NoVAGT5.0
New Member
I've lurked in the forums here for a few years now as a non-member, but decided to join today because I wanted to share a recent experience with the community. Not sure if it's particularly helpful or useful, but I thought at the very least it would add some additional data concerning failure points in these motors and the conditions under which they occur.
I have a 2012 GT Premium in Kona Blue. The car was purchased used about two years ago from the Ford dealer. At the time of purchase, the vehicle had 47,700 miles on it, which is fairly high for a two year old car, but it was in fantastic shape inside and out, and I fell in love with it on the first test drive.
Over the years, I've owned three generations of these cars, including an old fox body 5.0, a 2001 4.6, and now the 2012. In general I've always found them to be tough cars, standing up to a fair amount of abuse, and reliably getting me from point A to point B without a hitch. I've never actually raced any of them, saving the occasional road race, but they've all been subjected to what I'd call spirited driving.
A couple weeks ago that changed, when I started the car in my driveway and it developed a ticking sound that I knew was not good. I've always done all the maintenance on my own vehicles, and have been religious about making sure that the oil, oil filter, plugs, and other consumables are regularly serviced and replaced.
Initially, I thought the problem was somewhere in the cylinder heads, or something related to timing chain tensioners. Generally speaking, I'm not afraid to dive into something, but I will admit that taking apart the whole front end of the vehicle, and top for that matter, is a bit more than I wanted to take on here at home. I have most of the tools, but not all, and it would just take me a very long time - time that I don't really have.
This vehicle was 90% stock. The only thing ever done to it was an email tune from one of the popular tuners around, not even a cold air intake.
So, I decided to man up and take the car to the Ford dealer to have them take a look. It was still under warranty, and I figured that the repair would be costly, but I certainly did not expect to hear that the motor was torpedoed.
Unfortunately, I've spun a bearing, and needed an engine replacement. This happened at ~70k miles, so I've put approximately 23k on the vehicle in the last two years. The service representative that I worked with was very helpful, but he was also very honest. This kind of situation is involved and would require essentially a new engine, and approval for warranty coverage can apparently require quite some time: tear down of the engine to determine cause, pulling the PCM, etc.
I know some would probably suggest pursuing the warranty, but I feared being out of a vehicle for months while going back and forth with Ford corporate, and while the service folks were very helpful, I just wasn't sure that coming out of pocket to the tune of $10k made sense, fiscally or otherwise.
Ultimately, I made the decision to back out of the warranty claim, and instead contacted the folks over at JPC racing in Millersville, MD.
Everyone's financial situation is different, and I really didn't have the cash to build the motor the way I would've really liked to, but I have to tell you my experience with this shop has been nothing short of outstanding so far. They've been extremely helpful, accomodating, and jumped right on the job as soon as my initial payment was made.
It's clear that they know these cars inside and out. They talked me out of things that I didn't need, and into things that made sense while the motor was out of the car.
In the end, I'll have a nearly new engine, at least the bottom end, and I'll walk away with a new clutch (McLeod RST), new timing chain/tensioners, billet oil pump gears, and a set of Kooks long tube headers, all for no additional labor cost.
The cost of the job, including parts, is still less than what I was looking at through the dealer, and I would've gotten a replacement motor - that's it.
I'll do my best to add a few pics this afternoon for those interested.
Figured this was worthwhile to share since obviously these types of failures can occur even with a car running near stock power levels, and with regular oil changes and maintenance. *interior maintenance is another story!!* (she's dirty).
The tune may have been a contributing factor, and Aaron over at JPC mentioned this to me specifically, but I am hesitant to really place blame there, since there are many variables that could influence this type of break down, not the least of which is my own driving habits.
It did seem like ~70k was a bit young for the motor to grenade itself, and I wonder if a few of my 7500 rpm pulls may have also been a factor. I've been told that the occasional spin to 7500 should be relatively safe. I'll probably never know for sure.
I have a 2012 GT Premium in Kona Blue. The car was purchased used about two years ago from the Ford dealer. At the time of purchase, the vehicle had 47,700 miles on it, which is fairly high for a two year old car, but it was in fantastic shape inside and out, and I fell in love with it on the first test drive.
Over the years, I've owned three generations of these cars, including an old fox body 5.0, a 2001 4.6, and now the 2012. In general I've always found them to be tough cars, standing up to a fair amount of abuse, and reliably getting me from point A to point B without a hitch. I've never actually raced any of them, saving the occasional road race, but they've all been subjected to what I'd call spirited driving.
A couple weeks ago that changed, when I started the car in my driveway and it developed a ticking sound that I knew was not good. I've always done all the maintenance on my own vehicles, and have been religious about making sure that the oil, oil filter, plugs, and other consumables are regularly serviced and replaced.
Initially, I thought the problem was somewhere in the cylinder heads, or something related to timing chain tensioners. Generally speaking, I'm not afraid to dive into something, but I will admit that taking apart the whole front end of the vehicle, and top for that matter, is a bit more than I wanted to take on here at home. I have most of the tools, but not all, and it would just take me a very long time - time that I don't really have.
This vehicle was 90% stock. The only thing ever done to it was an email tune from one of the popular tuners around, not even a cold air intake.
So, I decided to man up and take the car to the Ford dealer to have them take a look. It was still under warranty, and I figured that the repair would be costly, but I certainly did not expect to hear that the motor was torpedoed.
Unfortunately, I've spun a bearing, and needed an engine replacement. This happened at ~70k miles, so I've put approximately 23k on the vehicle in the last two years. The service representative that I worked with was very helpful, but he was also very honest. This kind of situation is involved and would require essentially a new engine, and approval for warranty coverage can apparently require quite some time: tear down of the engine to determine cause, pulling the PCM, etc.
I know some would probably suggest pursuing the warranty, but I feared being out of a vehicle for months while going back and forth with Ford corporate, and while the service folks were very helpful, I just wasn't sure that coming out of pocket to the tune of $10k made sense, fiscally or otherwise.
Ultimately, I made the decision to back out of the warranty claim, and instead contacted the folks over at JPC racing in Millersville, MD.
Everyone's financial situation is different, and I really didn't have the cash to build the motor the way I would've really liked to, but I have to tell you my experience with this shop has been nothing short of outstanding so far. They've been extremely helpful, accomodating, and jumped right on the job as soon as my initial payment was made.
It's clear that they know these cars inside and out. They talked me out of things that I didn't need, and into things that made sense while the motor was out of the car.
In the end, I'll have a nearly new engine, at least the bottom end, and I'll walk away with a new clutch (McLeod RST), new timing chain/tensioners, billet oil pump gears, and a set of Kooks long tube headers, all for no additional labor cost.
The cost of the job, including parts, is still less than what I was looking at through the dealer, and I would've gotten a replacement motor - that's it.
I'll do my best to add a few pics this afternoon for those interested.
Figured this was worthwhile to share since obviously these types of failures can occur even with a car running near stock power levels, and with regular oil changes and maintenance. *interior maintenance is another story!!* (she's dirty).
The tune may have been a contributing factor, and Aaron over at JPC mentioned this to me specifically, but I am hesitant to really place blame there, since there are many variables that could influence this type of break down, not the least of which is my own driving habits.
It did seem like ~70k was a bit young for the motor to grenade itself, and I wonder if a few of my 7500 rpm pulls may have also been a factor. I've been told that the occasional spin to 7500 should be relatively safe. I'll probably never know for sure.
