Cobra dies 4 days before warrenty is up!

[08snake]

Coming through a toll booth on the way to work, give it some throttle, nothing! Look down at the temp guage, pegged right! I'm like WTF! Get over to the side of the road, kill it, open up the hood, coolant everywhere. Appeared to be coming out of the cap. Florida Road ranger showed up, borrowed some water, filled radiator, cranked her up, temp steady in the middle for about 4 minutes, so I get in take off nice and slow, made it about four blocks, there goes the guage, heading right. I'm pissed at this point. Pull over, same story, water everywhere. Tow it to local Ford dealer (thanks USAA). At this point, I'm thinking blown head gasket since I can't find any leaks. Turn it over to Ford, get my free rental, and head to work. Turns out the radiator had a hole. WHEEEEE. I was sweating. Being replaced under warrenty. The services guys were laughing about the warrenty running out in four days. Did test drive a Super Cab F150 while I was there. pretty sweet with the 5.4......

 

[badboy]

"2.8 upper", warranty??

 

[DKS2814V]

Okay, hold up, you pegged your temp guage twice, and all they're replacing is the radiator? I'd check to see if you have any internal damage with the engine running that hot. Leak down tests might find something different. Maybe I'm just anal about things like that, but I'd be frequenting the service department about other possible problems.

 

[LTHL VNM]

that's cool that you found a mod friendly dealership. even though you shouldn't get any flack about mods on a radiator failure

 

[03soniccobra01]

"2.8 upper", warranty??

2.8 did not put a hole in rad.

 

[mjtpolice76]

usaa is the best,

 

[03DOHC]

Holy crap Bo, that sucks! Glad they are taking care of it for you. 4 days left? That was pretty close.

 

[Doc GTO]

Have them do a leak down on the cylinders to make sure there is no other issues. Especially since the warranty ends soon!

 

[flyn high again]

Congrats on the warranty lasting just long enough...

I had a similar experience last week. I'm on my way home from work around 1:30 A.M. and the car goes into limp mode. I look down and see the temp. gauge is almost to the red. I pulled into a gas station and shut down. Anti freeze all over the back of the radiator but no leak visible. I restarted for a second in test mode and got 102* Celsius on the digital gauge so I figure the engine is OK. The engine side hose next to the thermostat was hot and the radiator side was cool so I figured the thermostat was the problem. I had roadside tow the car and got a new thermostat and coolant from the dealer.

A day and a half later, I'm on my way to get a root canal and the car starts limping again. Temp gauge is OK. Radio cuts out and radar detector starts going on and off. I figured it's something electrical like a dead battery. I turned around and headed home and threw the car on a charger. The battery was taking a charge so now I was thinking alternator. I got the root canal using my wife's minivan, came back home and ran my car over to Sutton Ford. It's 3:30 P.M. on Friday before the holiday weekend. Sutton pulls it in to their bays immediately and confirms that the alternator is at fault. That quick service allowed me to get a rental for the holidays. They had a new alternator in by noon today so I'm back on the road. Thermostat and alternator in one week on a 2 year old car. :shrug:

 

[CobraBob]

Ford can and has voided entire warrantees when they spotted major motor mods. It does happen. Here's a real life story involving a Ford truck. I was talking with the sales manager at the dealer I bought my Cobra from and we got to talking about the voiding of warrantees. I asked him if a dealer could actually void an entire warrantee or could they only void, say, the motor portion. He told me the dealer can definitely void an entire warrantee. He gave this real life example. A guy had bought a truck and went out and installed a snow plow that was much heavier than the truck could handle. It was way more than the truck could handle apparently. The guy brought the truck to his dealer for maintenance. The service manager noticed the plow and they voided the guy's warrantee on the spot. I might have left out a couple of details because this was well over a year ago, but the guy's entire warrantee was definitely voided. I never believed that Ford could actually void an entire warrantee due to excessive modding, etc., but apparently they can, and do. That is one reason I always say if you go beyond the basic intake/exhaust mods you should be prepared to accept a worse case scenario if something goes bad. Just in case. Fortunately it seems like more often than not the dealer covers the damage without much of a hassle. Maybe Ford's warrantee policies have softened a bit.

 

[shocker 420]

Dude, I had like the similar thing happen to me with it overheating, i took it into the dealer, and got it back later that day. They said that a water hose clamp was bad.

And So far so good.

Oh and by the way, this happend to my car when there were only 240 sum miles on it.... now there are 600 sum... lol.

 

[Chucko]

Dude, I had like the similar thing happen to me with it overheating, i took it into the dealer, and got it back later that day. They said that a water hose clamp was bad.

And So far so good.

Oh and by the way, this happend to my car when there were only 240 sum miles on it.... now there are 600 sum... lol.

I had that same thing happen with my Cobra - less than 500 miles on the clock, coolant gushing down from the bottom of the radiator on the Passenger side. It ended up being one of those cheezy spring clamps on the upper radiator hose that had cracked. It took them 3 days to figure it out, tho. They originally said it was something with the anti-lock brakes. As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a bunch of maroons"!

 

[kyStang1889]

Dealerships are different but fords policy is the warrenty doesn't cover things that failed because of after market mod.

 

[08snake]

Holy crap Bo, that sucks! Glad they are taking care of it for you. 4 days left? That was pretty close.

Yep, damn close. I will be doing a leak down test. This car has been pretty damn good to me up to this point. Only other issue was a new drivers side head due to the TICK. It spent 18 months being daily driven with a KB at 15lbs. Has over 100 passes at the track. It should be paid off by the time the GT 500 hits the showroom. So I'd like for it to remain in good shape so it can be replaced by that Black 07 with the silver stripes I can't seem to get out of my head. OH yeah, and I don't plan on modding the 07......LOL

 

[FireRed04Vert]

That's a very good story Bob....and one that we all need to remember. Ford CAN and DOES void entire warranties. Whether you agree with it or not, it's the facts of life with a modded car. Ford is on solid ground and has legal precedence to back them up.

But what I find interesting is the new Whipple that FRPP is offering. It clearly states in the catalog that it voids the DRIVETRAIN warranty. My guess is you can use that statement if you ever run into a problem with, for example, a broken window regulator.

 

[Jerryk]

My alternator and upstream passenger side HEGO sensor died 9 days outside of warranty: dealership covered the alternator for $50, and gave me a new battery for free. The HEGO I'm doing myself at $65. Glad your was covered!

 

[thnktwce]

Ford can not void the entire warrenty because of aftermarket parts. The only thing they can void is what you have tinkered with. ie. You have kenne bell, and all the other goodies plus a c4 they couldnt turn down warrenty issues with the paint,interior,etc. And they only way they can deny working on the car, or void the warrenty is if the aftermarket modifications is a direct cause of a part breakin. And then they have to prove that what you did was the cause of something breaking. They tried that with me, rear housing was leaking just a little bit, and I didnt like it. So I took the car up there and it had pulleys,intake,etc and they said no because of the the aftermarket parts. I asked if he could prove that the aftermarket stuff caused the leak and he said no. So I told him I would like for him to fix it, or my lawyer would be talking to him. Needless to say problem solve.

 

[WDW MKR]

Ford can not void the entire warrenty because of aftermarket parts. The only thing they can void is what you have tinkered with. ie. You have kenne bell, and all the other goodies plus a c4 they couldnt turn down warrenty issues with the paint,interior,etc. And they only way they can deny working on the car, or void the warrenty is if the aftermarket modifications is a direct cause of a part breakin. And then they have to prove that what you did was the cause of something breaking. They tried that with me, rear housing was leaking just a little bit, and I didnt like it. So I took the car up there and it had pulleys,intake,etc and they said no because of the the aftermarket parts. I asked if he could prove that the aftermarket stuff caused the leak and he said no. So I told him I would like for him to fix it, or my lawyer would be talking to him. Needless to say problem solve.

Ford can and will void the warranty. Your lawyer threat was enough to make the dealer realize it probably wasn't worth the hassle for a leaking rear. They could have easily related your modification to the cause due to elevated power levels and abusive driving. People often quote the Magnusson Act, but not many people have the funds to actually fight Ford.

 

[CobraBob]

Ford can and will void the warranty. Your lawyer threat was enough to make the dealer realize it probably wasn't worth the hassle for a leaking rear. They could have easily related your modification to the cause due to elevated power levels and abusive driving. People often quote the Magnusson Act, but not many people have the funds to actually fight Ford.

Exactly. I used to be one of those avid believers (as naive as I was back then) that Ford could not refuse warrantee work on issues unrelated to a mod. Well, after hearing of multiple times it has happened and talking to my dealer about it I was convinced otherwise. Now I would say those who believe it cannot be done are the naive ones. Threatening Ford with a lawsuit is a joke unless a substantial number of owners file a class action suit. And even then Ford has the upper hand with their financial and legal power. The bottom line is that Ford WILL find a way to protect their actions. Which is why I ALWAYS consulted with my dealer before making any mods. I always wanted to know exactly where I stood with warrantee protection. I knew when I was safe. And I knew when I had crossed the line and was in danger of having the whole warrantee voided. It sucks, but that's the real world. Will everyone who extensively mods have their warrantee voided? Of course not. Small percentage? Probably. Does it help to have a mod-friendly dealer? Yes. Is it always a guarantee that your mods will never become an issue with Ford? No! Remember that dealers are privately owned and all authorized warrantee work they perform is reimbursed by Ford. So if Ford deems a repair isn't covered by the warrantee the dealer could be on their own and have to eat the cost.

 

[thnktwce]

No they just do it cause they can bully people around. Ok I have a roll cage,kenne bell,c4,solid axle,its a full blown drag car. The clear coat on the paint is screwed up bad, bet ya I get a new paint job. Im telling you I have talked to the owner of a major ford dealership, and he himself has said that dealerships bully people around and if the people would fight it just a little 9 times out of 10 the dealer will end up doing work.