The fuel smell in your oil could have come after the piston damage allowed fuel to get past the rings. Not all FRPS failures make your car run like crap. A partial failure will still show decent fuel pressure and allow the car to drive as expected, all while allowing small amount of fuel past the diaphragm. A failed sensor will not always throw a code. In fact, most don't.
44 K miles - no mods motor F***ed
- Thread starter NC Cobra
- Start date
Hmmm...you think I should replace it just in case? Turns out the piston closest to the firewall on the passenger side is the culprit. It's cracked. Damn Ford and they're shitty pistons. Oh well, time to step it up to some Diamonds. Anything else I should upgrade while I'm in there? Too bad LDC isn't making cooling mods right now, this is pretty much the opportune time.
Wheres it cracked at? And cracked not burnt? If cracked then one, on high load high rpms. The speed/pressure got too high more than likely bad fuel causing knock breaking piston. We have no knock sensors. I bet half our piston woes could be no issue if we had knock sensor. Running a engine wot high speed esp hot outside is a recipe for troubles. Comes down to timing vs 1at2 temp tables how good is that compared to a knock sensor. It doesn't know how good the fuel is. I know they said the roots made too much noise for knock sensor to work. What do the germsn and jag cars use with the roots? I see knock sensors in online parts stores for those.
Sorry I dropped off the radar after my first post. I decided it probably was not a good idea to "vent" here in a public forum while I was negotiating with Ford over who pays for what. Let me clear up a few points.
1. My motor has NOT been modded. Any one who cares to is welcome to come by and take a close look - Ford sure did.
2. My Cobra has never been raced, either on or off the street. Does that mean I drive it like a Buick? No, I drive it like a Cobra. Does that mean it was abused? No, I plan to keep my Cobra for many years and abusing the engine or drive train is not part of the plan.
3. When the engine failed I was just getting ready to shift into 2nd gear in heavy traffic, in front of a shopping center. No one was traveling over 35mph. It felt similar to when the traction control kicks in, but a LOT worse. It actually felt like someone had snatched off about three plug wires.
4. The failure was not in the head, as much as I was hoping it was. It was ring and/or piston failure in the #6 cylinder. The mechanic concluded this, after checking everything else, by squirting a little heavy oil into the cylinder and restarting the engine. The engine immediately smoothed out as the #6 cylinder began firing due to the increased compression that the oil temporarily provided. As soon as the oil burned off the compression went away and the cylinder quit firing.
As I stated earlier, and most of you already know, Ford does not repair engines - they replace them. I now have a new long block on the way. This not only solves the problem with the bottom end but also resolves any problems I might have had later with the early heads my car had. The repairs should be concluded by the end of next week.
To those of you that have followed and responded to this thread I hope this answers some of the questions. Sorry again for the delay.
NC COBRA
1. My motor has NOT been modded. Any one who cares to is welcome to come by and take a close look - Ford sure did.
2. My Cobra has never been raced, either on or off the street. Does that mean I drive it like a Buick? No, I drive it like a Cobra. Does that mean it was abused? No, I plan to keep my Cobra for many years and abusing the engine or drive train is not part of the plan.
3. When the engine failed I was just getting ready to shift into 2nd gear in heavy traffic, in front of a shopping center. No one was traveling over 35mph. It felt similar to when the traction control kicks in, but a LOT worse. It actually felt like someone had snatched off about three plug wires.
4. The failure was not in the head, as much as I was hoping it was. It was ring and/or piston failure in the #6 cylinder. The mechanic concluded this, after checking everything else, by squirting a little heavy oil into the cylinder and restarting the engine. The engine immediately smoothed out as the #6 cylinder began firing due to the increased compression that the oil temporarily provided. As soon as the oil burned off the compression went away and the cylinder quit firing.
As I stated earlier, and most of you already know, Ford does not repair engines - they replace them. I now have a new long block on the way. This not only solves the problem with the bottom end but also resolves any problems I might have had later with the early heads my car had. The repairs should be concluded by the end of next week.
To those of you that have followed and responded to this thread I hope this answers some of the questions. Sorry again for the delay.
NC COBRA
Ford often reuses your heads on a new shortblock. Make sure you check the casting numbers on the heads to verify that they are the Jan 05 release.
WDW MKR said:
The problem is if the heads are his or early production, he will have to pay for the new heads and 8 hours per side to have them exchange them.That's the labor rate with the motor out of the car.
He can buy the heads at cost +10% but at $85.00 per hour labor it can get very pricey.
Thanks God that Ford is going to cover it.
these types of threads scare people, but dont forget that we are enthusiasts who chat online with people all over the country. theres lemons with every car, and hearing about the blowns cobras online is nothing when you compare it to the thousands the ford dealers pumped out making.
you must of had an extended warranty you say you have 44,000 miles on it..glad to see that its coverd
The extended warranty is what I SHOULD have had, but didn't. The first price they gave me was over $8000.00, the second price was $4000.00, the final price after doing everything I could resonably do was $2500.00. Not cheap but it beats the hell out of 8 grand. I thought this was not too bad an offer considering that Ford is loosing money at an astonishing rate right now. If this had happened a year ago I honestly think I could have talked them out of the new engine at basically no charge.
If I had purchased the extended warrenty, about $1200 I recall, I would have saved the other $1300. So I'm spending an extra $1300. For this I get another engine with a 36/36 warranty. I considered a rebuild on my own nickel but considering labor rates at any decent shop I don't think I could have done this for $2500, and the shops are not going to offer me the 36/36 warranty.
If I had purchased the extended warrenty, about $1200 I recall, I would have saved the other $1300. So I'm spending an extra $1300. For this I get another engine with a 36/36 warranty. I considered a rebuild on my own nickel but considering labor rates at any decent shop I don't think I could have done this for $2500, and the shops are not going to offer me the 36/36 warranty.
That's a definitely a great deal for a new engine. I would rather have rebuilt with better pistons and PTW clearances, but it would be hard to pass that deal up. Just make sure you check the casting numbers on the heads to ensure they are the Jan 05 release. There could easily be assembled longblocks sitting out there that don't have the newest heads. Good luck!
If friction is an issue, have any of these cars ran on synthetic oil and their engines went kapoot? Just curious as I'm getting my car tuned in two weeks (K&N cold air, pulley, Excaliber chip, Flow Master/Cat back exhaust), and I've only used Ford oil changes. I think I'm going Mobil 1 now. Any advice?
If anything, I would guess that more failed engines used synthetic. This has nothing to do with the oil, but rather the fact that a majority of Cobra owners run synthetic.
remember that this case is the exception rather than the norm.
the sky is not falling
many people drove their cars as hard or harder and have more miles and dont have damaged engines
the only thing we have to fear is
fear itself
the sky is not falling
many people drove their cars as hard or harder and have more miles and dont have damaged engines
the only thing we have to fear is
fear itself
I agree with ShelbyGuy. In fact, that was my exact argument I made to Ford. The part that failed should never have failed but there are always going to be isolated cases where this happens no matter what. There was nothing I did to cause my engine failure, nor was there anything I could have done differently to prevent it. I have a good friend that is a mechanic for a large BMW dealership. You would be surprised how many engines they replace but you don't hear many people talking smack about how crappy BMW's engines are. BMW's are not crappy, neither are Fords. The way I see it is Ford realized my problem was not my fault and that is why they were willing to make me the offer they did. While everybody in this forum may not agree that the offer from Ford was "good", I think it was. They could have simply said no and what recourse would I have had? I love my Cobra and have no plans of driving anything else. The dealer I use for my service has always taken great care of me even though I did not even buy the car there. After my "separation" from my Cobra for almost a month I can't wait to get it back.
BMW actually got slammed for all of the engines that were going by the wayside of bad oiling. It doesn't make them a horrible company. Ford could just be a bit better with service after the sale.
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