new 5/25/02
V-8 SHO Engine Concern
1998 Ford Taurus SHO - 57k miles
2. Name, address, and good phone #:
3. Express your concern of the engine failures and your
determination of the
cause.
Although I have no immediate "concerns" as defined by Ford Customer Service, I feel that my pending "concern" for significant financial loss, investment, and value in this vehicle is valid and has merit based upon increasing reports of camshaft gear sprocket failure(s) in well maintained 3.4L V-8 SHO engines. A premature failure of this nature would result in major internal damage due to the interference design of this engine. My concern is heightened by the obscure lack of parts for these engines (not to mention their expense), the general lack of technical knowledge, skill / training of personnel to effect repairs on these vehicles, and the inherent downtime associated with the repair process. The high incident of documented cam failures indicate probable design flaws in its application and/or manufacturing / assembly processes with respect to only using a swaged process to mount splined cam sprockets onto the 4 shafts with no other locking mechanism for support - all should be treated as being suspect and may fail / slip with disastrous consequences.
4. What would you like for FOMOCO to solve this problem?
FOMOCO should assume full responsibility for permanent corrective action and repair for all 4 cams under a warranty recall campaign for 1996 - 1999 V-8 SHO owners. A campaign would need to include reimbursements for non-warranty and preventive maintenance repairs related to this serious issue.
My '98 SHO is primarily used in the performance of my job and it's continued reliability is of utmost importance to me, my family, my clients, and my company in addition to their safety.
Your prompt investigation, response and action in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Hayward
Current Ford products owned:
1998 Ford Taurus SHO - 57k
1993 Ford Taurus SHO - 132k