I know this guy that has a 1996 Cobra for sale.. I was planning on trading him my 98 GT for his car. He told me the car needs a intake gasket.. Well, here is the story of what he said. "Ran good, then noticed water coming out of the exhaust, So i pulled the intake and there was water everywhere and the gaskets were rotten and cracked. the upper gasket looked fine, I thought It was the headgasket till we did a compression check and they were about the same on every cylinder." I asked him if it was skipping or over heating, he said "Nothing just water everywhere it ran perfect, i drained the water and oil and just put oil in and it fired up fine sounded fine and then i cut it off."
He also said that its the lower gaskets that sit on the imrc butterflies.

Any opinions? I think its a head gasket and he is trying to trick me.. But Im dumb when it comes to motors. lol

 

If it smells fishy, leave it for the cats!! Walk away!!

 

I agree, why would someone want to trade a cobra for a gt if there wasn't something wrong with it?

 

Guy said he lost his job, has 2 kids, and needs a car that runs and is reliable.. It more than likely has a blown headgasket.

 

The gaskets he describes have no water running through them.

 

Check svtperformance to see if that is a problem people have on those engines.

Doesn't the lower intake manifold have coolant passages?

 

Nope, the intake manifold assembly and the IMRC plates have no coolant passages. The crossover in the front is mounted directly to the heads

 

It sounds like a head gasket, does the car run hot or overheat? Head gaskets on a 4v is not a fun job....

 

Replaced head gaskets in my car about a year ago. Wasn't cheap either

 

yeah sounds like a head gasket. very expensive job as you have to take the timing chains off to get the heads off and removal with the engine in the car is a PITA. I wouldnt make the trade unless there is trade plus cash and you know how to change the head gaskets yourself.