2018 GT low rpm engine rattle, cylinder damage pics, Ford buyback process

[IronG]

Hey guys, new here and this is my first post. My car is a Roush RS2 with a blower. I just got this car in late June 2019 and only have 4700 miles on it. It has a build date of April 2018. As many of you have experienced, I too have a rattle coming from my 2018 Mustang 5.0L. It started rattling at close to 2000 miles and has only gotten worse. It used to only rattle during warm up between 200-2700rpm, now it’s gotten louder and more consistent.

I finally took it to the dealership only to have a technician tell me it was “normal clutch chatter”. At the time (about a month ago) when I first took it in, it wasn’t as loud and prominent as it is now. The tech seemed like a good dude and asked me to please bring it back if it got worse. That’s where I am now, I took it back on Tuesday and went for ride with the foreman. He took notice quickly and agreed that there is a noise coming from the motor. He said that it would be a couple of days before he can diagnose it.

I got a call back on Thursday confirming what I thought which was catastrophic engine failure. I spoke with the technician, he said that he drained the oil and found what he thought looked like glitter in the oil. He then took the filter apart and found lots of metal shavings in the cartridge. He basically said that everything would need to be replaced from the supercharger down, but would need approval from Roush before he could order the parts. He couldn’t tell me how long it would take to or couldn’t reassure me that this wouldn’t happen again with the new engine. “Unfortunately this has happened a lot with these cars” he said. Hmm…

Here is a video sound clip of what it sounded like:

From your clip, it sounds like every 18+ I have heard. You must have another clip with something that sounds like your engine is failing (catastrophic engine failure). Do you have a copy of the service order on what the tech found and post it?

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[IronG]

I've got the 2500ish RPM rattle on my 2019 GT. I noticed it about 700 miles in but suspect it did it all along and I didn't notice it til then. I'm about 4000 miles now and will do the first oil change in the next couple of weeks or so. I've used about 0,5 of a quart of oil so far which seems fine to me on a new engine. The car is an animal and I love the hell out of it. I'm not going to let a rattle ruin my enjoyment of this car. If there's a real problem there it will scatter to high hell and then the warranty comes in. If not it will keep on revving.

I'm still of the mind that this is related to the transition from Port Injection to the ramping up of the High Pressure Pump as it switches over to DI.

If is not a problem, they all make this rattle. Most people don't know what to listen for. Once you know you can pick it out on any 18+ Coyote. It became harder to hear after taking the sound tube out.

 

[Andy13186]

new engine going to sound the same or worse probably... mine sounds exactly like that

 

[vcast555]

If they're going right to the longblock replacement then you may be up and running in no time. My dealership initially had to pull the oil pan, which was on backorder, so that was a month. Then I initially was only approved for a short block, which was, yet again, on backorder. Once the shortblock arrived the tech took the heads off and found significant damage to one of the exhaust side camshafts and a longblock was approved. After that point the car was finished in about two weeks.

Unfortunately, in my case, no pictures were provided. I'm left with having no idea what sounds, that my car exhibited, were associated with the damage. The tech who worked on my car even said the same thing; no doubt in preparation for when I hit the button and heard all the same sounds. I'd be lying if the pessimist in me didn't think the whole thing was made up to appease a difficult customer.

I don't want you, or anyone else, to live in a state of paranoia with these cars. That's all. I've yet to hear one of these gen 3 coyotes NOT make the rattle to varying degrees. Yet the majority seem to be holding up to quite a bit of abuse. Maybe the tell tale sign is when the rattle remaind as loud, if not louder, at warm up. Who knows. I'm genuinely curious what's found on your end and hope to get a PM or see an update on this thread.


You're absolutely correct. Opening up an oil filter is one of the best things someone can do on every oil change.

Update: I went and spoke to the Roush tech today and he showed me the filter, you will need to zoom in to see the metal shavings that are still embedded in it, see attached. Although he hasn't torn it down, he seems to think that the issue derived from the main bearings. He advised me that a complete motor from the supercharger down to the oil pan was approved by Roush and was ordered on Friday. He expects the parts to arrive later this week and gave me an estimated date of completion is by end of next week. Hopefully everything goes as planned.

I'm with you, I don't want anyone to live in a state of paranoia either, however, if there is something that doesn't sound right, I feel that a professional explanation is in order. I believe you and everyone else who says that all these cars have some sort of rattle, I just haven't heard one that sounded as bad as mine in person. Actually, most that I've been around don't have an engine rattle like this, hopefully I won't either soon.

 

[vcast555]

From your clip, it sounds like every 18+ I have heard. You must have another clip with something that sounds like your engine is failing (catastrophic engine failure). Do you have a copy of the service order on what the tech found and post it?

To be fair, it hasn't failed yet, but was on its way, the car was still running when i took it in. When the paperwork gets done I will post it, I will make sure that they document as much detail as possible. That video really doesn't do justice to the actual sound of the rattle, it would be hard for me to believe that this many people would tolerate or ignore this noise coming from a new car. For the last couple of weeks, I literally thought this is the day, something is going to give, luckily it didn't. Again, as i mentioned in an earlier post, I believe there are a lot of these cars that have some rattling, I just don't think it was to the extent that i was experiencing.

 

[Andy13186]

To be fair, it hasn't failed yet, but was on its way, the car was still running when i took it in. When the paperwork gets done I will post it, I will make sure that they document as much detail as possible. That video really doesn't do justice to the actual sound of the rattle, it would be hard for me to believe that this many people would tolerate or ignore this noise coming from a new car. For the last couple of weeks, I literally thought this is the day, something is going to give, luckily it didn't. Again, as i mentioned in an earlier post, I believe there are a lot of these cars that have some rattling, I just don't think it was to the extent that i was experiencing.

lol mine sounded like this and ford said it was normal



Ive driven it hard for 10k miles since with ceratec in the oil every change and its been fine

 

[GT Pony]

I went and spoke to the Roush tech today and he showed me the filter, you will need to zoom in to see the metal shavings that are still embedded in it, see attached. Although he hasn't torn it down, he seems to think that the issue derived from the main bearings. He advised me that a complete motor from the supercharger down to the oil pan was approved by Roush and was ordered on Friday. He expects the parts to arrive later this week and gave me an estimated date of completion is by end of next week. Hopefully everything goes as planned.

Wonder if Ford splits the warranty coverage with Rouch. If it's rod or crank bearings it seems like a Ford defect and not something due to Rouch putting a supercharger on the car.

Looking forward to see what Rouch reports after the teardown. Hope they get you taken care of properly.

 

[YoloBathsalts]

I'm unfortunately back on this issue as of this week. My car started to exhibit a separate belt issue noise so I scheduled to take it in on Monday. My piston slap / rattle is getting worse. It's now making the noise even when the engine is warmed up to operational temp. The noise itself is very clearly coming form the right side of the engine and can be heard best at 2200 rpm in third gear under 10-20% load when cold. it sounds horrid. Just a solid metal smacking noise rapid fire. I'm at roughly 22k miles. I'm debating whether or not to ask the dealer to boroscope the cylinder walls now or later. The rattle really presented itself around 8k miles and has gotten progressively worse since then. I have not checked any oil filters to date but I'm debating having them do an oil change and requesting the oil filter to send off to blackstone. I'm honestly at a loss here. I love my car to death but I can't modify it which was half the reason I bought a mustang. I may record a video here when I go to lunch today just to document it and post it here for second opinions. My rattle sounds similar to the OP's. I'm fairly young (29) and look like Im in highschool so the biggest issue im having with the dealerships is that they don't take me seriously which is slightly ironic because I'm an laser engineer. I bought the car to daily and for seasonal track use, and I'm stuck here knowing I've got a rotten engine on the first brand new car I've gone and purchased. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I did purchase an extended warranty from the bank I'm loaning from up to 125k odo.

 

[GreenS550]

I can understand well the situation you are in. I'm 35 years older than you but experienced the same thing looking very young until my 30s. This is an opportunity to study yourself. Write down the things you need to say. Think it over. Then come up with what you will say at the dealership. Be incredibly respectful. No whining. Just firmly say you need the car looked over ASAP and see their response. If they talk down to you, ignore it. Re-affirm that this issues needs to be examined and the car repaired ASAP as you need it for work. Ignoring facial expressions and silly talk and staying on topic without losing your temper gives you the upper hand in negotiation. I have a lot of experience in negotiating and coaching. Your youth is an asset when you are a gentleman. Yet a firm one. The old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" is true if you are respectful. Eventually most any shop will empathize with your situation. Wish you success!

 

[YoloBathsalts]

I can understand well the situation you are in. I'm 35 years older than you but experienced the same thing looking very young until my 30s. This is an opportunity to study yourself. Write down the things you need to say. Think it over. Then come up with what you will say at the dealership. Be incredibly respectful. No whining. Just firmly say you need the car looked over ASAP and see their response. If they talk down to you, ignore it. Re-affirm that this issues needs to be examined and the car repaired ASAP as you need it for work. Ignoring facial expressions and silly talk and staying on topic without losing your temper gives you the upper hand in negotiation. I have a lot of experience in negotiating and coaching. Your youth is an asset when you are a gentleman. Yet a firm one. The old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" is true if you are respectful. Eventually most any shop will empathize with your situation. Wish you success!

Thank you for the response sir. I'm going to take the time to write out some bullet points this weekend before my trip in Monday morning. Luckily this dealership has been very good to me in terms of honoring service issues in the past so I am hoping they continue to work with me. My engine sounds incredibly similar to the original post videos if not slightly louder when cold. I'm still on the fence regarding the boroscope procedure now or 10k miles from now (provided the engine is still running.) I'm around Chicago so while the engine does get up to operational temp its still cold out so the noise is more prominent. The car will also have alot of cold starts so I fear the situation will worsen by the week.

 

[Andy13186]

Heres my blackstone, I had the worst BBQ tap and also the 2k rpm rattle since day 1. I used ceratec and that fixed the bbq tap, I now ignore the 2k RPM rattle. I drive the car hard every day probably hit 7500 on average about 10 times a day which I think justifies the oil consumption. I was using amsoil 0w30 , 2 bottles of ceratec, but I topped the oil level off with some castrol edge 5w20 I think.

 

[Cobra Jet]

I'm unfortunately back on this issue as of this week. My car started to exhibit a separate belt issue noise so I scheduled to take it in on Monday. My piston slap / rattle is getting worse. It's now making the noise even when the engine is warmed up to operational temp. The noise itself is very clearly coming form the right side of the engine and can be heard best at 2200 rpm in third gear under 10-20% load when cold. it sounds horrid. Just a solid metal smacking noise rapid fire. I'm at roughly 22k miles. I'm debating whether or not to ask the dealer to boroscope the cylinder walls now or later. The rattle really presented itself around 8k miles and has gotten progressively worse since then. I have not checked any oil filters to date but I'm debating having them do an oil change and requesting the oil filter to send off to blackstone. I'm honestly at a loss here. I love my car to death but I can't modify it which was half the reason I bought a mustang. I may record a video here when I go to lunch today just to document it and post it here for second opinions. My rattle sounds similar to the OP's. I'm fairly young (29) and look like Im in highschool so the biggest issue im having with the dealerships is that they don't take me seriously which is slightly ironic because I'm an laser engineer. I bought the car to daily and for seasonal track use, and I'm stuck here knowing I've got a rotten engine on the first brand new car I've gone and purchased. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I did purchase an extended warranty from the bank I'm loaning from up to 125k odo.

You own a 2018 5.0. The noise coming from the front of the engine could be likely the issue outlined in the attached TSB. If your Dealership is inept at finding the true sources of customer complaints during their diagnosis - print it, point to it and show them “this is what my car is doing”....

After that TSB is performed you shouldn’t have any more noise from the front of the engine...

 

[NIXPP2]

No idea how I missed this tsb, does anyone have video of the exact sound of the "chirp"? I get one at idle time to time and have always suspected something involving tensioners or oil return.

 

[YoloBathsalts]

You own a 2018 5.0. The noise coming from the front of the engine cloud be likely the issue outlined in the attached TSB. If your Dealership is inept at finding the true sources of customer complaints during their diagnosis - print it, point to it and show them “this is what my car is doing”....

After that TSB is performed you shouldn’t have any more noise from the front of the engine...

Printed and thank you. I had read this earlier and thought it was likely the problem. The noise has gone away since I called for the appointment but the underlying problem is obviously still there somewhere.

that TSB will not solve my engine rattle but at least its one problem down. I've posted videos below of both noises happening separately.

 

[YoloBathsalts]

https://imgur.com/a/H2w5NFn
I've uploaded two videos to an imgur post for those who are interested.

The first one is a video of the 2k rattle. The recording doesn't quite capture the noise well, alot of feedback and chatter in the video, its louder in person. You can really hear it towards the end.

The second one is the timing chain tensioner issue. that one is recorded fairly well.

@NIXPP2

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