xxkazp3rxx

Stang - I believe the SVT plant over HotRod TV... it's a huge misconception. The bluestripe has absolutly NOTHING to do with the head fix. The heads weren't even released until 2005, so - how could the 2004's come with them, considering they were being sold in late 2003?

Stangrocka

Dont get me wrong kazp, i agree that i would believe a ford plant source before some tv show. in that video they tune car with a hypertech power programer, it asks if your cobra has the upgraded head with the blue paint. if no it does not let you tune the car. if yes it will. just to put my 2 cents in. thanks.(newbie)

xxkazp3rxx

Stang - ok, but the tv show doesn't make sense... (correct me if im wrong someone) but the cpu wouldn't have any idea that it was the head with "the fix". Its just going to view it as a head... besides I didn't have the tick, or the fix in my Cobra and it allowed me to tune my car just fine.

It's a msg board and you're suppose to be your 2 cents in, but if you know the thing was wrong - why post it? Doesn't make sense. I will say it for the last time.

The blue stripe has nothing to do with the head fix. The updated heads came out after EVERY one of the 2003-2004 Terminators and Mach 1's were built. The blue stripe means absolutly NOTHING.

CobraBob

Guys, please read the info above from xxkazp3rxx pulled from my website. It explains what the blue stripe means, or doesn't mean. Like he said, the stripe has nothing at all to do with the head being the latest design which solved the tick issue. The fact is that the redesigned heads weren't available until 01/2005. So all 2003 and 2004 Cobras are susceptible to the tick issue, but only a very small percentage have actually developed it. No factory Terminators ever got these heads.

Just a correction to what I have on my website as I have to update it. There have indeed been a few 2004 Cobras reported with 9 spark plug threads. (I've only seen a photo of ONE of these factory 9-thread heads. It's been hard to document the facts surrounding it.) So while the latest heads have 9 threads, the heads that came from the factory with the 9 threads are a different part. Just wanted to make that clear. This is a separate but related issue.

If you are concerned about your Terminator developing the tick issue, you have a few choices.
1. Do nothing and hope yours doesn't develop it, realizing that up to this point only a very small percentage of Terminators have had the tick develop.
2. Install one of the various cooling mods developed to improve coolant flow and reduce the possibility of having a heat related worn valve guide.
3. Install the latest head(s) released in 01/2005.

xxkazp3rxx

To go on about what Bob said... there were actually a couple of different 9 threaded heads developed that Ford thought had "the fix" but they also developed the tick.