Melted Piston!.... Engine Block Swap

[SHO U UP]

That's the exciting part for me anyway, being on the forefront. I bought my Lighting a little late and felt like I could never catch up although guys are doing insane things with those trucks. I loved my truck but my family grew and I didn't want to try to get the kids in around a rollcage all the time!

I like the experimental part of the new engine. We'll see how it goes. I know Livernois isn't opposed to doing an engine program with the Ecoboost but I think financially it won't be beneficial for them until it's put in more platforms

I hear ya. The Lightning is not a DD by any means and the roll cage is all I have left to basically do. Insane isn't the word that these things are now becoming. I drove mine today for the first time in 3 weeks and loved every second of it. Especially ripping up a Porsche Cayenne. (I rubbed that into my wife oh so bad too)

And as for any company working with the Eco motors, they would have to have different apps to work with for a profit for sure. That seems to what had killed the original SHOs, especially the V-8s, since everyone in the aftermarket just did very little or nothing at all. I really feel we as Gen 4 owners will finally have a right good size list of aftermarket parts at our disposal. :sun:

 

[2010sho]

I'm amazed that a dealership will tie up a hoist for that length of time. That hoist is costing them $$$$$$.

I would hate to be in your shoes. The best of luck thou

 

[SHOsc]

This is what it looks like under the lift at the dealership...

 

[roadhammer]

Status update, is your car done? if not, whats gives?

 

[SHO U UP]

Status update, is your car done? if not, whats gives?

IIRC, he is waiting on the long block still. Back ordered was it??

 

[SHOsc]

Motor was in route on Monday and possibly delivered. I am expecting a call today or tomorrow for pick up.

They did not "hoist" the engine out, they dropped EVERYTHING out from under the hood. If you look at the pictures, its all just sitting there. Is there a QC reason for concern with them basically rebuilding my entire front end?

Any suggestions for questions i should ask when i pick it up?

 

[SHO U UP]

IIRC, it needs to be aligned anytime the subframe is unbolted and shifted around bud.

 

[bill murray]

SHOsc:

What I am about to post may not be what you want to read and may not be popular in general, but........

I spent 25 years at the Corporate/Manufacturer level with Volvo and SAAB dealing with Parts/Service/Warranty issues. I think I know a bit about how cases such as yours should be handled.

I also spent maybe 10 minutes looking at your photos of your SHO in the dealership service bay and I then showed those photos to some of the Ford Techs at my local dealership. These guys and girls are pretty good and very honest.

I say, and they said, "What is Ford Thinking"???

Your car has something like 20K miles on it, it is darn near new, and the whole power train, basically, is strewn all over the service bay.

With all due respect to the best Techs in the business at the dealership level, the chance of putting all of those assemblies and sub assemblies back together in the same way the laser guided robots do it on the assembly line, backed up by all sorts of hydraulic assisted tools is slim to none.

I would think you would be well within your rights to say, "Thanks for the Long Block but No Thanks". "A new replacement car would be just fine for me". In today's legal climate, I am not sure how you could accomplish this but I for one would sure try to find out how.

If this happened to my totally unmodified SHO at that mileage, it would be left at the dealership and no further payments would be made and if they came after me, we would go to litigation.

One man's opinion.

Bill

 

[SHO U UP]

Bill makes a very valuable point there guys. Several of us out here have dropped many subframes in the older Gens. Piece of cake to many as they do them all the time. But this is a totally different monster. This isn't your run of the mill Taurus that has been around for a few years. I would hope Ford would bring in a tech that is familiar with this new platform to do the long block swap. I've installed heads before on motors, and its very intricate when it comes to details, clearances, torque specs, etc. Not including all the other crap that has to go on also.

Like Bill said, maybe its time to walk away now or keep with what you're wanting to do and sell it when its done. It does look like a cluster f&^% under that car and I can tell ya, from just being human, if you take something apart a week ago, let alone how long this thing has been down, you will forget where something goes. And then add in that this will probably be the first time that dealership does this kind of work, and it can spell disaster. I know the techs go to school for this kind of stuff, but let's just hope he/she is a dedicated tech and will treat the car like it was their own. I wish them good luck and hope this car comes out like new.

 

[sperold]

I would plant the idea that you have doubts about the outcome of this major undertaking.
I would let them know that you don't want to be called the very minute the car is done. You want to be called, to pick it up, after it has been operated and tested by their top guys and deemed to be in perfect condition again.
It will be a lot harder to get that rental paid for, after you have your car back a week or two. You will quickly move from valued customer to whiney, pain in the a** customer, after your forth or fifth time back. Let them know you don't want it back until it is proven, and all the issues are addressed, and come-back visit problems have been solved.
All car companies are more focused on getting new customers than they are retaining current customers..... so you are not their primary focus.

I would also make every effort to get an explanation of what went wrong.... there must be an analysis and report somewhere. I would be worried that the condition sensors that feed information to your motor are sending bad information. If that is the case, and it isn't resolved, the things that killed your motor in 20,000 miles will still be a work on your new motor.

 

[SHOsc]

Thanks for the input Bill. I too am concerned over the reassembly. If i incur any issues once i receive it, i will then pursue further action. I was assured there was nothing i could do until ford has the chance to repair it. I fully expect it to handle and ride like minute before the engine went crazy. I would expect there will be someone from the factory in town to inspect the reassembly of the vehicle.

At this point, i am positive about what i can expect until further issues.

 

[SHOsc]

Update:
Picked up car this afternoon. Made it one block and returned it. I will keep everybody updated, but i do not want to go into specifics at this point.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

With all due respect to the best Techs in the business at the dealership level, the chance of putting all of those assemblies and sub assemblies back together in the same way the laser guided robots do it on the assembly line, backed up by all sorts of hydraulic assisted tools is slim to none.

I would think you would be well within your rights to say, "Thanks for the Long Block but No Thanks". "A new replacement car would be just fine for me". In today's legal climate, I am not sure how you could accomplish this but I for one would sure try to find out how.

Based on the convention tour the Cleveland Engine Plant and having installed a number of OE Ford long blocks myself (up until about 2005 you could still get a V8 SHO long block from Ford), I can tell you that a long block from Ford is going to be made on the same line by the same people and equipment as the original engine, and it's going to be packaged in such a way that all the dealer has to do is attach it to the tranny on the subframe, connect all the harnesses, stuff it in the car, connect all the hoses, remaining harnesses, exhaust, etc., etc. and get it running. It's about as close as you can get to plug-and-play away from the assembly line.

SHOsc doesn't go into why he turned around and brought the car back, but I agree that the car should have been returned to him in as-new condition.

 

[SHO U UP]

Update:
Picked up car this afternoon. Made it one block and returned it. I will keep everybody updated, but i do not want to go into specifics at this point.

This ain't looking good.

 

[Jh8990]

Update:
Picked up car this afternoon. Made it one block and returned it. I will keep everybody updated, but i do not want to go into specifics at this point.

 

[Roadboss]

SHOsc have you gotten straighten out with the car yet?

 

[SHOsc]

Will be 7 days tomorrow since i made it one block from the dealership. I have not heard a word. I have a phone appointment with a Ford Rep tomorrow for a check up.

As of this week. I have sought "professional help".

Tomorrow marks 51 days without my SHO.

 

[SHO U UP]

Will be 7 days tomorrow since i made it one block from the dealership. I have not heard a word. I have a phone appointment with a Ford Rep tomorrow for a check up.

As of this week. I have sought "professional help".

Tomorrow marks 51 days without my SHO.

 

[SHOsc]

Called today to check on my car after i had returned it. The service advisor who i had been working with said come pick it up, its been done since Thursday. As you can imagine i asked why he didn't call. "i didn't have your number" was my answer.........


I picked it up, asked if it was aligned. He said yes. After a few minutes, i could tell it was not aligned, and i will be back in the morning to get that done...(again).

I took off the ecoboost cover to inspect my new 2011 block..nice and Shiney. Has the 5w-30 cap that is being discussed on another thread. I did notice a screw into the intake manifold? that was about half out. This of course leaves me with even more discomfort about this vehicle being disassembled and reassembled by nothing more than a few phone calls to ford.

So, this is where i am...I am awaiting word back to see what my "professional help" can do.

Please lease any comments or advice, i will be asking to speak with the service manager who i have never worked with tomorrow.

 

[sperold]

Good luck on this. See post 110 again for reference. Try to get the message across that when you pick the car up this time, that it represents the best job the dealership can do, and to do more, or better, is beyond their capabilities.
Your service adviser sounds like an a**. In this economy, they should be able to hire a better one.