P.S.I.cho

im looking into the 03/04 cobras i found one im intrested in its a 03 sonic blue coupe, with lots of extras, KB 2.2 @15 psi, suspension mods, anderson PMS piggyback, 8.8 solid rear axle, exhaust, tuned @ 500 rwhp...how ever this one has the head tic and ive called 2 ford dealears and they have never heard of such problem! i know there is a TSB on it cause i have read the TSB off of shopkey, my question is whats the typical cost to fix the tick, and how to prevent it, ive heard several things about heat in the left rear cylinder. anything else i need to look for in this car other then the tick? common problems or not so common etc..

JASPERSVT

I've heard cooling mods will help.

P.S.I.cho

i have heard this also, but im worried about the head tick, if its going to cost me $2500 to get the head fixed im already spending about $24,000 for the car i dont really want to spend too much more money :S

01lightning

I have just brought home an 03 with 20k on the clock, and no head tic as of yet. Before I purchased the car I ask for some insight on this issue, (I was worried as well, at 26grand). I got lots of info from other owners on this sight and have come to the conclusion that it is what it is. Don't drive it like you stole it, and insure you have got a safe tune on the car. Other than that, cooling helps if you want to take the time to install the kit. Good luck.

SVTeeshirt

noooo... why would you buy a car with a head tick? also, alot of extras is a complete turnoff for me when looking for a performance car... that usually means its been driven hard... i'd look for a completely stock one.. without a head tick.

oh and the head tick usually results from too much heat... therefore cooling mods FTW...

xxkazp3rxx

If the car has the head tick, that means the driver exposed it for a long run building up some heat..

I wouldn't touch that car with a 10 ft pole... well maybe for 15k... as far as im concerned it'd be no better or worse if it was a salvage car...

CobraBob

The head tick won't cause any motor damage. It's more of an annoyance. There are Cobras on the road with over 100K miles that have had the tick issue for many of those miles. Here is some info on the tick issue from my website. http://stangshiftergaskets.com/2003_...m#_Toc35092459

The new heads are not cheap, but they do offer a guarantee that you'll never get the issue again. And, as a side benefit you'll get additional spark plug threads (9 vs. 4).

If you are sure that this car has the tick issue, the seller should reduce the price by at last $4K. But expect a dealer to play dumb since they don't want to do that. I would never pay $24K for a Terminator than has the tick issue unless it is otherwise in exception condition with less than 12K miles on the clock. Remember that the tick issue is mainly an annoyance. I know guys who race their Terminator (with tick) all the time. But I certainly wouldn't want to have to listen to it.

Best of luck with your decision, although based on your other thread it sounds like you've already bought this car for $24K.