new 5/21/02
-----Original Message-----
Wrom: YOQKEDOTWFAOBUZXU
Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 12:18 PM
To: 'tkymasters@msn.com'
Subject: engine failure
1. VIN#
1FALP54N1VA141808
2. Date of malfunction
April 24th 2002
3. Where did the malfunction take place (highway, city streets, driveway,
parking lot, etc.)
City Street
4. Odometer reading at time of malfunction
75,000
5. How fast were you traveling?
20 mph
6. Were you accelerating or staying at a constant speed?
Constant speed
7. Estimated date of purchase, new or used?
September 1998 used
8. Estimated Odometer reading at time of purchase
42,000 miles
9. Full Name, address, and a good phone# to reach you at during the day and
night.
Jeffrey P. Ward
10. Brief description of the time of events leading towards the malfunction.
(what did you hear and see before, during, and after the malfunction)
First started to here the ticking nose on Saturday 20th of April. Listened to
the nose on Saturday and thought is was maybe the bearing on the water pump or
power steering pump. Started asking around the Napa shops and my mechanic and by
the time they got back to me my wife used the car on Wednesday and while driving
back from school (which is only 2 miles from the house) that is when the failure
happened. When I got to the car I tried to start it but it just turned over.
That is when I determined that the timing was off. I took the valve cover off
and that is when I saw that the sprocket on the most front cam exhaust cam was
not turning.
11. Customer service phone # you called and the name of the person you talked
to. (if you can remember)
1(800) 241-FORD I did not got the name of the individual I spoke to.
12. Did you feel satisfied with the answers customer service provided?
Explain.
No I did not. She basically said that there is nothing ford can do for me. I
asked if there was any other cams with this problem and she said no.
13. Which dealership did you take your vehicle in for service? (name,address,
phone#)
I looked at it myself. I called my dealer after I knew the problem and asked
him about my warranty and he said I was past on the months but with my miles at
75000 I was under on the miles. So with the months over the warranty was over.
The dealership is Rizza Ford in Orland Park, 8100 west 159th street. Orland
Park, IL (708)403-0300.
14. What was the cause of failure determined by the dealer?
NA
15. What was the cause of failure determined by you?
The sprocket Spun on the Exhaust cam on the right side of the engine
allowing the piston to hit the Valves that were open on the intake cam side of
that head which was not moving.
16. How much was your statement? (I hope you kept your receipt)
I have not yet repaired the engine I have gotten a quote of $4000 for an
engine with 50,000 miles for me to put in or $5500 for the same 50,000 mile
engine and the shop do the work. I do not have kind of money laying around and
was waiting for ford to help me since this is obviously a defect in the
engineering of these cams.
17. What can FOMOCO do to make you a satisfied Ford owner?
They can offer to fix my engine and in some way guarantee me that this will
not happen again. If in fixing my engine they do the welding or pinning of the
cams that I have been reading about on v8sho.com. I had purchased this vehicle
because I thought that with getting the big 8 cylinder engine I would not have
any major problems. I had no problems up to this point and am very pleased with
the vehicle. But this type of problem does put second thoughts into my head.
Thank you for all of your help and I hope Ford makes the right decision on this
problem.
Jeffrey P. Ward
JWARD@ISO.COM