[98cobraconvo]

first off, Hello My names Parker, I'm 19 from wayne west virginia and I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

anyway, I just bought a 1998 svt cobra and I'm now very mad, less then 300 miles into this car I'm already replacing everything (balljoints, tie-rod ends, brakes, belt, battery, not to mention it needs struts and new shocks) my main concern right now is a coolant leak, there is coolant dripping sometimes from the bottom of the oil filter/oil cooler and sometimes it drips from the rack&pinion, I've gotten under the car and cant seem to trace this leak, its not much unless I squeeze a radiator hose, then it will drip slowly for a short period of time, I'm realy hoping this isnt a head gasket or a warped/cracked head. any input???



question number 2 is: what length rear shocks would be correct for this car? the lot I bought it off of put new shocks on and sometimes, well quite often, the rear end will bottom out. the car is lowered about 2" and if I jack it up from the chassis the rear shocks droop about a foot I'm 99.999% sure its the shocks bottoming out.


thanks for any advice

[heavy metal]

welcome to the site,enjoy!!!! the water leak,get back under it,get a friend to squeeze the hose and search,if you can not find it,let a shop do apressure check to find it.......as for the shocks,you can go to the parts house and get shorter ones,...is it the shock bottoming out or is it the bump stops?

[98cobraconvo]

yea its deffinatly the shocks because the bump stops are dirty all over, I think there would be a clean spot if they were hitting. I can get under there and squeeze the bottom hose myself but I just cant seem to find it, I'm going to try and take the oil filter off and look, seems like it comes from above and slightly behind the filter.

thanks for the welcome!!!

[NOSty Pony]

your leak is going to be the oil filter housing. the gasket can be gotten from Ford for under $12, i think. the coolant runs through the oil filter housing. not that uncommon and not hard to fix. just drain the coolant first. our 97 Cobra is lowered 2" in the rear and still has the stock shocks. go to advance and get some KYB's for a stock 98 Cobra and put them on, you will love them.

[98cobraconvo]

well I've finally had some time to look at this car and now it looks as if its the drivers side head gasket, I'm pretty bummed, this sucks, I wouldnt be that mad if it wasnt a DOHC motor, but it is, and I am.

what are some of my options here? just how bad is it to do head gaskets on these cars, I can imagine its no cup of tea and probrably way out of my capability.

I also found that the left rear spring is partially collapsed making that side of the car 7/8" lower than the right, which doesnt help with the bottoming out.


if anyone ever considers buying a car from Daves Automotive in Grayson, KY, DONT!

[98cobraconvo]

I forgot to ask, what would this car be worth in this condition? I may list it for sale if I can get enough out of it as it sits, I would probrably have to have 5 out of it, but thats likely impossible.

[98cobraconvo]

bump anybody have any advise??

[Lopez16]

Originally Posted by 98cobraconvo

bump anybody have any advise??

Hey speak to an attorney and ask about the "Lemon Law", maybe with an attorney the dealer will be persuaded to fix the car. Afriend of mine had a nightmare car purchase and when the dealer got a call from his lawyer, the dealer called him right away and fixed his car..