mikeg

Hi this is my first post. I own a 02 281e. Bought it brand new in 02. Have had a ton of problems, nothing worse than the most recent. I rarely drive the car. Last week it i noticed a hesitation. Turned out its was misfiring. I pulled the plugs (What a PITA) and there white and junk (looks like burnt coolant). Im still getting the misfire so im going to do the fuel filter tommorow. At the dealer at the last oil change they said the intercooler is leaking. i noticed the resivior a little low. It always smells like burning coolant and its on its second radiator. No visible leaks.Gauge is reading ok. Anyone have intercooler problems??im gonna check the water pump and raditaor tommorw.The oil is also doing a disappearing act too. No blue smoke but oil is disapeearing, no leaks, pan looks dry, seals look no. The car has been through 2 alternators,1 raditaor, clutch, hubs, set of tires, and now needs brakes all round. Mileage is at 18k!!! Anyone with any info is appeciated. Like i said im gonna run through the car tommmorow but if anyone has gone through this and can help letme know. Also anyone know where i can get brake pads, rotors online???thanks

BLOWN281

I HAVE AN 04 NOT AN E CAR JUST A REGULAR S/C CAR.I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH MINE TOO.FROM THE DAY I BOUGHT IT I SMELT ANTIFREEZE.IT TURNS OUT THAT THE LINES WERE LEAKING,THEN A YEAR LATER I SMELT IT AGAIN.LAST MONTH THE INTERCOOLER PUMP TOOK A ****.THAT WAS THE SMELL.IT WAS LEAKING.SO I WOULD SAY CHECK THAT.ALSO CHECK THE CAP ON THE BOTTLE.THEY ARE KNOWN TO LEAK ALSO.I HAVE 15,000 MILES ON MY CAR.IT'S BEEN THROUGH 4 SETS OF WHEELS,6 BELTS,TIRES ALL AROUND,AND JUST A TON OF OTHER STUFF.SO DON'T FEEL BAD.GOOD LUCK

mikeg

that sounds just like me. i smelt coolant from day one. Then i blew a coolant hose off. After the dealer replaced i always smelt coolant and sometimes it would smoke. never overheated. Insted of the dealer trying to figure out whats going on they just kept throwing parts at it. I'm going in the garage now to check the ic pump. Another question is there any forums out there deicated to saleens with info and such??? Thanks again

BLOWN281

THIS IS PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY FORUM THAT I HAVE FOUND THAT HAS IT'S OWN SALEEN FORUM,BUT IF YOU FIND ONE PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

tinosc281

stangnet.com has it's saleen forum also speedworx.com also i believe

mikeg

ok so i changed the plugs and fuel filter. i noticed there was rust in the filter. STILL misfiring. Anyone have ANY ideas. Also where is the ic pump. Im almost ready to sell it .

ExtremeSaleen

Oh, man do I feel your pain. I just went thru an engine rebuild on my car due to very similar problems. I think I have the answer for you (which you might not want to hear) but I have a question first. Does your car sound like a diesel while cold and then get quiet once warm? Or does it pretty much always sound like a diesel? Another question, do you notice the car pinging?

BLOWN281

THE INTERCOOLER PUMP IS LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE FRAME RAIL BEHIND THE BUMPER.IF YOU HAD A FENDER WELL COLD AIR KIT,IT WOULD BE RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU.

ExtremeSaleen

Here is the answer to my problem and it sounds like yours as well.

If you car sounds the same when hot as it does cold, meaning the diesel type sound, then you have the exact same problem. That noise is most likely piston slap. Maybe in a good E motor its just the noisy Arias pistons used, but when the sound continues its a problem with piston to wall clearance. The oil you are losing is getting past the rings and into the cylinders, causing the octane level of the mixture to drop. This causes misfiring and pinging. Overtime the problem will get worse and could cause serious damage. I decided to bite the bullet and tear it down before it got to that point. I replaced the arias pistons Saleen used with Mahle, the same pistons used in the cobra. They are quiet and slightly lower in compression, which will allow me to run more boost.

I have a vacuum or exhaust leak somewhere right now, but I got in the car the other day for the first time after 500 miles of break in and it hit so hard under boost that it hurt my lower back. No joke. If you want the car right, tearing it down is probably the only real choice. Then you can improve on it if you want, as I did.

Hope this helps.

S281 E

Extreme Saleen would you recommend changing all the forged internals from Saleen to Mahle? I purchased a new 06 extreme and have read quite a few post where people have changed out their forged internals to mahle.