Hello all. I am somewhat of ultimate lurker. I have been pursuing this site for years. I purchased a 2012 Kona blue Gt back in late October or early November 2011. My first Mustang. Love it!!! At any rate I have never really needed to pose much in form of questions as I decided to pay off my car before mods and to be honest I am typically a reserved person. So for the past few years I have used the site as a gues, and gained knowledge from all of you. Thank you!! I payed the Stang off about a year and a half ago and started on the suspension with a few Bmr goodies, new rims and a painted roof. I swore I would post pics, but im terrible.

At any rate, fast forward to my issue. A few weeks ago a minor noise started on the stang. It sounded like an exhaust leak and was only noticeable during acceleration. I finally decided to get it handled last week along with a paint pealing issue in my door sills (more on that also). Monday I was called and told they were digging into the motor and Wednesday I was alerted to the fact that I had a bent rod and they would be replacing my short block. Completely surprised!! My motor is 100% stock. I do understand that things happen though. I have a few questions to all.

Should I be worried about this happening again after the repair?

When I spoke with the service guy Wednesday I had a ton of questions regarding the cause of the failure (why would a rod bend?) No real answer, he said he would get back to me. Now Friday morning. I will be busy all day but will stop and talk to them tonight if I receive no call.

Is there a new warranty for my motor or short block? As my current warranty is almost up. Again no real answer, just a we will check into that. Do any of you guys know?

They mentioned my clutch was warn and could be replaced for just parts. Could it really be that bad? Have been driving stick for 15+ yrs. I asked and he just said it was worn and he was told it should be replaced. Should I just replace it anyways considering they are there? If so should I go aftermarket?

Finally if I do not receive an extended warranty for the short block, which would make absolutely no sense to me. Should I upgrade any parts before they install(ex: pistons, rods, etc)? I could supercharge in the future, but am not entirely sure yet.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

The engine's warranty is 5 years or 60,000 miles (i think). Happy to hear your dealer is working with you

 

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but I'm glad to hear you are being looked after.

As far as the clutch is concerned, 24k does seem rather premature for it to need replacement. Clearly they have it out already, so I'd request seeing the worn parts and ask to compare it with a new one. Assuming they are being genuine, I'd just replace with a stock unit for now.

 

I'm beginning to wonder if the oil pump is too weak for our vehicles.

 

I would be thankful that the dealer was pro-actively looking at my issue, and doing something to get it fixed!

Half the time if I go into a dealership for a warranty issue (not necessarily Ford), I'm frightful that they'll "Lie, Cry and Deny" as long as possible.

So, something as important as an engine, and they are Johnny-on-the-spot and get it fixed for you right away? Awesome.

As to warranty, I THINK I remember something about a warranty for a year on new parts installed. However, since your original warranty is longer, that supercedes any parts warranty if anything happens again.

 

Wow... this is freaky. Sorry you're going through this, Priceless!

It seems like a bent rod could be caused by a knock condition...

Two important (IMO) questions:

Have you always run 91 or better octane fuel? The computer should be able to accommodate lower octane (and retard timing) but it could be relevant.

Which cylinder? Was it #8 by any chance?


My Kona 2011 GT is nearly at the same mileage, also all stock.

Has anyone else ever heard of this issue?

 

Priceless, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear your problem, but happy to hear the dealer is on the case. The drivetrain warranty is 5 years/50000 miles, so you're good there. If it were me I wouldn't worry to much about the problem returning. It could just be a rod that had some type of defect from the manufacturing process. Things like that do happen, and if there are any other problems they will fix them while they're inside the engine. I hope they get you rolling again soon. Good luck

 

Thanks for all the replies.

In regards to my warranty I was under the impression that it was only 3/36k. Thus in my mind I would be done very soon. I could be completely mistaken though as everyone is mentioning and the powertrain is warrantied for longer. If it is I will feel a lot better. I was however planning to get a tune once the frozen season is done here. May hold off and finish my suspension mods.

MRGTX - Yes this was absolutely surprising!! I typically use 87 octane. As I had no tune and the incremental increase in power was not really worth it to me. Yes I know there are other thing a higher octane can do but I was under the impression that it was safe as ford stated so. But now you got me wondering if this could of contributed. I think from here on out I will go higher. I also considered using a no ethanol fuel station a while ago, may need to reconsider that. I do consistently go to only one or two trusted fueling stations. But still typically only 87.
I do not know on the cylinder number, but will add it to my list of questions for the dealer.

Critical Mass- I am unaware if the oil pump failure conrtibuted to this. Will add this to the list check on also. I have also heard of an issue with the lower crankshaft gear I asked them about this Wednesday and the service guy said it sounded familiar but he was unsure. I got the sense that he was only updating me and didn't really have any real info.

Had a crazy busy day. I received no calls from Ford today so I'll give them a call tomorrow morning after I get into work and settle in.

Thanks..

 

I just had a new short block put in at 11000 miles on my 2014 GT. ("Coyote Down" thread). I was told it was a out of spec main bearing that was causing my knocking sound from idle to 900RPM. Any higher you could not hear it. It had never seen lower than 91 octane 90% of the time is 93 octane.

I feel for you buddy. Just bad luck I guess.

 

I would be surprised if the oil pump was an issue. Lots of people run these cars hard in track environments and see no issues.

I wonder if a knock sensor failed and caused the issue if you've been running 87. I try to put in 93 all the time as a cheap safe guard.

Hope everything works out for you

 

The gears in the pump are a known problem. You can get better gears from FRPP. I recommend you do that while the motor is in pieces because it should boil down to just paying for the parts. You should also explore the cyl #8 problem. It seems that corner of the motor runs hotter because of insufficient cooling. Again, it's just parts as long as the motor is already out of the car.

With these parts, your warranty on the new motor shouldn't be affected, but verify it with the dealer before hand.

 

It could have been bad gas. It's happened to me in the past.

 

I wish I could get 93. All we have here in kalifornistan is 91. I don't get why anyone would put less than 91 in your car. What do you save on a tank? 4 dollars? Just not worth it imo

 

Sorry to hear that you are having a problem like that. an aftermarket clutch is a good choice. I agree with requesting to see the wore clutch before you make a final decision.

 

So I just spoke with the dealer, I was able to get some questions answered, but others were not.

They are unaware of any exact causes to the rod failures. I asked about known issues such as the oil pump, lower crankshaft gear, bad gas and or a out of spec main bearing. The guy I spoke to said they do not know the cause. They did however say that cylinder's number 1 and 5 had bent rods. Wow!! No explanation to what caused it.

I am going to swing over to Ford as soon as I get relieved today to grab some stuff and look at the clutch. Trying to get a buddy who own's a shop to come with me. If he can't will a moderately to severe worn clutch be noticeable to an untrained eye? My Ford dealership is asking for 720 for a new clutch. That is just parts as they said the install would be free. I have checked a few websites and seen that I could order a performance clutch for a better cost than what they are asking for the oem one. If I do go that route any suggestions? I was thinking of using the Exedy mach 500 stage 3, a Spec stage 1 or 2, or a Exedy racing stage 1. If I do keep this car for a while and not upgrade(haven't decided) I may end up supercharging or at the very least adding moderate performance mods. As it stands though I would just want a clutch that could handle a bit more power/ abuse and have near stock performance. links to clutches below..

http://www.americanmuscle.com/exedy-...ch-2011gt.html

http://www.hypermotive.com/spec-stag...n-date-2-2011/

http://www.americanmuscle.com/spec-s...ch-1112gt.html

http://www.hypermotive.com/exedy-rac...tch-kit-11-14/

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

From what I understand clutch and break material are very similar. When they wear out, you are looking for similar problems.. Cracks,( heat checks), missing material, low amount of material left, score marks... Also if you replace the clutch, make sure the flywheel is cut by a machine shop or replace it. It will not be flat and ruin the new clutch material. Also there is a proper break in procedure for the new clutch. The mod shop up at Tasca Ford just replaced my friends when his motor got a super charger and that's what they did for him. They showed us the one they took out and you could tell it was trashed. They use MCLeod racing clutches

 

Look, their advising you to buy a new clutch because its only going to cost you the price of the clutch not installation. It's not a bad idea if the parts aren't expensive. When I've changed engines I usually get a new water pump, clutch and plugs etc. It's just easy to do while your already their.

 

Quick update.

Stopped to the dealer yesterday and went through my barrage of questions trying to find out what happened and also checked out the clutch. They were pretty cool. I ended up walking into the shop area looking at the clutch and also talking it up with the mechanic who is working on my Stang. Pretty cool guys. One of them had a 5.0 at one point but sold due to child, and they have of course worked on a ton of 5.0's including a few tuned ones with the #8 failure. I won't mention who because that is so not the purpose of this thread but they were a little cautious of certain tuner's due to their past experiences.

The clutch itself did not look to bad, it did not show any major heat marks or stress cracks. But after thinking about it and talking with my buddy who owns a shop it would be wise to change it as they are willing to do it for free. So I will have to make a choice on what clutch to get by tomorrow am. Thinking I will be going Exedy.

I asked about the oil pump issue, Octane usage, and crankshaft gear issue's. He did not seem to think it was any of these issues that caused the failure of the number one and five rod's. I got the impression that he was not 100% sure what caused the overall issue. He mentioned that there were shavings in my oil(my guess is from everything being destroyed) and that something could of possibly slipped past a camshaft filter??(never heard of that)and made its way into the rod's. Attached is a pic of the rod cap and bearing shell. At any rate I will see how things go after the install.

** pic won't upload, will have to try from another computer later.

 

Picture of the rod cap and bearing shell's should be attached.

 

Ouch!! Pretty scored. My main bearing wasn't scored. He just said it was out of spec. Go figure..