1998 Ford Mustang Cobra
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
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Vehicles › Ford › Mustang Cobra › 1998
These records cover every 1998 Ford Mustang Cobra. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
Owner complaints
5 complaints1 involved a crash1 involved a fire
What owners report most
Latest complaints
- Fuel system, gasoline
Filler neck to tank gasket ripped and leaking fuel. Causes fuel to pour from the vehicle on left hand turns with full tank of fuel. high probability of an auto fire due to this condition. *tr
- Tires › Bead
On august 07, 2005 I was driving down the interstate 85 in south carolina at 65 mph. My car suddenly made an abrupt turn to the side of the road at a 45 degree angle. The cause of the accident was that the tire suddenly deflated loosing it's bead with the wheel. The tire was a nitto nt555 p255/35/18. It was mounted on a 9.5 inch genuine ford wheel.*jb
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine
Approximately the second week of may while driving on a highway a loud hissing noise occurred and an immediate loss of pressure occurred . When stopped at a light the loud noise was evident. I brought the car to my mechanic and the discovery was a spark plug had detenaded in the engine . Spark plug…
Approximately the second week of may while driving on a highway a loud hissing noise occurred and an immediate loss of pressure occurred . When stopped at a light the loud noise was evident. I brought the car to my mechanic and the discovery was a spark plug had detenaded in the engine . Spark plug wires were cooked and burnt , the threads in the engine had been stripped due to the blow out of the plug. The plug was not stripped. The only way it could be fixed was to have it recoiled , not cheap it cost me about $1800,00 in repairs and in my case it had to be done by someone who works on this particular vehicle. I have heard this problem occurring in a number of ford vehicles. This should never happen and ford needs to pay for my unnecessary repairs. *nm
- Engine and engine cooling › Engine › Gasoline
My engine started clanking noises before it even had 100,000 kilometers on it, now the engine IS toast at about 105,000 kilometers, I have been told by ford that I have spun the main bearing and will need a new engine,. This vehicle IS babied, regular oil changes with pure synthetic oil, and premium gas. *Nm
- Electrical system › Wiring
Car will not start, starter solenoid clicks. repeated attempts to start causes smoke to rise from the center console. further investigation reveals the smoke IS comming from the rubber boot where the metal parking break cable goes from the inside to the outside of the vehicle. the cable actually…
Car will not start, starter solenoid clicks. repeated attempts to start causes smoke to rise from the center console. further investigation reveals the smoke IS comming from the rubber boot where the metal parking break cable goes from the inside to the outside of the vehicle. the cable actually glows red from heat (aparent ground path for some kind of short). the starter circuit does not work but the vehicle will roll start (manual transmission). this IS second occurance of this problem. first occurance was in june of 2000 @ 14,500 miles. dealer repair notes" wiring verify compl perform no crank diag check all fuses open in cir 33 trace cir found loose pin at conn 112 repair check operation road test request actual time for elect repair tech 551" I now have 33,000 miles on vehicle, november 2004 -- fire and safety hazard - damage to parking break cable???*ak
Defect investigations
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
- Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton V-8 and V-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or…
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton V-8 and V-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi IS not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi IS aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it IS possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect IS very low.in view of the foregoing, it IS unlikely that nhtsa would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize nhtsa?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition IS denied.
Service bulletins
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
- 6092126Some vehicles may exhibit a no crank condition.
- 6092029Information on checking driveshaft run out.
- 6092002Information on checking driveshaft run out.
- 6090814Experiencing a no crank condition.
- 637787This bulletin states that some 4.6L fqr engine assemblies may have a smaller or larger knock sensor threaded hold than the one in the original engine assembly.
- 620287Some vehicles with manual transmission or with automatic transmission may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detach from the engine.
- 613762Some vehicles with a T-45 transmission may shift from 4TH to neutral (pop out) when the clutch IS released.
- 613630Some vehicles equipped with manual transmission and with automatic transmission may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detach from the engine.
- 612936Some vehicles equipped with manual transmission and with automatic transmission may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detach from the engine.
- 612717Some vehicles with manual and automatic transmissions may exhibit a front end accessory drive (fead) belt that has become broken or frayed and / or detached from the engine.
- 612305Some vehicles may exhibit a no crank condition.
- 610716Some vehicles may exhibit a vibration at highway speeds at 68 mph.
- 606995Subject pertaining to wheel balance.
- 606877Concerns with a vibration condition between 1800 - 2300 rpm.
- 606815Customer may express concerns about a vibration condition between 1800 and 2300 rpm.
Every Ford Mustang Cobra model year
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