it is, and it's a pretty standard repair, I'm hoping Ford will authorize the work.
The second problem is that the car has a different pulley on it and an aftermarket tune. (According to the previous owner, the tune was done by Ed at Running with the Devil.) Had this problem occurred closer to home, I would have just had the car towed home and switched it back to stock, but I am under the hope that since I don't think there is any way they can blame the fuel pump failing on the pulley or tune, I just had the car towed to the nearest dealership. Do you think there is any way Ford can refuse to replace the fuel pump under warranty because of the mods?
The third problem is that the dealership said that their diagnostic equipment cannot communicate with the ECU, and that means that it has been chipped. This is the part that I am not the least bit clear on. When a car has a custom tune done for it, how is the tune actually inputted into the car? Does the tuner hook up something like a Diablo Predator to the car and just change the settings (fuel, ignition, etc) in the stock ECU, or is there some sort of more permanent change made to the ECU? I have a hard time believing that a custom tune could cause the ECU to not communicate with diagnostic equipment.
Along the same lines, the dealership said that the car should have given a Check Engine light for low fuel pressure. It didn't do that--no warning lights at all went on. Is a custom tune or a chip something that would disable the car's self-diagnostics?
On a side note, I had the car worked on at a different non-Ford dealership earlier in the day to fix a coolant leak (I was driving to a client's office and the temp gauge started getting near the red zone so I pulled into the dealership that I was driving past) and mentioned that. So when I called for an update this morning, the dealer told me that I should have called Roadside Assistance, and that I'd have to pay $55 for the tow. Apparently they assumed that the car wasn't under warranty (I don't know why you would assume that about an '04--a car that's less than three years old) and called their regular tow guy, and not the "free to warranty" tow people. This is my first car that still has a warranty and the first time I've ever had to have warranty work done, so I had no idea who to call. Anyway, if they get my car fixed under warranty, I'll go along with them and pay the tow fee; otherwise I'm going to refuse.
So right now I'm waiting for the dealership to tell me what Ford has to say. Please give me your input so I can be informed about what's going on.
I do know for a fact they are not just on or off.
