slopoke89

Not for me, but a buddy of mine. Here's the scoop, and probably a good warning for us do-it-yourselfers:

Three months ago, my buddy bought an 05 GT, and just like most of us, he wanted to get the most out of his new ride. He installed everything himself: long tube headers, o/r x-pipe, C&L, SCT w/Brenspeed tune, steeda short shifter, and Zex nitro.

Last week, he was waiting in traffic when there was a loud thunk, and the idle started to sputter. He made it to his parking lot, but by that time there was a loud banging noise as well as the sputtering. When he got to work, he asked me to go outside and check it out. Turns out there was NO oil in the pan. He left and got a quart, put it in and started it up again. Immediately, white smoke started to billow out of the exhaust. Not good. He got his car towed to the dealership, where two days later he was told that they found a screw in the #8 cylinder. This caused numerous problems to include: cracking the piston, cracking the sleeve, bending a rod, and damaging the head. The dealership was going to replace the motor under warranty, but because of the amount of money it was going to cost, an investigator from Ford corporate was sent down. He determined that the cause was the after market components (he had taken off the Zex kit, bu he couldn't replace the C&L because he left his stock one in FL). The cost to replace the motor with labor is going to be 5,600 bucks.

Needless to say, he's pretty bummed. The curious thing about it, is that he drove from San Antonio, TX to Tucson, AZ just one day prior with no problems. Now he's paying on a car that he can't drive.

Red Knight

Any idea how the screw got into the cyclinder?

slopoke89

Nope, that is the mystery. Like I said, he drove a few hundred miles just the day before, with no problems...we're still scratching our heads on that one.

He's thinking about legal action, but he's not sure if it'll be worth it considering the legal support Ford has over what he can afford.

acrokat

I would think that before you go into legal action, you would need to trace where that screw came from. If it came from the car, you're golden, sue away. But if it came from a mod you're screwed

slopoke89

Hopefully no pun was intended. j/k

From what the investigator said, the screw was not from the engine. As beat up as the screw is (from being pounded into the head), there's no real way to identify it.

NickSezz

The engine builders could have droped it into the intake manifold and it might have been sitting on one of the valves and finally made its way indie the cylinder. Id fight for it..thast a lot of money to spend on a new car. I doubt a screw was droped in there when putting the headers on.

Rupp

They call this in the industry SOL. Could the screw come from the CAI and was sucked in somehow? This is exactly why I've not installed a CAI and tune yet. I guess you always run this risk and you have to ask yourself "Do you feel lucky punk". With my past luck with cars I can wait.

acrokat

Can they prove it was not from the engine? can they show you the proof? From my understanding of the law, they have the burden of proving their case. I would keep pushing until I saw some concrete evidence that it was a mod at fault.

scrming

I know hindsight is 20/20... but he should have gone do a different dealership and and bought a stock intake... if he had put everything back to stock probably could have got away with the warranty claim... dang... it sucks... but when it comes to heavy modding like with N20... if you wanna play you got to be ready to pay... trust me on that one... I speak from experience...

shaners90lxhatch

I actually think I saw the engine request for this vehicle. My buddy is likely the one who sent the inspector (completely independent from Ford mind you). First off, there is NO, I repeat NO way the bolt came from the engine builder. Funny how it went three months before this happened. Besides, the vehicle had been driven before he got it regardless if he ordered it.

THIS is why CAI's are a bad idea. Granted things like this don't happen often, but COME ON PEOPLE! The guy installed his own intake system and foreign material ended up in the engine........ It does not take a lot of physical proof or investigative skills to conclude that the engine's failure is a direct result of modification.

Details details details - whatever. If the engine failure is in ANY way attributable to ANY modification performed - it can and likely will be denied. I. E. Aftermarket air filtration system + foreign object debris = Your checkbook. Besides, there is no hardware like that in the stock configuration that come loose and drop down. I don't know all the details here, but I don't think the situation is unreasonable. Especially with the consideration of the other modifications you so cleverly attempted to hide.