Bad News: Engine Froze Up

01mgvert · Sep 27, 2004

On Sunday, I was driving on the freeway. When I accelerated, the car responded up to about 90 mph then it started to decelerate. I kept pushing the gas pedal but there was no response. I had AAA tow my car to a local Ford dealer where I have had other work done. They called this morning to tell me that my motor was frozen. For some reason, the pistons had seized. When I asked what caused this, they said that I would need to pay labor to have the engine torn apart to answer this question. Bottom line: I need a new motor. For about $5,000, they can exchange my engine for a rebuilt.

Good News: When I bought my 2001 Mustang GT last year, I purchased a 3 year extended warranty. The Ford dealer has contacted the warranty company to pay for the rebuild. The only thing that the warranty company has requested so far is service records. I contacted the local lube shop where I have my oil changed and they faxed the records of my regular oil changes to the warranty company.

Two Questions: (1) Do you think that the warranty company will pay? (2) If the warranty company pays, will they allow me to pay for upgrades, such as forged internals or a crate engine? Perhaps a follow-up question: Will a Mach I or Cobra engine fit easily into my GT?

tomustang · Sep 27, 2004

someone might look at the mods on your car and say "that inlet pipe caused it" or something like that. you gotta be careful with the mods, your warranty company might be really picky on those pieces, just be careful if they ask you if it's modded. see if ANY of those parts void your warranty FIRST.

jbrown · Sep 28, 2004

I wouldnt say much about the mods, tell the ford dealer if your warranty doesnt pay you will be taking your car elsewhere, this way them staying quiet will give them business. If I were you I would look for a cobra or mach engine but I'm not sure how easy the swap is, I thinkyou will need a differant computer and MAYBE a differant transmission. An 03 cobra engine without the eaton blower(so you can get an ati or kb instead) would be very nice.

lopey4.6 · Sep 28, 2004

First of all sorry to hear that. Never take your car to a lube stop. My friend was a manager there an you would not believe the stories. I doubt they would let you upgrade because they can't warranty the parts you provide. ood luck.

mity2 · Sep 28, 2004

I'm always bit iffy on these extended warrenty. Too many small guideline for them to deny any claime.
On my 99 Cougar I had, check engine light came on at around 45000mile. turned out that fuel pump or something was going(it wasn't quite dead yet, but would have soon enough). My edxtended warrenty comany denied my claime, because get this - I had aftermarket spring(no joke ), there for I altared the car, and viorated the contract guidline ..

I cancelled the reminder of warrenty, and got refund check of $1200, traded the POS cougar for my current GT, and used $1200 to put my Chrome AFS 03 Cobra wheel, and few other small thing.

license2ill · Sep 28, 2004

Your lube shop probably forgot to a.) put an oil filter back on, b.) put oil in the car, or c.) put the drain plug back on (that is if they even change oil this way in the first place)... mistakes do happen at these places.

Sorry to hear about your engine man. If I were you I'd try to find a '99 or '01 Cobra motor right now.

SlowRider · Sep 28, 2004

I had an extended warrenty when my tran went out. Once the work was approved a check less my deductable was sent to the shop. I asked the shop and they said I could put any tranny in I wanted but would have to pay the difference. I had no extra money at the time so in went a rebuilt T45 then another rebuilt 2 weeks later . but my warrenty company said they did not cover the new tranny cause it had a warrenty of its own. go figure. and they did not ask about any mods.

007 · Sep 28, 2004

In my experience extended warranties are very rarely actually honored. Ford tried to F**k me over with my 5 year warranty on my escort when the tranny failed at 38k miles after 2 years of owning the car. With a fairly well modified car, I wouldnt think it likely theyll pay anything. Just make sure you know where you current motor is, and whats happening with it. Dont let all your mods that are on it disappear...

Good luck

mackey · Sep 28, 2004

Change your oil yourself next time. I would NEVER let a shop touch my car unless it has to do with the rear axle.

bdcardinal · Sep 28, 2004

um, whoever said an 03 cobra motor without a blower, remember, you are talking about a motor with a 8.5:1 static compression ratio. that motor would be an absolute pig without a blower on it. and no a mach 1 motor isnt just a 03 cobra motor without the blower. there are many differences, iron vs aluminum block, compression ratio, forged internals vs cast/powered/hyper internals. you can run your stock transmission if you get a mach 1 motor, check out www.karkraft.com they always have good prices. just make sure you get one out of a 5 speed mach 1, (they have the stronger crank).
as to the person that said chenge your oil yourself, thats great, but there are people out there that would rather pay to have someone else do it. also they could not have the time, or the tools, or the knowhow to do it. i used to get mine changed by the dealer, then i started doing it myself, because i went to a school where i had a choice of 5 hoists and pretty much the whole snap-on catalog.

mity2 · Sep 28, 2004

bdcardinal said:
as to the person that said chenge your oil yourself, thats great, but there are people out there that would rather pay to have someone else do it.

I think he meant that that is ONLY way to be sure that it is done right?
I have my shope do it. not the I don't have tool or I don't know how. Just that amount of money I save by doing it myself(jack the car - hard with my lowering, drain oil, find someway to dispose used oil, change filter, pour oil all over everywhere in the porcess, pour oil back in) is way too time consuming. for extra few bucks, I'd rather just have someone else do it.

Ofcourse, I'm always hovering over the mechanics sholder, supervising every step tho

bdcardinal · Sep 28, 2004

ya when i worked at the dealer, i could say that i always did the job right, however i cant say that for other people. i think you just have to find a tech that you trust. i got pissed when i saw people bring in a case of Mobil 1, and the tch just shot the gun of mystery motorcraft in there and tossed the mobil 1 in their box.

cronin49 · Sep 28, 2004

lopey4.6 said:
First of all sorry to hear that. Never take your car to a lube stop. My friend was a manager there an you would not believe the stories. I doubt they would let you upgrade because they can't warranty the parts you provide. ood luck.

Please! I take my '03 vert to a lube shop every oil change. I watch them as they drain it and pour in full synthetic 5w20 out of 1 qt. bottles. What could they do to screw you? You talk about one shop.

nickthegenius · Sep 28, 2004

cronin49 said:
Please! I take my '03 vert to a lube shop every oil change. I watch them as they drain it and pour in full synthetic 5w20 out of 1 qt. bottles. What could they do to screw you? You talk about one shop.

Please don't take this the wrong way if any of you fit the following description, but most guys around here that work in lube shops are 18-20yo hacks that were high school auto-mechanics rejects and don't have the skill to get into a good shop or dealership. I wouldn't trust half of them to clean my windshield let alone any part of the car that could cause substantial damage.

highvolts · Sep 28, 2004

My previous car was a 92 tempo GLS with a 3.0 V6. It was a rare car.. needless to say.. they never put enough oil in it.. I'll never go to a lube shop..

RysRed96GT · Sep 28, 2004

jiffy lube is a joke. they never put in enough oil and always over-tighten the drain bolt. i had them change my rear-end fluid. they refused to put in friction modifier for the trans-loc until i had to show them the manual saying you have to add it in.

and then they tried to tell my dad that you have to change your transmission fluid every 3000 miles...its every 30K or so, but his manual for his vette said 60K. they're really idiots over there. plus they charge close to 70 bucks for an oil change. i just spend 28 bucks for everything and always do it myself and get it exact.

01mgvert · Sep 28, 2004

I've jumped through the first hoop with the warranty company. For the first hoop, they simply reviewed my service record (benefit of using the same lube shop). For the second hoop, they want the Ford dealer to tear down the motor and determine the cause of the damage. Since all internal parts are covered by the extended warranty, I am not too worried. Once the cause is determined, the warranty company will either pay out, have one of their own inspectors come out and look at the damage, or deny my claim. The Ford dealer feels pretty confident that the warranty company will come through. By the way, the oil and coolant levels were fine. I'll keep you guys updated on the continuing saga.

I'm still looking for feedback on options for a rebuild. I thought that I would see if the warranty company will allow me to pay for an upgrade to forged internals. Although these parts would make my engine stronger, they may not cover the new parts since they are not stock. What do you think?

Bad News: Engine Froze Up

01mgvert

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tomustang

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mity2

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