Ford, quality is job 1? Hmmm...

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KyngofPop

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I'll leave that up for debate. Got my current SHO back in April from it's original owner who'd had it serviced RELIGIOUSLY by the same ford dealer it's entire life according to the gaggle of service records he gave me upon purchase. I personally don't REALLY drive that hard but do when the feeling comes upon me.

There had always been a slight flat spot upon acceleration when coming from a standstill but I had attributed that to it having 245k miles and was just old. Lately I'd been driving a little more spirited than normal and been noticing a slight misfire/pop under acceleration at freeway speeds or when in high gear and heard a slight electrical noise kinda like a buzzing from a a short circuit?! I figured one of the wires had a break in it and decided to replace 'em. When I installed the wires I routed them EXACTLY as they were when I took them off and still had the same backfire/pop?!?!

I replaced the coil with 2 known good ones, 2 DIS modules, 2 TPS sensors and the same thing?!?! Well I did the proper veteran thing to do and came to the forum and did a search with the words firing order and lo and behold that was the friggin problem. The tech who did the recent 60K had the #4 and #6wires crossed. (i think that was it, can't remember my brain is tired from removing intake so many times)

The reason why I titled the thread as such is because this dude payed out the ASS to have Ford keep this thing in tip-top shape but how could they miss such a small thing. I went thru the paper work and the P/O paid $764 for a Crankshaft sensor, IAC valve, and cleaned throttle body due to paperworks notes of "runs rough, backfiring, Idle rough and stalls out.

The next service is roughly 6 thousand miles later where the guy complained of "skipping on take-off, slow to warm up" and some how there was a broken valve cover bolt in there drill out notated on the invoice hmmm. They did a FULL upper 60K to the tune of $1200 minus his .77 cent senior citizen discount.

NEXT service roughly 15K later "customer complains of backfire, stalling and Check engine light is on. Advises when light is on car runs rough and is hard to start". This time the 60k is done along with another crankshaft sensor to the tune of $1450 :eek:! .

If memory serves me right there's other receipts for 2 more DIS sensors(1 under Fords Goodwill warranty program), another crank sensor and various other sensors this guy was paying top dollar for. How could they miss something as simple as the plug wire routing? I mean it's labeled on the coil pack itself?? Do the service books have it wrong or something? I can say now though that the thing runs like a scalded KAT! Preciate the forum being here because if I had to pay what this guy were paying the car would've been crushed or running wrong it's entire life. What amazes me is that he KEPT taking it to the same dealer and the SAME guy worked on the car each time. Coincidentally the P/O's name was Frederick, my names Frederick and the service guys name was Frederick too....is that an omen?

Sorry for the novel but thanks for the help SHOforum and the search feature is a GODSEND, use it Newbies.
 

Reddy2

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HI, Any indication that the rod bearings been replaced in any of the invoiced repairs/fixs?
with your engine miles, you should look to replacing them as your primary maint. goal.
 

SHORANGERBIRD

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-can't expect the techs today to even know what one is, much less work on them. the ones that can and do and know how......priceless!!!
 

sperold

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Great story.
It is always the simplest thing on the list when you have a problem.
And very often, it is related to the last thing done to the car.

So all those great mileage numbers were accomplished with 2 cylinders out of order, it will be great to see some new numbers in the future.
 

KyngofPop

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@Reddy2 I've got those on the top of my list, but there's an exhaust repair where a leak at the center gasket was repaired with welds...smdh. Gotta get a ****** welded on so I can have a ****** where I can loosen the Y-Pipe to gain access to the oil pan. He probably got tired of paying for hi-priced crap lol, Thanks though.

@Sperold you're exactly right, I remember my first SHO at the age of 20, a 91 Plus, had a a starting issue that I could NOT chase down. Changed the timing belt, water pump and crank sensor and still no start. Called my brother for help on diagnosing and when he got there he turned the switch to start it and asked this question "why the gas hand on this thing registerin E?" haha, lots of lessons with these cars although if serviced right they will run forever.

BTW the mileage thing was the FIRST thing to come to mind when I got those wires routed correctly :) This time though I'll just post it to the end of that thread instead of making a whole other mud slinging thread lol. Thanks for noticing that bro:)

Gosh I am soo friggin long winded ain't I? Huha LaterZ my people
 

itwonder

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if you care enough to get involved, get the name and address of the Ford zone representative and send him your post in a letter. include a copy of the receipts. Ask him to investigate.
 

KyngofPop

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Ya think that'd help? I don't make a stink about much but this dude was elderly and owned the car since new.
 

93rev2sev

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Job one has nothing to do with sales, just production. It means they're making one car per minute.
 

hawkeye18

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Umm... so you've been having two cylinders' worth of raw unburned fuel pouring into your front catalytic converter for upwards of 100,000 miles? There is no way that thing still works - you need to replace that sucker ASAP before it crumbles into a million pieces and gets sucked up into cylinders 4-6, causing way bigger problems than a misfire.

And yes, the Haynes manual has the #5 and #6 cylinders reversed on the wire routing chart. The Helm manual has it correct, though.
 

sperold

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I am glad I bought the Helms at the time, if everyone else has it wrong, including Ford.
What a big mistake.
Probably a lot of SHOs sold or scrapped due to that one.
Kind of amazing you can still get 30 MPG from a car with 2 crossed wires.
 

Radical540

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Actually...."Quality is job 1" is a slogan that hasn't been used in many, many years.
 

sperold

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It is like everything else.
When they stop talking about it, that is when it happens.
Who does more advertising on spark plugs than Champion, yet it is not our recommended plug?

I bet the car came from the factory with correct wiring.
The original owner should have realized that all his problems started after Frederic did his plug wires, but when it is mixed with a lot of other things.... and it still runs, that clarity gets lost.
 
Last edited:

AREA 91

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I'll leave that up for debate. Got my current SHO back in April from it's original owner who'd had it serviced RELIGIOUSLY by the same ford dealer it's entire life according to the gaggle of service records he gave me upon purchase. I personally don't REALLY drive that hard but do when the feeling comes upon me.

There had always been a slight flat spot upon acceleration when coming from a standstill but I had attributed that to it having 245k miles and was just old. Lately I'd been driving a little more spirited than normal and been noticing a slight misfire/pop under acceleration at freeway speeds or when in high gear and heard a slight electrical noise kinda like a buzzing from a a short circuit?! I figured one of the wires had a break in it and decided to replace 'em. When I installed the wires I routed them EXACTLY as they were when I took them off and still had the same backfire/pop?!?!

I replaced the coil with 2 known good ones, 2 DIS modules, 2 TPS sensors and the same thing?!?! Well I did the proper veteran thing to do and came to the forum and did a search with the words firing order and lo and behold that was the friggin problem. The tech who did the recent 60K had the #4 and #6wires crossed. (i think that was it, can't remember my brain is tired from removing intake so many times)

The reason why I titled the thread as such is because this dude payed out the ASS to have Ford keep this thing in tip-top shape but how could they miss such a small thing. I went thru the paper work and the P/O paid $764 for a Crankshaft sensor, IAC valve, and cleaned throttle body due to paperworks notes of "runs rough, backfiring, Idle rough and stalls out.

The next service is roughly 6 thousand miles later where the guy complained of "skipping on take-off, slow to warm up" and some how there was a broken valve cover bolt in there drill out notated on the invoice hmmm. They did a FULL upper 60K to the tune of $1200 minus his .77 cent senior citizen discount.

NEXT service roughly 15K later "customer complains of backfire, stalling and Check engine light is on. Advises when light is on car runs rough and is hard to start". This time the 60k is done along with another crankshaft sensor to the tune of $1450 :eek:! .

If memory serves me right there's other receipts for 2 more DIS sensors(1 under Fords Goodwill warranty program), another crank sensor and various other sensors this guy was paying top dollar for. How could they miss something as simple as the plug wire routing? I mean it's labeled on the coil pack itself?? Do the service books have it wrong or something? I can say now though that the thing runs like a scalded KAT! Preciate the forum being here because if I had to pay what this guy were paying the car would've been crushed or running wrong it's entire life. What amazes me is that he KEPT taking it to the same dealer and the SAME guy worked on the car each time. Coincidentally the P/O's name was Frederick, my names Frederick and the service guys name was Frederick too....is that an omen?

Sorry for the novel but thanks for the help SHOforum and the search feature is a GODSEND, use it Newbies.

Here's another FORD technical term I use all the time.
It's called KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid!

Three words.
Universal Technical Institute.

It's a Great school.
 

SHOZ123

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If one cylinder is running rich then the other two would be running lean on that bank except at WOT.
 

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