new 5/27/02
Hope this isn't too late.
VIN 1FALP54N7VA110997
Ian Macoomb
Ottawa, ON
My concern with the V8 SHO engine is the same as everybody else’s. I still owe a lot of money on the car. If one of the cams was to fail and destroy the engine, I would probably not be able to afford to fix it and I would be paying $460 a month for 3 more years for a dead car. I might be able to max out my credit cards (which isn't too far off right now) and have it fixed but I think I would sell the car after that.
There is no doubt in my mind that this problem will effect almost every V8 SHO at some point. It is clearly a design flaw and clearly Ford has done nothing but cover it up.
Had this been a problem with the 3 Litre Duratec, there would be 100 times as many failures and there would be a few deaths already from it. I can see someone needing there power brakes for an emergency stop when the engine has failed and they won't be able to stop. Luckily due to the small numbers of engines produced this hasn't happened (YET).
What I would like to see is Ford replacing every single cam out there. A discount of some kind on a new car will not work as I will probably never buy another Ford if I have to drive 20 hours to get my cams welded. If my engine fails it will become my personal crusade to prevent friends, family and strangers from buying Ford vehicles.
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Ian Macoomb
'97 ES/BS Taurus SHO
Ottawa, Ontario
1 K&N panel filter,
-2 passenger seats
14.966 @ 91.? mph
Ontario SHO Club,