COP Cover leaking help.
 

Good afternoon everyone,

Need some advice on my 2000 GT Convertible equipped with a 2003 Mach 1 engine with a Mach 1 hood and scoop, I keep getting water, not antifreeze in the spark plug channel, I’ve put quite a bit of RV black on the underside of the COP cover, around the outside edges and around the COP cable that goes through the side, any other suggestions would be great.

Thanks.

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

How long does it take for the water to accumulate? If it fills up fast there may not be an adequate seal from the shaker to the hood letting in rain (that is if you drive it in the rain). I'd check the rubber shaker surround where it meets the hood, get new coil cover gaskets and if you want you can use a little rtv where the harness goes through. Those things done and there's no reason water should get back inside there.

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

ya, sounds like it's time to clean everything up.

1) as mentioned make sure the shaker setup is sealing against the hood - the water the accumulates should go out through the drain in the driver side front corner of the assembly. There should be a hose connected there that runs down the front/side of the motor and under the car. There should be a second hose the drain of the metal shaker assembly itself, it runs with the other hose

2) replace the coil cover gaskets

3) in a factory car the coil harness has rubber gasket on it that plugs the round opening where the harness passes through

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

Good point on the drain hoses. Whoever did the swap could have easily forgotten to connect those to the shaker.

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

Good morning,

Okay, a few years ago I put my own hoses to drain the shaker seal when trying to address this problem. Now as far as the shaker seal not sealing the shaker opening, how can I know? Is there a larger gap between the seal and hood? I’ve read on this forum about putting spacers where the shaker attaches to the upper manifold, what’s the difference in inches or less we’re talking about? Should I buy a new shaker seal? Thanks for any responses.

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

I would just try to see if its making contact with the underside of the hood. if you pour water into that tray around the shaker - does it run off one/both sides or does it hold it? Its probably a little difficult to check.

are you getting water in one side or both?

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

Now that you've made a signature I see you've got an aftermarket k member. I bet it's got the engine lower than it would be from stock and it's not sealing. Depending on how low it is, an intake manifold spacer or just some spacers for the shaker itself might be enough to make it seal.

Take some pieces of tin foil and use them to see if it's making contact.

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

Good morning

I never thought of the aftermarket K member affecting the shaker height, makes perfect sense though, great I’ll use your tin foil test and see what happens, you think washers from a hardware store would suffice as spacers? Thanks for any responses.

The way I checked mine was I put a bright flashlight in my engine bay and closed the hood. I did this in the garage with the lights off. I was able to see where it wasn’t touching then plastic trim piece on the underside of the hood. Mines not touching in quite a few areas. In my case, it seems like the shaker seal has drooped downward from having the hood closed and being old of course. I wish I would have bought a shaker seal when I bought my Mach in 2012. There we’re several new ones still for sale on eBay at that time.

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

There's a number of things you could use to make up that space. I don't personally like the idea of stacking a bunch of thin washers, so I would try to use the thickest ones I could find if going that route. Longer bolts may be needed also.

There's two small ridges on the shaker seal, one on each side about halfway up the shaker. With the hood closed all the way, try to get those ridges to almost make contact with the hood. (I guess I could've just said that instead of testing with foil.) Forgive me I'm still waking up..

Re: COP Cover leaking help.
 

Good evening,

Good advice and ideas everyone, I guarantee you all I’ll try all of them the next couple weeks before I go back to school, time to transition back to a civilian job lol , I’ll update what works for my situation, thanks greatly with your experience.