What problems does the GT350 REALLY have...

Trackaholic said:

I have a 2016 Track Pack with 27,000 miles. 4 track days. 2nd set of OEM tires (I think I got 20,000 out of the first set and 3 of the 4 track days).

My car does burn oil @ 1 quart/1500 miles or so. It's more than any other car I've owned, but it runs fine so I'm not worried about it. Will just keep driving it, tracking it, and will see how it holds up.

It does have some minor issues with the rear bumper fit against the 1/4 panels, but that seems to be pretty common.

A few rattles in specific places as well.

Really love the car.

-T

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To me that does seem a bit excessive. Unless it is due to the Track driving? You would think at some point the oil consumption would level off once the engine was broken in. I know there are guidelines in the manual in regards to normal oil consumption. I wonder if you track the car it somehow cancels Ford's warranty and all bets are off? If I purchase one I want to track it, but not at the risk of creating more oil consumption on a regular basis even after daily regular driving. Sorry, I am not a mechanic and have never tracked a car so hope I don't sound too ignorant when it comes to this.
Have you ever considered submitting a case to your local ford service center to have the engine analyzed and see if this is normal?

i feel like it is exaggerated a bit, but many who have had an issue didn’t come here on their first post to tell us about it. issues have plagued longstanding members too. it is a small sample size though, and every car has its issues.

i would test drive that one and if it checks out i would grab it. worrying about what might happen to your car because of all the bad things that’s happened to everyone else... is kind of like reading the symptoms of something on web MD then worrying yourself sick.

buy. drive. smile.

6500 miles on my R. I don't beat the living snot out of it but also don't miss an opportunity to have a good time and not afraid to go through some gears WOT...

I've been watching the oil. Over 3k miles, the level has gone from middle of the hash marks to the lower part of the hash marks - I finally added a little bit the other day - maybe .5. Not worried about it, at all.

Lorne34 said:

To me that does seem a bit excessive. Unless it is due to the Track driving? You would think at some point the oil consumption would level off once the engine was broken in. I know there are guidelines in the manual in regards to normal oil consumption. I wonder if you track the car it somehow cancels Ford's warranty and all bets are off? If I purchase one I want to track it, but not at the risk of creating more oil consumption on a regular basis even after daily regular driving. Sorry, I am not a mechanic and have never tracked a car so hope I don't sound too ignorant when it comes to this.
Have you ever considered submitting a case to your local ford service center to have the engine analyzed and see if this is normal?

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Doesn’t seem related to track use. I do drive mountain roads which means decent amounts of engine braking which Ford says could lead to oil consumption. They say the engine could consume 1 quart per 500 miles, so I don’t think the dealer will do much unless it gets that bad. I’m not seeing any smoke in the exhaust, so for now I’m just chalking it up to “luck of the draw” on my particular engine. Adding $10 every 1500 miles isn’t too expensive, so as long as it stays at that level I will consider it normal. We’ll see what happens as the miles accumulate.

-T

Trackaholic said:

Doesn’t seem related to track use. I do drive mountain roads which means decent amounts of engine braking which Ford says could lead to oil consumption. They say the engine could consume 1 quart per 500 miles, so I don’t think the dealer will do much unless it gets that bad. I’m not seeing any smoke in the exhaust, so for now I’m just chalking it up to “luck of the draw” on my particular engine. Adding $10 every 1500 miles isn’t too expensive, so as long as it stays at that level I will consider it normal. We’ll see what happens as the miles accumulate.

-T

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I think the engine braking really does it. I find myself on and off throttle on the highway a lot, and most of my exit ramps are right turns so I end up rev match downshifting.. I get about the same level of consumption with that kind of driving ... even moreso if I stay in 4th or 5th longer than necessary on the highway being a hoon.

I did a non scientific test sometime last year where I drove like a normal person for awhile ("economy" shifting etc) and - surely enough the consumption dramatically decreased.

stanglife said:

6500 miles on my R. I don't beat the living snot out of it but also don't miss an opportunity to have a good time and not afraid to go through some gears WOT...

I've been watching the oil. Over 3k miles, the level has gone from middle of the hash marks to the lower part of the hash marks - I finally added a little bit the other day - maybe .5. Not worried about it, at all.

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+1....almost my exact R experience...5500mi

I've had a '16 track pack with zero issues. I have a garage queen R with zero issues as well. I have another R that I drive every chance I get (which is about 3-4 times a week) with about 2K miles and minimal issues that could happen to any car (a slightly sticking thermostat, oil sensor dripped some oil, and a loose fastener on an intake runner). All items corrected by Ford in short order. I think of that stuff as just shakedown during break in. I've had a track weekend with it as well.

I never had a 350 that uses oil. I break my cars in correctly and always let it warm up. (don't idle it for extended periods, easy driving until the engine oil gets to 190F). I do an oil analysis after each oil change and have never found a problem.

I don't know what all the hub bub is about "all these GT350 problems", but did you ever stop to think that all the complaints are few and far between? The cooler fiasco was the only issue which brought about a stigma and brought about negative notoriety. That issue IMHO was blown way out of proportion, and was subsequently corrected by Ford offering mandatory coolers in all GT350 models as of the '17 model year.

So to get right to the point, I don't see any issues with these cars and don't see any reason why not to buy one. If they were junk, they wouldn't be in my garage.

One thing....piston slap....it's there. I find that regardless of oil temperature, you can still faintly hear it. I find that once there's just a little heat in the motor, I start adding some load - every gear, try to get some solid load and accelerate at maybe 60%. This gets heat into the piston itself and I notice that the sound goes away in short order. These engines are setup loose with extended high-RPM runs in mind - so the pistons need room to grow a bit. On the street, sometimes it's hard to get enough heat into them.

My 2005 GTO had piston slap bad in cold and would drive slow for about a block and it would go away. I've had a 2016 and now a 2017 Shelby 350 and guess just lucky. Cause neither one seems to have had it.

johnny1 said:

My 2005 GTO had piston slap bad in cold and would drive slow for about a block and it would go away. I've had a 2016 and now a 2017 Shelby 350 and guess just lucky. Cause neither one seems to have had it.

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Same here - no piston slap... even on -20 F cold starts.

Hack said:

Same here - no piston slap... even on -20 F cold starts.

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Mine has it. I suspect even when hot though its hard to notice over the exhaust.

Lorne34 said:

Thanks for the comments... and yes that has been my experience as well in regards to finding them with the convenience package. I have had several people mention that Ford had some OEM supply issues at some point with the leather seats and so the numbers are skewed toward the Recaros. If it's not a supply issue then I am not understanding why the over emphasis on the recaros. From my understanding a lot of guys don't track their cars and you would think more would want the creature comforts. The Recaros look cool, but they are a bear to get in and out of. I am 5' 7" and I had to manually pull the seat back every time when exiting and do a contortionist move to get over the bolster when entering....

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Lorne34, I believe it was that Ford underestimated the demand for the convenience package with the leather seats, thinking most would want the Recaros...when I was shopping for my 2017 (that I finally took delivery on in November of '17) there were very few non-Recaro GT350's available. Out of 45 GT350's I had located here in SoCal only a couple were non-Recaro. I'm fortunate, they fit me perfect but in a tight garage/parking space they are a pain to get in and out of. I'm more concerned about their long-term wear charateristics...my driver's seat is already looking a bit "used"...but once you press that little red button funny you can't remember anything about seats...

stanglife said:

One thing....piston slap....it's there. I find that regardless of oil temperature, you can still faintly hear it. I find that once there's just a little heat in the motor, I start adding some load - every gear, try to get some solid load and accelerate at maybe 60%. This gets heat into the piston itself and I notice that the sound goes away in short order. These engines are setup loose with extended high-RPM runs in mind - so the pistons need room to grow a bit. On the street, sometimes it's hard to get enough heat into them.

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I just rented a 5.0 GT in PBI with 3K miles on it that had piston slap. Once it warmed up, it was gone.

Piston slap is not 350 specific.

aham23 said:

I called they cover the 500 and the 350. You enter the VIN to confirm at payment. I’m well aware what the pricing is for all of them. Troy is legit.

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https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97249

bellwilliam said:

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97249

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lol. thats the end of that. i will ship you a cookie. whats the addy?