Josh Cochrane - Cam Failure #488

New 12/27/2004

Hello and Merry Christmas!

My name is Josh Cochrane and I am a loyal V8 SHO enthusiast from Rochester, MN. I'm a long time fan of your site, have taken on many of the recommended modifications. This Christmas break (I'm a college student) I was planning on taking my car to Madison, WI to get my cams welded. About a week ago it started making that dreadful ticking noise I've heard so much about. Now, I've searched your site and can't find an exact answer to my question. This ticking noise COULD be anything (according to my brother-in-law) He's a dodge mechanic. My gut and his tells me I'm about to be the next failure. My question is, if my sprocket has started to rotate is a weld to late to save my car? I love this car and I don't know what I'd do without it:) It's currently on administrative leave until I can get into Madison, I just want to make sure, If they have started to fail, I can still save my car :)

Thanks
Josh

UPDATE (1/5/05)

Hey Josh Cochrane here - I'm cam failure # 488... Here to update my story... My cam sprocket HAS officially failed... Very interesting though, the one that did fail was on the forward intake shaft... Doug at PP in Madison, WI had never seen that one fail...

Took the trip to Madison, WI today to get my cams welded - a week or so before Christmas my car was making a "sewing machine" ticking noise. Had to rent a U-haul truck as well as a Dolly just to get it there, but the cost was worth it. I talked to Doug at performance plus on the 26th of Dec... he immediately fit me in to Jan 4... VERY VERY flexible to get me ( a college student )... I left at 3AM arrived at 8. Pulled up - noticed the Gen II in the parking lot. Doug came out greeted me... and took her into the shop. I stopped by an hour later... the engine was already apart. And sure enough one of my sprocket had wiggled over a 1/4". I'm one of those people that wouldn't have made it to the shop if I would have drove. Doug was super cool explaining it all to me step by step...awesome guy. Did the weld, and new spark plugs from start to finish in about 4 hours. I stopped by at 1:00...and I saw her in the parking lot ready to go... I go in pay and thank Doug with everything I got... Jumped in the car...no more sewing machine noise...instead she purrrrrrrrrred like a cat. I never enjoyed driving my car like I did out of that lot... I then looked down and SOMEONE had put a full tank of gas in it... Anyone in the upper Midwest/great lakes area... Take your car to PP in Madison, You get treated like royalty... You get more then what you pay for... I never thought I'd say that about taking my car to a mechanic...

On a more personal note... to all you folks of V8SHO... you saved my car, you provided excellent resources and information to me. I thank everyone for the e-mails and suggestions. My engine was literally a ticking time bomb, thanks to you the bomb was not detonated... I really appreciate everything... I'll be sending you all the info for the lawsuit shortly...

#@$@ you Ford...

-----Original Message-----
From: Joshua <coch0069@umn.edu>
To: larry@v8sho.com
Sent: Tue, 09 Aug 2005 04:34:16 CDT
Subject: 488 Failure Info

This is long overdue - I'm failure number 488...

Thanks
Josh

1. VIN#s - 1FALP54N1VA275511
2. Date of malfunction - Approx 12-25-04
3. Where did the malfunction take place (highway, city streets, driveway, parking lot, etc.) - In Driveway - Noticed ticking noise
4. Odometer reading at time of malfunction - ~130,000
5. How fast were you traveling? - 0 mph
6. Were you accelerating or staying at a constant speed? N/A
7. Estimated date of purchase, new or used? Used 12/03
8. Estimated Odometer reading at time of purchase - 96000
9. Full Name, address, and a good phone# to reach you at during the day and night.
Josh Cochrane
(Deleted)
10. Brief description of the time of events leading towards the malfunction. (what did you hear and see before, during, and after the malfunction) Just noticed the ticking... no abuse or harsh driving
11. Customer service phone # you called and the name of the person you talked to. (if you can remember) Went straight to Performance Plus in Madison
12. Did you feel satisfied with the answers customer service provided? Explain. Didn't contact Ford
13. Which dealership did you take your vehicle in for service? (name, address, phone#) - Didn't contact Ford
14. What was the cause of failure determined by the dealer? N/A
15. What was the cause of failure determined by you? N/A
16. How much was your statement? (I hope you kept your receipt) N/A
17. What can FOMOCO do to make you a satisfied Ford owner? Pay for the repair

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