new 5/17/02
1. VIN#s: 1FALP54N2VA132924
2. Date of malfunction: 10/21/01
3. Where did the malfunction take place (highway, city streets, driveway, parking lot, etc.): On highway
4. Odometer reading at time of malfunction: 94,143
5. How fast were you traveling? 60 - 65 mph
6. Were you accelerating or staying at a constant speed? Downhill with cruise control set.
7. Estimated date of purchase, new or used? February 2001 Used
8. Estimated Odometer reading at time of purchase: 74,000
9. Full Name, address, and a good phone# to reach you at during the day and night: Carter Fujibayashi,
10. Brief description of the time of events leading towards the malfunction: On 10/12/01 I started noticing a ticking noise similar to out of adjustment valve lash. I asked a service writer at a local Ford dealer who said it was probably due for the 100,000 tune-up. Said I would have to leave it for several days due to backlog. The dealer I bought the car from said the noise was bad lifters. Said it would not be possible to get me in for a week at least. Noise seemed to dissipate as rpms rose. Was assured it was nothing serious. Several local shops said they would rather not work on a V8 SHO, recommended dealer. When the sprocket let loose the engine developed a bad miss and I saw the SES light come on. I was around 2,200 RPM with the cruise control on. I pulled off the pavement and the engine died as soon as I removed my foot from the accelerator pedal. I was able to restart but it would only chug.
11.Customer service phone # you called and the name of the person you talked to. (if you can remember): 1-800-392-3673 First person (female) hung up saying they could do nothing for me. Second call just got my Name, serial number and the initial information of my failure. Third call I made I was connected to a male voice of mid-eastern/Indian decent. Very courteous. Took all my information and repeated it back to be sure he had it all.
12. Did you feel satisfied with the answers customer service provided? Explain: First person, NO! She was not interested in anything other then it was almost her break time. No positive feedback, was disconnected. Second person said they had no records of these failures, took my initial info. Still not good but much better attitude. Third, YES. He was very sympathetic and was optimistic that I would hear something back from Ford one way or the other.
13. Which dealership did you take your vehicle in for service? Randal Ford of Ft. Smith, AR. for the transmission, they could not determine what was wrong with it when it would not shift and made a loud whining noise. Crawford County Ford of Van Buren, AR. also for the tranny, said nothing was wrong with it a week before it quit working. I have no confidence in either of these two dealers. Next closest dealer to me is in Oklahoma. I ended up taking it into a foreign car specialist (Porsche, Honda and Mazda, ASE certified mechanic) as several other independents refused to work on the Yamaha built motor. This mechanic had done work on V-6 SHO motors. (name, address, phone#) Perfect Performance, Jenny Lind Loop, Ft. Smith, AR. 72918, 479-996-6491 (now retired)
14. What was the cause of failure determined by the dealer? Dealer service writer suggested noise was caused by bad valve lash adjustment. Mechanic that fixed it said the cam sprocket was a motorcycle design that was not engineered for the loads sustained in an larger automobile application.
15. What was the cause of failure determined by you? The Exhaust Camshaft
sprocket broke free of the swedging bond from the camshaft tube as a result of
insufficient pressure of during the swedging action aggravated by the
fractional misalignment of the sprocket centers in relationship to the opposing
sprocket.
16. How much was your statement? (I hope you kept your receipt): $7,824.55
17. What can FOMOCO do to make you a satisfied Ford owner? Reimburse me
for at the very least the cost of the repair and the welding of the 4 new
camshafts that were installed in my motor. I am not asking for the
transportation of the SHO to the garage of repair or reimbursement of my rental
for the 5 weeks I was without my SHO.