Advice and Guidance needed for Gen3 Coyote engine warranty!

[Mspider]

Are there any exhaust mods or catch can on the car? That can trigger dealers to think there could be further hidden modifications. Back when I was on the Camaro5 forum a guy had his engine failure denied under warranty over a friggin' catch can believe it or not.

Yup I remember that guy.

Been saying this for years. people have a bad understanding how easily ford can blame any part for almost any failure.

I have actually had a warranty claim denied on a 100% stock camaro! Luckily we fought it and won.

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[Qcman17]

Ford already approved my oil change history.
All of my oil changes were done at a mobile one facility.


Yes, I have a Corsa cat back exhaust system.
Plus I've put coilovers on it. I do understand that this might raise a red flag for other modifications, but there is none and the ecu diagnostic inspection should prove this without them needing me to sign off on potential labor costs.
They specifically mentioned Detonation, and detonation can be caused by excessive heat, bad spark timing or even oil in the combustion chamber...my concern is perhaps the engine did suffer from detonation and they're going to deny my warranty and falsely accuse me of tuning the engine, therefore wrongfully denying the warranty and sticking me with an excessive shop labor bill and a broken engine.

Yes I understand your concern. Typically tuning can be identified by key cycles on the car so I'm not sure why they wouldn't check that first. Also a borescope of the cylinders should be able to see detonation effects too. Not to mention if the car was really leaned out it would have a burnt sparkplug no doubt too. Something seems off with this on their end to me.

 

[Qcman17]

Yup I remember that guy.

Been saying this for years. people have a bad understanding how easily ford can blame any part for almost any failure.

I have actually had a warranty claim denied on a 100% stock camaro! Luckily we fought it and won.

Yeah it went all the way up to GM corporate and the poor bugger wound up rebuilding it himself. The LS3 was known to have metal shavings left in the block from machining that could take out the oil pumps which is exactly what happened to his.

 

[The Wolf]

Yes I understand your concern. Typically tuning can be identified by key cycles on the car so I'm not sure why they wouldn't check that first. Also a borescope of the cylinders should be able to see detonation effects too. Not to mention if the car was really leaned out it would have a burnt sparkplug no doubt too. Something seems off with this on their end to me.

Something feels off on their end...my feelings exactly!
Right now I'm going to ask for all details and information attained from the inspection, includinga full computer diagnostic report, that has been provided to Ford that had lead them to the decision of wanting me to sign off on having the dealer remove the cylinder heads.

 

[gone_n_60]

I don't have any good experience to add but I own a 2020 GT PP vert and interested to see how this plays out. I bought the Ford extended warranty and won't tune anything until is out of warranty. Adding things like springs or exhaust shouldn't be cause for turning down warranty on the engine.

 

[KingKona]

Something feels off on their end...my feelings exactly!
Right now I'm going to ask for all details and information attained from the inspection, includinga full computer diagnostic report, that has been provided to Ford that had lead them to the decision of wanting me to sign off on having the dealer remove the cylinder heads.

My guess is, the dealership isn't making all these requests, it's Ford's warranty department. The dealership gets paid, and paid well, to do warranty work. It's a big part of their bottom-line profit dollars.

So, it's probably Ford's warranty department making these demands. The dealership just wants to do the work and get paid for it.

 

[The Wolf]

I don't have any good experience to add but I own a 2020 GT PP vert and interested to see how this plays out. I bought the Ford extended warranty and won't tune anything until is out of warranty. Adding things like springs or exhaust shouldn't be cause for turning down warranty on the engine.

They haven't mentioned anything about the aftermarket exhaust or suspension parts...so far.
But I'm sure it raises a question about the possibility of other modifications.

 

[The Wolf]

My guess is, the dealership isn't making all these requests, it's Ford's warranty department. The dealership gets paid, and paid well, to do warranty work. It's a big part of their bottom-line profit dollars.

So, it's probably Ford's warranty department making these demands. The dealership just wants to do the work and get paid for it.

No matter who is making these requests and/or demands, it shouldn't be an issue for me to request a letter from either Ford Corporate or the dealership stating that a full forensic diagnostic scan of the ecu has been preformed and they are satisfied with the results.

 

[KingKona]

No matter who is making these requests and/or demands, it shouldn't be an issue for me to request a letter from either Ford Corporate or the dealership stating that a full forensic diagnostic scan of the ecu has been preformed and they are satisfied with the results.

Well......other than that you're not in a position to demand anything, sure.

I'd be treading very lightly here. Don't piss someone off and put a target on yourself and your car.

If you push back on this, it makes you look guilty, like you've tuned the car. Just sign it and let them do what they're going to do. They have to prove that you've done something, you're innocent until proven guilty. That's the way the laws regarding warranty claims work.

Well, except for Chevrolet, who just do whatever they want to do.

 

[The Wolf]

Well......other than that you're not in a position to demand anything, sure.

I'd be treading very lightly here. Don't piss someone off and put a target on yourself and your car.

If you push back on this, it makes you look guilty, like you've tuned the car. Just sign it and let them do what they're going to do. They have to prove that you've done something, you're innocent until proven guilty. That's the way the laws regarding warranty claims work.

Well, except for Chevrolet, who just do whatever they want to do.

I totally agree with treading lightly, but at the same time I don't want to be taken advantage of either...leaving me with a expensive labor bill for removing heads and an even more expensive dead engine.
Hence why I'm on here asking fellow members for advice and guidance.

 

[PoCoBob]

Nothing makes sense here. What does "some kind of catastrophic engine failure" mean? If you needed to be towed from the side of the road they should have known within a few hours of looking what the likely cause was. Catastrophic usually means a connecting rod through the side of the block or a broken valve train component. So what actually happened to your car? If they're asking for maintenance records I think you're in a bit of doodoo. But I wish you the best of luck.

 

[The Wolf]

Nothing makes sense here. What does "some kind of catastrophic engine failure" mean? If you needed to be towed from the side of the road they should have known within a few hours of looking what the likely cause was. Catastrophic usually means a connecting rod through the side of the block or a broken valve train component. So what actually happened to your car? If they're asking for maintenance records I think you're in a bit of doodoo. But I wish you the best of luck.

At the moment the engine had it's catastrophic event...just how I'm describing it...the engine made a huge bang noise and started shaking horribly. Check engine light started flashing and a few seconds later the low oil pressure warning came on. I had it towed home and when pulling it up on the wrecker noticed a large puddle of oil beneath. So something major broke, and this all happened at 1am, so I had a friends neighbor with a wrecker tow it home, then contacted my dealership the next day who advised me to call ford roadside assistance.
Now 4 weeks later they call and do not tell what they have learned from inspection but just want records, which already have been approved, and this request for potential labor fees for further inspection under the cylinder heads.
So this is why I'm researching and requesting advice and guidance because my dealer and ford seem to be leaving me in the dark...

 

[KingKona]

I totally agree with treading lightly, but at the same time I don't want to be taken advantage of either...leaving me with a expensive labor bill for removing heads and an even more expensive dead engine.
Hence why I'm on here asking fellow members for advice and guidance.

You haven't tuned the engine, so just go ahead and agree so they can get to working on the engine. What are your options at this point? Tell them no????

They'll tell you to come get your car the hell out of their dealership, they're done with it.

You're making up imaginary scenarios in your head, and letting them over-ride the real concerns to address, the reality of the situation.

 

[fmc_smt]

Ask for a mode 9 print out from an ids . That will show the ignition count . The count always reset to zero when pcm is flashed . If any warranty repair were done that had a pcm flash it starts at zero . They can check history and see if any dealer did a warranty flash .

 

[PoCoBob]

At the moment the engine had it's catastrophic event...just how I'm describing it...the engine made a huge bang noise and started shaking horribly. Check engine light started flashing and a few seconds later the low oil pressure warning came on. I had it towed home and when pulling it up on the wrecker noticed a large puddle of oil beneath. So something major broke, and this all happened at 1am, so I had a friends neighbor with a wrecker tow it home, then contacted my dealership the next day who advised me to call ford roadside assistance.
Now 4 weeks later they call and do not tell what they have learned from inspection but just want records, which already have been approved, and this request for potential labor fees for further inspection under the cylinder heads.
So this is why I'm researching and requesting advice and guidance because my dealer and ford seem to be leaving me in the dark...

I agree that it sounds like a catastrophic event. Since you've already said you haven't modified the engine or tune in any way let them go ahead and do whatever they want. It's up to them to prove you've caused the problem if they want to deny your claim. From what you've said they have no grounds to do that.

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