I got a 2003 Cobra with the usual bolt-ons. Smaller supercharger pulley, FIPK cold air kit, magnaflow catback, and a few others. Anyways, went to start my car the other day, and it made the usual sound a car makes when it has a dead battery. So i bought a new battery, and i thought the problem was solved. Nope. Was driving home, gave the car some gas, and it started chugging when i barely touched the pedal. Got it home and nothing. It's probably the alternator, but what gets me is the car only has 38,000 on the clock and its only 5 years old. I dont have an aftermarket stereo and none of the mods that i've done would require more juice. Has anybody had to replace their alternator at such low mileage? I had the alternator checked and the device said it was good, just had to replace the battery because it was the original battery that came in the car from the factory. Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated!!
Always make note of where your guages are positioned on a regular basis when there are no problems, this would'v helped you diagnose a bad alternator or charging problem...if your volt guage showed a steady decline in charging rate (and they usually do) that would'v tipped you off.
well, the 03-04 Cobras dont have a voltage gauge. The boost gauge is in the place where the voltage gauge is on 99-04 V6's and GT's. So it was kinda hard to keep an eye on my voltage when i dont have a guage to read.
I got a 2003 Cobra with the usual bolt-ons. Smaller supercharger pulley, FIPK cold air kit, magnaflow catback, and a few others. Anyways, went to start my car the other day, and it made the usual sound a car makes when it has a dead battery. So i bought a new battery, and i thought the problem was solved. Nope. Was driving home, gave the car some gas, and it started chugging when i barely touched the pedal. Got it home and nothing. It's probably the alternator, but what gets me is the car only has 38,000 on the clock and its only 5 years old. I dont have an aftermarket stereo and none of the mods that i've done would require more juice. Has anybody had to replace their alternator at such low mileage? I had the alternator checked and the device said it was good, just had to replace the battery because it was the original battery that came in the car from the factory. Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated!!
I've seen (and sold) quite a few alternators for 03/04 Cobras mileage has noting to-do wth it, more of age thing and something else to look at, is some 03/04 Cobra owners remove the inserts in the hood and that allows water to get into the COPS and Alt, causing them to short-out.....and last, please Do Not buy some aftermarket parts store crap, only buy oem Ford......
So, new battery and alt. checks good. Was it checked with a load on it? Have you pulled a plug and looked at it. Change fuel filter? Got to be something simple, hopefully. Good luck and let us know.
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2003 SVT Cobra vert. Tourch Red 458 rwhp at 474 rwtq. mods 2.810 pulley, steeda cold air, cat back - flowmaster exhaust, sct tune, 15.8 boost, boost overlay.
yea your right, sorry. hope he lets us know what he finds wrong. least you got some humor from it. thanks for correcting me. trying to give him other ideas sence alt and bat. checked out good.
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2003 SVT Cobra vert. Tourch Red 458 rwhp at 474 rwtq. mods 2.810 pulley, steeda cold air, cat back - flowmaster exhaust, sct tune, 15.8 boost, boost overlay.
I see that u are running aftermarket pullys on ur setup.. I'm pretty sure what ur running into is a wrong size pully. When you have a bigger lower pully,, you have to replace your altranator pully as well. Now that you are overdriving your blower,, ur doing the same to your altranator too, which is very dangerous for your engin. Ford made our alt to only turn a certin rpm, and now that u are turning it way faster than it was made for, u are getting a "blip" in your voltage, which makes your ecu go nuts. And if your running a boost a pump you will lose power to it and face certain detenation down the road. Call ur local shop and get them to get the correct pully ratio for the crank and altranator and u should be good. One good way to tell is at wot at nighttime and your headlight drastically dim. That's bad news. If u need any further help feel free to e mail me at- cobra_03svt@yahoo.com .
Ryan.
oh yea, also make sure u get another alt,, because yours is prob toast. Spending a few dollars here and there will pay off in the end. Also u can never go wrong with a wideband and volt meter. Could save u a $6000 motor build......
2003 Cobra Mustang Charging problem? 
mileage has noting to-do wth it, more of age thing and something else to look at, is some 03/04 Cobra owners remove the inserts in the hood and that allows water to get into the COPS and Alt, causing them to short-out.....and last, please Do Not buy some aftermarket parts store crap, only buy oem Ford......
