2001 Cobra Cam Bolt Flew Out

[Aamer309]

I had my car with a tuner to fix the tune of the car on a dyno, during the dyno pull, the cam bolt flew out of the engine and broke the cover as well.

Mechanic and tuner is saying its a normal issue in Cobras, and this didn’t damage the engine. But I am afraid it damaged it.

Any thoughts guys? Is it a common problem? And does it seem it damaged the engine?

 

[Noobz347]

It’s a known failure, not a normal condition. There are documented 4V Cobra cases of cam sprocket bolts breaking or coming loose, including ’01s, but Ford treats that fastener and the timing relationship as critical. Before running it again, determine whether the bolt backed out or fractured, inspect the entire sprocket/timing assembly, verify cam timing, and compression/leakdown it. “It still runs” is not enough evidence that an interference 4V didn’t touch valves.

 

[Aamer309]

The mechanic said it’s very common in 01, 02 and 03 Cobras. He will be getting back to me later today, but he did told me they will replace all four bolts.