quote Adams 81: " This seems completely unreasonable considering they sell and advertise a car for the track that will most likely have issues that happen only in a track environment....
Funny thing……. I never had this issue with Nissan (truck and car) or Honda (wife’s van) dealerships….."

Just a couple of observations on your rant here - I have never seen a ford commercial or add stating that car is intended for the track. That would be the Boss 302S.
Secondly, how many times have you had the Nissans or the wife's mini van on the track?

Not saying I am not sympathetic with you, I think Ford could do better by you, but there are probably some manufacturers out there that would immediately void your warranty as soon as you mention a track day usage.

By the way I have to add that I also have had some issues with transmission shifts. I raced my 1LE Formula FireBird for 6 years and missed less shifts than I can count on one hand. But in the last two autocross events I have missed the 1-2 shift 4 times. Once finding 4th gear the other times just stayed between gears. I am thinking its the skip shift causing me issues. Why Why Why have skip shift on a limited production performance car?

 

Have you tried the vacuum on the MC to bleed the clutch? CaliMR posted on BMO.
http://bossmustangsonline.com/boss-3...-believer-now/

 

BINGO !!!!!! Give this man a cigar ! ! I would also recommend that if you wreck your car on the track and or get a fender bender do not call your insurance company and expect to make a claim, tow it off the track grounds and then make a call, do not mention any track usage to them either,...... Ford built us a car that performs well on the track,..........NONE OF THE PURCHASE PRICE OFF THE BOSS INCLUDES A FORD CONTRACT FOR SPONSORSHIP ON A RACETRACK. You got to realize this, first time i read this post I thought it was a joke. In no way should you be telling them issues on the track......Why do you think they sell the 302s or 302r brand spanking new with ZERO I say ZERO warranty,....you buy them as is.

 

While Ford did not say the Boss was "intended" for the track, they DID say it was "track ready". Everything I have read so far from different posters and my own experience with the transmission at TrackAttack seems to suggest this is a bit of an exaggeration.

 

Pay to play

 

ding ding ding.. we have a wiener

 

It has been said by many Ford representatives and you can find it in print, issued by Ford not some reviewing magazine, that this car is a "race car" or built for the track or whatever. Some of you need to do some more research on the Boss.... When Ford launched the Boss they did it on the track! Let me remind you:

The car comes with a trackey.... The car comes with manually adjustable shocks.... It comes with race seats.... It comes with a motor that is exactly the same as the one in the race car.... The Boss was built to go after the M3.....on the track.... The Laguna Seca edition is named after the track it was designed and tested on.... The Laguna Seca comes, from the factory, with brake duct cooling kit, trans scoop for cooling, and a huge front splitter that is not street legal...

And the biggest indicator of the purpose of this car - The Boss comes with a supplement that the regular GT doe not that has a section specifically dedicated to track preparation....

I should have no problems telling Ford I am having an issue with the car when it is tracked. I am not going to lie about the use. I will tell them exactly what happens and in what setting. It was built for this use in mind. Ford learns nothing by the consumer lieing about what the issues are and in what exact settings they happen. Our HONEST reports of issues make the products better. How can some one fix an issue or better a product when they don't know what problems exist and in what specific situations?

Fortunately for us the car is warranted in driving it this way. I know plenty of people who have had warranty claims from tracking the cars. I know a guy who had his transmission replaced TWICE from blowing it up on the track. Ford bought his car back.... I know people who have had complete wiring harnesses replaced because a code would only appear from track driving. I know a guy who had clutch issues that happened on the track and was covered. And many more....

This is not w2w racing. This is taking your street-legal car to a private track rental and driving the car in a high performance situation with as much safety and instruction as possible. These are called track days or driver education (DE) or high performance driver education (HPDE). Again, this is not racing.... The Boss is to the Mustang what the GT3 is to the 911, the Scuderia to the F430, Superleggra to the Gallardo, and on and on....

Unfortunately it seems some of you don't know what the Boss really is.......or that track use is covered under warranty. Also the 302S or 302R are purpose built race cars for racing in a number of different organizations and classes. The Boss is not this. It is a track day car. There is a HUGE difference between doing track days and competitive racing. That's like saying don't buy a GT3 and do track days with it and expect warranty, that's what a Cup car is for??? Also Ford doesn't sell the 302S and 302R....Ford Racing does. And the cars are not street legal nor come with a VIN. Go to your dealership parts department that is an authorized Ford Racing dealer, or any Ford Racing dealer, and give them the part number for either the 302S and 302R. That's how you buy those cars. You cannot compare the two....

I started this thread to give knowledge to the forum about issues with the car. The clutch, diff, and trans issues have been reported many times over. This was just one more example. This is not a "rant" as someone mentioned. I will keep updating as this goes further.

 

Obviously I have never tracked them..... Well besides the GT-R which was tracked and I needed the clutch reprogrammed as well as a specific computer in the car that processes performance logic....

However I have had the truck warranted for trans and rear end issues from towing.... I also had the transfer case warranted from four wheel drive use....

The van has been warranted for the automatic doors.... For the DVD player.... and for the rear backup camera and sensors....

Notice how these cars were warranted for their indented use....

 

You are going to have warrantee collection problems ,...... (as your finding) out if you thrash this car admittingly on the track,......its as simple as that. Your using it just as the non warranteed, built stronger for the abuse 302S or 302R. Door banging has little to do with it and will only effect cosmetics, but the drive train, engine, and breaks are gtting the same kinda off abuse...Its not IF something will break but when in this enviroment but when Its dishonest of you to expect Ford to replace parts in this kind of enviroment,......Race teams have multitude of spares on hand payed by sponsorships or out of pocket,.....you seem to think its Fords responsibility..I think its dishonest to thrash it over and over on a road course and when something breaks (as it wil to blame Ford for it...I know exactly what this car is capable of and its intended purpose,...the wording I see and read most is race car for the street. Not a designated track car thats street legal

 

Sorry man, but I really don't think you have a clue here.... Do you have any experiene with track days and/or racing? By your posts it does not seem that you do.

Doing track days does not mean "thrashing" your car. Nor do you realize the diffence in the amount of abuse a vehicle takes when tracking a car on a track day, compared to wringing the hell out of race car to win a race. Again there is a HUGE difference.

Let me help you understand the difference:

I don't bounce the car off of the rev limiter to get a better lap time, I will shift first. In a race car it is all about keeping the car in the power band at all times regardless of the abuse the car recieves in doing so.

Generally I shift at 7k rpms. 500 rpms before redline. Again the powerband thing. In a race car, generally, you shift at redline, this is where the power is when you shift to the next gear. You don't want to lug the car when you are out of the powerband... You loose precious tenths. A race car is constantly at high rpm use.

When I do shift it is nice and easy. I do not slam gears or try to fire of the fastest gear change possible. Again power thing. In a race you want to shift as quick as possible to get the power to the ground as often and quickly as possible.

I also generally use a higher gear instead of downshifting. I don't run the car at a constant 5k-7k rpms. Many times I am as low as 3500 - 4k. I think you get the picture by now....

A race car has built parts designed primarily for performance, with life longevity a distance concern. Reliability yes, life span not neccessarily so. Most bushings are solid. This creates tremendous amounts of more stress on other components of the drivetrain as the bushings are designed to absorb the harshness. Now they don't exist. That stress has to go somewhere..... Why do you think performance parts are sold as RACE ONLY, or street, or sport, etc. They have different purposes and different pros and cons.

There are many more examples but hopefully this helps you out.

My car has 5 track days on it. It is not trashed over and over on the road course.... You are correct that SOME things will wear out faster on a car that attends track days compared to a car driven dociley on the street. However 5 track days is hardly enough abuse that the trans, rear end, and clutch should all have expected issues. My car has a tick over 3800 miles. I have changed the oil 6 times, the trans fluid 3 times, and the rear diff fluid 3 times, brake fluid twice.... My car is much better maintained than the average street car. This goes a long way in life longevity and proper function of the car.

 

The issue here with the warranty is NOT that Adam has tracked his car, it's that Ford cannot duplicate the problem that Adam has when he tracks the car. From what I have read so far the dealer has not refused to do anything because the car has been on track.

 

Good luck Adam with the warranty work. As others have said pay to play and I agree with that..... Tried to actually help you out. Guess you dont want to listen and persist in saying in a round about way I'm just ignorant,... my take on you is the lack of common sense......just my opinion......once again seriously.....no sarcasm intendid....best to you.

 

Exactly. The dealership nor the regional customer service manager have any issue with the car being tracked what so ever. They will not do anything because they cannot duplicate it.... If they could duplicate it would be a done deal no questions asked.

My issue is Ford not even inspecting a car when they can't duplicate an issue that happens only in a setting that cannot test in..... This is the whole point, and something those of us that track are cars might want to know about.

 

I don't think you are ignorant, nor did I ever imply that. However, you are definitely misinformed and just plain wrong when it comes to tracking the Boss and appropriate warranty coverage. I have pointed it out to you in numerous ways.... Your the one who doesn't want to listen. I track my car, and have had issues, and have had them covered, this is now a separate incident and it seems you are missing the point entirely....

Trying to help you out so if you ever actually track your Boss and have problems you don't think you are stuck with the bill if your car is under warranty.

Again the dealership and, more importantly, the regional customer service manager don't have any issues with me tracking my Boss. Not because they choose not to have a problem with it, but because the car is warranted for this use. Competition racing is NOT covered. Going to a track day every other month is....

Ford will not do anything, as of right now, because the dealership cannot duplicate the issues. My problem is of course they can't duplicate them. They don't happen all the time and they never happen on the street where they are trying to duplicate it..... See the problem now? The problem is it is not reasonable to do nothing for an issue you can't duplicate when there is no way to test it in the settings in which it happens.

For the last time tracking your car is not negligent abuse.... Redlineing into neutral drops, or standing burnouts until your wheels explode, or bouncing off the rev limiter for more than 5 seconds, or 30 seconds worth of tire shredding donuts..... That is negligent abuse.

 

I disagree,...but thats just me.....we can agree to disagree and not pound chests,.....I'm wondering what the service department guys are saying as you walk away tho,....they are not on the track with you,....they will assume as its human nature worse case scenerio's and that you are bumping off the rev limiter...etc...etc...I have worked in such a service enviroment and the customer is always right till he walks away. Tact is king. If it was me I wouldn't mention any track days. I would in your case now only bring it to the dealers attention when it could be replicated on the street . I would investigate on track problems myself (but I have that luxury). If it really is a problem,....problems don't go away but get worse in time. Regards Rick

 

You are correct, we do want to know. And Kudo's to Ford for covering most of this stuff. Hope you can get it sorted out.
How have your caliper piston boots done at the track days? Dust boots on my rear calipers melted after first track day. 1 - 15 minute session and 1 - 20 min session.

 

It is because inspection in this case means taking stuff apart beyond simply removing a plastic cover or other 5 minute activity. It costs money to drop drive train components (without replacing anything, just to inspect) which ford won't reimburse the dealer for if the result is 'no problem found'. The process could if an error occurs result in additional problems. Thus the rule of first duplicating the symptom. Not agreeing with it, just saying why its like that.

If they dropped the trans and looked at the TO and slave my guess is they'll give it a 'no problem found'. Depending on the miles and what's wrong in the diff it could turn out the same as well. If the clutch is a fluid issue they simply won't see it. It will work, the TO will move in and out in the garage like it is supposed to. At 7500 rpm on the track it won't.

Gears make noise. There are a number of reasons they could make more noise or noise audible to the driver. If yours isn't one that involves visible wear or damage, they won't find anything. Noise will be there however. In fact there could be absolutely nothing wrong with it and it will make noise just because of where the parts fell in the tolerance band.

 

Dust covers are pretty beat up in the front. The rears are not to bad. This is something I would not try and get covered under warranty.....

Did you do all the steps the Boss Supplement laid out for track use? If not I can see why the rears were toast. If you did that is interesting....

 

Generally I agree with everything you are saying..... What you say is true and reasonable.

However.....

I am not asking, nor expect, them to drop the trans or do major work on anything. There is a clutch inspection cover, that is a 5 minute job to unblot, to look at the TO bearing. This is what I asked them to do, they did NOT look at the TO bearing through the inspection cover..... They DID drain some of the fluid to check for shavings. They didn't find anything.

For the rear end all I was asking is to pop the diff cover, inspect the rear diff, and check fluid for shavings. They DID NOT do this....

As you can see I wasn't asking for anything to be taken apart, major work done, anything of the sort. Just simple inspections that were recommended to me by TWO different Ford Engineers on the Boss program...

 

UPDATE:

Nothing was really done with the car.... The only thing that was done was the trans fluid was drained a little to look for shavings. Other than that.......nothing.

The dealership and regional customer service representative were courteous, helpful, and professional. I am a bit disappointed they didn't just do these simple inspections, and take care of it. They had the ability and power to do so....... It seems they were following the "book" to the letter. At this point my issue is with Ford policy....

I got the car back and I will be making a formal complaint with Ford about their policy. I will change the fluid out and inspect the diff and TO bearing myself. Lucky for me I have the ability to do this but that isn't the point. The point is this should be covered under warranty....