03-04 cobra recall

[santa_rosa_lt1]

WASHINGTON - Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday that it was recalling nearly 20,000 Mustang Cobra sports cars after receiving complaints that the back of the accelerator pedal could become caught in the floor carpeting and lead to a crash.
Ford told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in late January that it had received about 100 complaints and allegations of two crashes and one injury. The recall affects 19,140 Mustang Cobras from the 2003 and 2004 model years.
Ford said in a letter to NHTSA that the rear surface of the pedal could interfere with the carpeting during heavy throttling and make it difficult for the pedal to return to an idle position. The problem could be found in vehicles where the floor carpeting does not fit flush with the sheet metal.
Dealers are expected to install a bracket over the cutout in the carpet behind the pedal. Owners are expected to be notified of the recall in late April and will not be charged for the repair.
Last July, NHTSA opened an investigation into accelerator pedal interference in the 2003 and 2004 Mustang, and the 2003 model year of the Mustang convertible and Mustang GT.
Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said the automaker's investigation only found the issue in the Cobras because the high-performance model has a different pedal configuration than the other Mustang versions.
Ford shares fell 35 cents, or 4.6 percent, to close at $7.17 on the after sinking to a new 52-week low of $7.21 earlier in the session.

[BurnTire]

How many people had this recall done?

[Lucafu1]

i have. they did it when i got my oil changed. cant eve tell its there.

[AZTERMINATOR]

I have recieved the recall notice, have not gone to the dealer to do this work. Is this necessary.

[BurnTire]

I had my pedal get stuck under the carpet. Not fun.
I trimmed the carpet because there was not recall a year ago. I think it is a few minute fix if you get it done.

[50 BMG]

Ya +1 on Jeff.

I'd do this on my own in 5 min before I took it to a dealer...

[MinGry03]

I have not had it done but I know of someone that had it done and they place a big metal palte behind the gas pedal.

[u1arunit]

I had my buddy, a local SVT tech bring me a plate and I installed it. Took me 1 1/2 minutes to install it.

[Brakelate]

For those who might be thinking this is a B.S. deal, this is a real concern. I've had two friends that have had the throttle stuck wide open recently.

One, on the freeway during a "passing maneuver" in an '03 with 66,000 miles on it. He had never had a problem until this once, despite about 450 pulls down the dragstrip. Luckily he had the room and dislodged it with his foot.

The other, an '04 did it at the end of the drag strip on a private track day at California Speedway. She had maybe 20k on her car. Again, she was very fortunate to be in the shut-down area, but it rattled her pretty good when she pushed in the clutch and the car just kept banging off the limiter until she killed it.

Both are legitimate 11 second cars and were saved because they were quick thinking and had a little room to react to it. I would hate to be doing some canyon carving, or in tight traffic and have it stick unexpectedly.

The first trimmed it himself, the second I believe had the dealer fix it.

I guess I should heed my own warning... I haven't even looked at mine yet! :icon_redface: (though I've only had the '03 for two weeks).

[50 BMG]

(though I've only had the '03 for two weeks).

Congrats on the purchase.

When Akuma's car was bone stock this happened while I was driving it. It bounced off the limiter for 2 seconds and I shut the car off. It took us about 15 minuets to figure out what the hell was going on when the car was on the side of the road.

[BurnTire]

I just got my second notice in the mail about this recall.
Does anyone know if you can just order the part?

[Brakelate]

Great question. I was wondering the same thing.

Another friend just bought an '04 Cobra (Screaming Yellow on Chromies, 2500 mi) down in San Diego and the dealership did the recall work on it. I was curious, so I inspected it. It's a pretty minor thing; a thin black plate that goes under the pedal against the trans hump and firewall. Not sure how they get it to stick in there, but it's not obnoxious or anything.

As usual, I'm more concerned about the dealership having my car than anything else. I would be dazzled if they would just give me the part to install. But, I doubt they would just hand it over, taking into consideration the liability concerns that prompted the recall in the first place.

[BurnTire]

I cut the carpet on mine after it stuck. I would like to see the look on their faces when I roll in with the Whipple. I know if I don't get it done they will keep pestering me by mail.

[Brakelate]

It really does look like something that could be popped right in, while you stood there with them at the Service Writers station.

See, with the Whipple and all, not only am I afraid of them driving the car, but also making notes on the OASIS database that you may not appreciate later on down the road.

Perhaps I'm just paranoid, but this is coming from a guy that had his ESP warranty voided over a stinking drop-in K&N filter! :furious:

[50 BMG]

I cut the carpet on mine after it stuck. I would like to see the look on their faces when I roll in with the Whipple. I know if I don't get it done they will keep pestering me by mail.

You, Gene, Akuma, and Shaggy should roll into a dealership together for the warranty work:biggrin:

[BurnTire]

You, Gene, Akuma, and Shaggy should roll into a dealership together for the warranty work:biggrin:

That would be a site. LOL