Hi everyone,

I have a 96 Cobra, and I just bought it. When I test drove it the car's Check Engine Light (CEL) light wasn't on, but the battery was disconnected, which will reset the computer to trun off the CEL light. However, the next day when I picked the car up, I was on the PA Turn Pike when the CEL came on. After not doing anything about the light, I was on 202 about two days later when I was getting off at the Paoli exit and went to downshift. Suddenly I lost all power in the car, I look down and the RPM's are at 0, the car has just shut off! After pulling the car over without power steering and brakes, and just missing a wall, I notice the temp gauge is all the way up, but the car doesn't seem as though its over-heating (no steam or anything), but I could be wrong. After about 10 minutes I am able to start the car and get it to the gas station just past the exit ramp, but it shuts off once again, and I am now aimed at a gas pump! (The car seems to be a attracted to anything that will cause a lot of harm to me, trucks, walls, gas pumps, etc.)

I bought the car without the inspection stickers on it yet, because on the day I picked it up they claimed the emissions system was down, or some bull**** like that. At the time, my mom and I didn't think much of it. This happens to be my saving grace, because they are now paying for everything that is wrong with the car. At least so I hope, it wouldn't surprise me if they threw a curve ball at me and charged me thousands of dollars for it.

I had the people hook a diagnostic computer up to the car, and it came up with 3 codes (engine coolant temp., oxygen sensor, and fuel sensor circuit). Oh, and I forgot to mention the gas leak on the first day when I pumped gas into the tank... All of these happen to be things that would fail the car for the emissions part of the inspection. Now things seem to be a little suspicious. I later have the car towed up to the dealer where I bought the car from, and tell them the problems I have had! They admitted to knowing about the oxygen sensor on the car, which pissed me off even more than I already was!

Now my question is... I know that you can reset the computer to have the check engine light turn off, like disconnecting the battery, but does anyone know how to make the light come back on? Like can I just turn the car on and leave it running for about 10 minutes or so, or drive it about 10 miles to reset it? I plan on having someone from the dealer drive it, with me in the passenger seat, so that if the light comes back on they can't say it's something I'm doing wrong. I need to know how long of a test ride I need to sit in the same car with these ******.

I'm 18 and unfortunately learning things the hard way at this point. Of the 8 days I have now owned the car, for 6 of them the car has been at some sort of shop. Does anyone know of any legal things I can get these people in? Like falsly advertising the condition of the car? I've also found out the car was in a rear end accident from a local body shop around me, this was not listed on the carfax report. Once again, learning the hard way.

 

Sorry to hear about all of that. Most of us, at some point or another, have learned the same lesson the hard way as well... I think that you will still have a pretty killer car after the repairs, which don’t sound to be all that major (under 1,000 dollars). As long as the car is strait and the body work was well done, I wouldn't stress over it having gotten hit in the rear... Where did you buy the car? Dealer or small lot? If they sold the car "as is" you are not in good position. But, as it is really dirty business to have misleadingly represented the car, they should be willing to make things right. You always have the Better Business Bureau. It may not be that much, but you can get the word out there about their practices other ways as well, which should hurt their business and may steer others away from being taken by them.

 

Yeah sorry to hear of all the problems too... You most definitely have an awesome platform to work with when it comes to power... after you work through the problems you'll be VERY happy... the heads on that stang are one of the best for supercharging.

No, there is no way to bring the codes back after the computer has been reset. The only way is to drive and let them come back on their own.

For now, start fixing things while you can... if you have the patience and want to save a heap of cash, do the repairs yourself. Buy a Chilton's manual (NOT Haynes... The Haynes manual isn't even worth the paper it is printed on) or some other service manual... the higher level the manual the better (but the more it will cost). If you don't mind spending a touch over $100 for one, go to a Ford dealership and see if you can get the offical Ford service manual from them... that'll be by far the best, most comprehensive, and accurate. Sure, it's a high expense to start with, but you are going to learn a LOT doing the repairs yourself.

As for your current problems, let's see...

Start by checking the engine coolant temperature sensor, be sure it is plugged in and if it is, buy a replacement and see if that fixes that code. That should also make your engine coolant temperature read correct again... If your temperature is still going too high when driving around, the thermostat will need to be replaced. Both of these are easy fixes and the parts will not be expensive. With a manual guiding you, you will be able to correct both of these without any problems.

The fuel pressure code will need some more explaination, find out exactly what the code was (the number, and the name) and write it down and post it here again. It's probably a bad sensor, but there's many things that could be wrong.

Because of the fuel pressure code, ignore the oxygen sensor code. Unless the O2 sensor code said something about the heating wire circuit being bad, ignore it. The code was PROBABLY Rich/Lean on bank 1 or something... could be caused by an error in the fuel system.

I'm only 19 at this point, when I got my stang I knew next to nothing about automotive things (I mean next to absolutely nothing), and in one year's time I now consider myself adept and would be 100% comfortable pulling my engine to rebuild it myself, something most won't consider. If you have the curiosity and the desire to learn, it'll come very fast. Throw a little logic on top and it'll all be clear in a hurry

 

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm still waiting for the call from the dealer saying the car is finally done. They've only had it since Saturday, and the more I call them the more I can tell they don't want to speak with me (they've gotten to the point where they screen their calls and leave me on hold for a while). I have thought about reporting them to the BBB, but only if they make me pay for the repairs. I realize it's not a big hit, but it's still something against their record.

The dealer is called Autostrada, and they're located in Bensalem, PA. My car is small time **** compaired to the cars they normally deal with (mostly high end, BMW's, Mercedes, Porsche's, Vettes, Vipers, etc.). Most poeple going in there can buy and sell me, but I think its just the principle. The fact that they knew these things were wrong, and had no problem handing me the keys, thats what gets me. I did, unfortunately buy the car as is, which sucks, but I didn't think it would be worth spending the money on a warranty that most likely wouldn't do me much good. If only I knew then what I know now, but in my defense, I didn't expect this much to go wrong within the first few days.

I do plan on getting myself well aquainted with the engine bay. I plan on doing loads of work on it probably after winter. Hopefully any future problems can be handled by me. Oh, I was told what the codes were, but I have a really bad memory, so... All I know is what was already posted. Thanks again.

BTW, ShadowDrake, thats a really nice GT for sale. Probably one of the cleanest cars inside and out. Good luck with the sale, I only wish I had a few extra bucks, so I could buy it.