2019 Mustang Bent Rod

[K4fxd]

Removal of the cat in and of itself will not cause engine damage. If it is or has been tuned that could.

If you are sure the car has never been tuned then the key cycles will jibe with the total hours and miles on the car.

If denied you do have grounds for appeal.

If they deny for tune make sure they document any evidence.

If they deny for no cats make sure you get a written reason for the cats to cause the rod to come apart.


Good luck

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[SheepDog]

Should I roll the dice and authorize the additional pictures?

I'm curious as to why you are on the fence about this anyway.

Worst case scenario is they tell you no.
Best case scenario is they perform the warranty work.
What do you have to lose at this point?

If the dealership is accusing you of having a tune, make them prove that it doesn't by reading the PCM.

You aren't "rolling the dice". If you don't approve the photos, it's 100% that they will not proceed.

A rod through the side of the block on an otherwise completely stock motor is highly unusual, especially at only 70k miles. Either you neglected maintenance or aren't being truthful on the modifications.

 

[Oakley]

"possible" tune means they don't know which means they can't prove it which means they have no legal standing to deny warranty. if you did nothing to jeopardize the warranty then jump through the hoops and raise hell if they get shady.

 

[1MeanZ]

You asked for advice, I'll state the obvious. Cutting the cats off was stupid. Now you're in a bad spot with a smelly car that gained no power from cutting them off.

I'd love to hear what you were doing when the engine blew up....

 

[1MeanZ]

Worst case scenario is they tell you no.
Best case scenario is they perform the warranty work.
What do you have to lose at this point?

He stated above it was going to be a few hundred bucks to get pictures. Sounds like the dealership is charging him a diag fee to take and submit the photos. He doesn't want to pay the money just to get denied.

You are correct however, you gotta give them the data they want you're guaranteed a denial. And dragging your feet on the approval just looks suspicious.

 

[SheepDog]

He doesn't want to pay the money just to get denied.

Still, no choice here. Pay for the pictures or absolutely get denied.

 

[Oakley]

He stated above it was going to be a few hundred bucks to get pictures. Sounds like the dealership is charging him a diag fee to take and submit the photos. He doesn't want to pay the money just to get denied.

You are correct however, you gotta give them the data they want you're guaranteed a denial. And dragging your feet on the approval just looks suspicious.

easy solution, and im not suggesting this its just one way to handle it.

if worse comes to worst one could pay the stealership with a credit card and then do a charge back if they were shady.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Whenever one modifies their car or any system on that car from factory spec one becomes their own warranty station.

I, too, have a bit of difficulty believing that the block was ventilated without improper operation, maintenance, or modification. I am not saying it can’t happen. Just saying that it is just a bit unusual.

 

[ORRadtech]

I can't help feeling that we're not getting all the history here?
Why cut out the cats and do nothing else? There are almost no advantages to removing them from a stock car and many disadvantages. And the coyote, in stock form, is a pretty tough, reliable engine. It's not impossible for a catastrophic failure but it would be highly unusual without some kind of warning.
And why question extra pictures when saying no just looks suspicious and almost certainly will trigger red flags to the warranty/insurance company?
Yeah, we're definitely not getting the whole story.

 

[geep81]

Yes you should authorize more pictures.

Yes you should let Ford take their slow ass time and investigate and get back to you before you do anything else.

Yes they are slow and annoying, but in the end you will get an answer.

You're definitely rolling the dice on whether they will cover it or not. Hope it's a really obvious fault and they feel bad about it and take care of it!

 

[Crew4991]

Sorry to hear OP. You aren't going to get very far without the photos since Ford warranty is asking for you to pay for them. Might as well roll the dice and hope for the best.

My opinion: These warranties are useless anyway. I hate them as you pay a bunch of money upfront for hypothetical protection and worry free driving yet here is just another example where the warranty company doesn't want to pay out and finding any way possible to make this your problem. I steer clear any warranty besides the original manufacturer warranty and just place that cash in a savings account for when life happens.

I hope you get those photos and they take car of you like they should.

 

[Goterr0r]

Removal of the cat in and of itself will not cause engine damage. If it is or has been tuned that could.

If you are sure the car has never been tuned then the key cycles will jibe with the total hours and miles on the car.

If denied you do have grounds for appeal.

If they deny for tune make sure they document any evidence.

If they deny for no cats make sure you get a written reason for the cats to cause the rod to come apart.


Good luck

100% agree that just a cat removal won't cause what happened. But most of the aftermarket warranties that i've seen over the years all have a provision around emissions equipment not being tampered with and blah blah. That is likely where the denial will come from.

 

[Cobra Jet]

There’s really not enough info to go by and lack of responses from OP is not helping.

First, it’s not mentioned anywhere, but is the OP the original owner (bought the car new) or is this a vehicle that was bought used? If the latter and it was bought used, it’s highly possible the car has (or had) a tune by a prior owner. If that is the case, as was mentioned, Ford Techs and Ford Engineering can immediately tell if the car was ever flashed for a tune via key counts…. No way around it. Now if the car was bought new and the owner has never tuned it… there’s something to argue with the Dealership and let them prove how or why they believe there is a tune.

—

The whole cutting off cats on a modern day daily driver is a total waste of time, money, and the aggravation that goes along with it. These engines and factory software programming is not like the past, they are very efficient engines and removing cats doesn’t do diddly for a street driven Mustang TODAY….

The problem when going in for ANY Warranty work, be it the original Ford 5/60 Powertrain or an aftermarket or Ford extended Warranty is this:
The moment you “modify” the systems (software OR hardware) from the As Built parameters OR start dicking with the PCM via Forscan or tunes - you have “tampered” with the vehicle and it’s no longer considered “As Built”. Therefore Ford has the discretion to void any part of an existing Warranty OR totally deny all work under a Warranty claim.

It’s not so much that the physical catalytic converters were removed from the exhaust stream…. The issue is once you remove them, you’re literally changing the dynamics of the PCM’s logic and all of the sensor feedback that’s tied into or monitor emissions.

As stupid as it may sound to some of you Barney Rubbles out there - once the air/fuel ratios and sensor parameters are changed, to compensate, which is what happens, THAT is affecting engine performance and reliability. THIS is why Ford can and does void warranty work IF the factory cats have been removed or hollowed out and a vehicle with a blown engine comes in for repair.

It’s not that the “exhaust” will make an engine throw a rod, it’s the change in parameters of the air/fuel ratios being affected that could have an adverse affect on extreme operation and or long term use (70k…..) where over time washing down the cylinders would eventually end in a later catastrophic event.

I’m NOT saying that is what happened, I’m giving clarity as to why a simple cat removal has a BIG impact on Ford’s decisions to say “nope” on a major warranty claim.

For all we know, the engine dropped a valve which caused the ventilation at speed …. Or maybe there was a money shift… or maybe the oil pump gear exploded …. or maybe the vehicle was low on oil … or …. or…

Right now everything is speculation until the OP gets more feedback from the Dealership on what direction Ford has decided in this case.

 

[robvas]

The whole cutting off cats on a modern day daily driver is a total waste of time, money, and the aggravation that goes along with it. These engines and factory software programming is not like the past, they are very efficient engines and removing cats doesn’t do diddly for a street driven Mustang TODAY….

This is definitely up for debate...

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/2018-gt-dyno-before-and-aft-mak-cat-delete.105082/

 

[Goterr0r]

You asked for advice, I'll state the obvious. Cutting the cats off was stupid. Now you're in a bad spot with a smelly car that gained no power from cutting them off.

I'd love to hear what you were doing when the engine blew up....

Money shift.... Lets see how long we can stay in a gear.... cheaping out on oil changes, etc all come to mind... Not everyday a basically (if it is) stock Coyote is going to window a block at that power level without something dumb going on. But you never know...

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Cylinder 2.....

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