Mike Trafton - Cam Failure #630

New 11/8/05

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Trafton <mtrafton@comcast.net>
To: Larry@v8sho.com
Sent: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 19:51:23 -0700
Subject: SHO class action suit

Hi Larry,
please add me to the list.

Mike Trafton
1996 SHO
VIN 1FALP54N9TA265984
Original owner
(del)
(del)
(del)

Cam gear came loose 2 weeks ago. About 115K miles on car. I am selling or donating the car as I do not want to spend the bucks required to repair the engine.

Thanks for getting the lawsuit started! I am really mad at Ford right now for not letting me know about this defect that is effectively costing me thousands of dollars. Hope we win it!

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Timothy Wright [mailto:buford_sho@comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 10:09 AM
To: mtrafton@comcast.net
Cc: Curtis Warner; larry@v8sho.com
Subject: Cam Failure

Mike,

I am filling in for Larry, My name is Timothy Wright (aka Buford). You are now in the class action suit, you info has been forwarded to our lawyers.

We could use more info, have you seen: http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/NewGuyorRecentCamFailure.htm

And please look at http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/MikeTraftonCamFailure630.htm

I redacted the address and phone #'s

Is it OK?

Thanks

Timothy

11/8/05

Hi Timothy,

Here is the additional info:
1) VIN - already supplied
2) Oct 22, 2005
3) city streets - when turning a corner at about 25-30 mph
4) approx 115K - car is at garage
5) 25-30 mph
6) not sure - either coasting or may have been slightly accelerating at end of turn
7) est. Sept 1996, new from dealer (demonstrator car)
8) probably just under 6000 mi
9) Michael Forrest Trafton, evenings (del)
10) I saw on one forum a mention of a ticking noise - I heard a ticking noise for a day or two before the failure. Was thinking I should get the car looked at. Sounded kind of like a lifter making the noise. When the failure occurred, the engine abruptly lost power then quit a couple seconds later. I coasted to the side of the road. I was able to restart the engine a couple of times, but it ran extremely rough (missing on several cylinders), and would die if I let the RPMs drop below 2 or 3 K. Had the car towed to my garage. Diagnosis from the mechanic was "one cam not turning" (I have the receipt stating this).
11) did not call customer service
12) n/a
13) private garage
14) n/a
15) Reading on the internet (v8sho.com) I ran across the cam failure description. Mechanic's diagnosis is consistent with the cam failure problem.
16) Estimated repair cost from garage was $4000+ to pull engine and make repairs. Mechanic located used engine (50K miles) in Denver; price of installing used engine was comparable. I decided to get rid of the SHO and spend the money on a new car instead. I will either sell it this week or I will donate it to charity early next week. I will attempt to get info on the actual failure mode from whoever repairs the car.
17) To make me a happy customer (which means I would consider buying Ford again) they would need to pay me $15K to compensate me for the loss of my car, based on the depressed car value due to the cam failure itself, the reduced "book value" of the a fully functional car due to public knowledge of the cam situation in SHO V8s, and the cost and inconvenience of having to buy a new car to replace the SHO.

Looks OK - Thanks!

What is the current status of the lawsuit?

Mike

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