2020 GT350, 1000 miles DEAD with Broken Valve

[526 HRSE]

UPDATE: Dealer tells me that an engine has been order from ford performance and we are waiting on an ETA for delivery. I was also able to get additional info from an inside source that tells me that Ford continues to see GT350 engine failures (already noted on the forum), with the majority of them happening in the first 2000 miles or less.. They originally attributed it to red line abuse but after plugging the failed engines into the computer have found no evidence of abuse. They are still puzzled as to the multiple causes.

Not being an engineer but knowing Ford history, I can tell them that cutting corners by always buy the cheapest part is part of the problem. Inferior components on this type of car will lead to failures. I suspect the failed valve was part of poor quality that I am hopeful was addressed.

On the funnier side, the dealer also told me that they have yet to swap a 2020 GT350 motor but not to worry.........they should take a look at the cost of these cars and take a page out of bmw or some other high end car dealers playbook. Dealing with customers that spend a crap load of money and expect a certain level of service and communication is different than Fords sit and wait approach. I call every day at 4:30 for an update. They should be calling me daily. Expecting a call yet today regarding the engine delivery EAT, I am guessing I will need to call them.

I bet you were afraid they mentioned redline abuse, because i'd bet that was certainly the cause. lol

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[FlatRock]

The fact that a dealer just shrugs his shoulders at you and rubs the “great deal” you got in your face when facing engine failure on a NEW car is horrible. I personally think it’s worth letting Ford and a district manager know this. Customer service at its worst. This guy should have been a conduit to Ford for your solution, not a stumbling block. Amazing this kind of crap still exists when every dollar counts. Good for you in getting it repaired, and tell Ford Performance management to hire that tech, he’s wasted in that dealership.

 

[shogun32]

I bet you were afraid they mentioned redline abuse, because i'd bet that was certainly the cause.

then Ford didn't engineer the solution correctly. Either the redline is too high, the springs are bad, or they need to come clean about how often and for what duration redline can be maintained before the prob of failure goes way up. Isn't this like the dozen'th dropped valve in cylinder 7? There is clearly a problem with the engine design be it oil supply, vibration, or other factors.

 

[Elp_jc]

That's what happened with the Porsche GT3. After 2 straight years of engine failures, they finally lowered the rpm from 9 to 8K rpm. And until the engine was redesigned with solid lifters, then it was raised to 9 grand again. So it's certainly possible. By the way, is the VooDoo block the same as the Coyote, similar, or completely different? Curious about that. And if it is, was it just stroked out, or both? Thx.

 

[ice445]

then Ford didn't engineer the solution correctly. Either the redline is too high, the springs are bad, or they need to come clean about how often and for what duration redline can be maintained before the prob of failure goes way up. Isn't this like the dozen'th dropped valve in cylinder 7? There is clearly a problem with the engine design be it oil supply, vibration, or other factors.

Only thing that makes me wonder is that the majority of cases I've seen on here had the valves drop when pretty much nothing special was going on. Either at idle or cruising at low RPM. So I'm thinking bad metal from a supplier or faulty assembly process in some small way. It seems like if you get past the danger zone of being brand new, these engines put up with regular track use just fine.

 

[Huck FInn]

Here's some details on my engine failure. The forward intake valve of the third cylinder from front on the driver's side (dealer says it is No. 7) broke, dropping the entire valve into the cylinder except for the tip. The break occurred across the stem in the groove for the valve spring retainer keeper. The valve stem photo is an exhaust valve from a Detroit 12V149, showing a typical valve spring retainer and two-piece keeper. The break occurred at the bottom of the groove. I would guess the GT350 spring retainer and keeper of a similar design scheme. The break appears to be the result of a stress fracture as shown in the view where the stem is held by a small plier. I picked up the valve by the stem end with a magnet and while in the form of a pretzel it is still in one piece. The exhaust valve across from the dropped intake valve was apparently bent because it is extended into the cylinder about .15". My failure occurred at about 1,875 miles when the car was parked and the engine idling. It had never been revved beyond 6,000, and then not under heavy load. The dealer has been great, and very cooperative. The 'long block' is really the complete engine minus manifolds, fans, etc. It would be interesting to compare notes with others who have had valve breakage.

 

[Bullit69]

Thanks for sharing your experience. A photo of the completed masterpiece would be nice.

I’m happy for ya brotha!

 

[smalexander2]

Just a quick update: past the break in period and all is well.

She’s back where she belongs

 

[Bullit69]

Beautiful car! Glade you got back. I can only imagine your frustration.

I had an audio system installed in my GT, mines you I know how to install audio.... but decided to pay “ the pros”. They ended up breaking my manual trunk release located behind the seat, breaking the flaps to the trunk mechanism and scratching the plastic plate on my car.
I took it to Ford for a quote and called their regional manager to get squared away....

I saw this beast at the dealership also.

oh there were 2 GTs getting new engines also

 

[smalexander2]

awesome GT500, waiting for my lottery tickets to pay off then I will run right over to a dealer and get one. There's a new limited edition out that boosts the power by some 40 HP for just and extra $30K. Since it matches my current 2020 GT350 color scheme, I am going to get one....wait I hear my wife calling.......that would be NO.

 

[Gogoggansgo]

I haven’t been on this forum in years since selling off the 5.0 and getting into Ducati’s. Now i would like to comment because I’ve had first hand experience with a lot of the BS with the Gt350s and early coyotes first hand.
1) the vast majority of the engines failure are from outside forces aka bad supply chains, this is a major issue and Ford isn’t the only one who plays this game. I’ve seen them first hand have a bunch of crap doors on an explorer to only then charge the vendor instead of activity fix the issue, because they get money out of it and they just repaid the door or whatever. This is very common now in the automotive world now. Porsche found out
2) if the redline is the issue for break in then why isn’t there a limiter for 1500 miles, bmw does it on the s1000RR, 9000rpm till the first service then 14000rpm for days. My streetfighter V4 had a similar warning in the owners manual about keeping it under 7000rpm, yeah okay bro, you break it in slowly and by 1000 miles do some full WOTS. This is the best way to break in an engine, but anytime they don’t throw a break in limiter on it. The whole abuse aspect is just the blame game like the customer is the issue
3) NVH is still a major issue and honestly Ford needed to just make a real gen 2 gt350 engine from the ground up, because it’s become apparent overtime the can’t seem to keep reliability in check. And this comes down to a lot of things, but moving the engine assembly line away from Romeo and making it a one man operation isn’t helping

My point is what’s going with the gt350 is just a reflection of Ford at the moment, if it was me i would of dropped the car and walked away. Make them lemon law it with a branded title they hate that crap because they can’t move it at all

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