I guess someone already passed on more that 30 days will force a Ford buy back in many states during the first year. Didn't want to go back through the thread.
If you want to see a spectacular picture of what went wrong, go to the first post - that's where the OP has updated the story. The big question is "how could that possibly happen?". One intake valve stem snapped just above the valve head, the head fell into the cylinder and flipped sideways so it was at right angles to its original position. Then the piston punched the disc of the valve head up through the seat into the intake tract. It's hard to figure out what you're looking at in the picture, until you realize that the round thing is the top of the valve head and the bright ring is the sealing surface. Considering that the other intake valve beside it is intact, the only conclusion I can reach is that the valve was defective. If it was caused by a broken rod or something, both valves would be damaged and they aren't. Fascinating.
I’m sorry to hear that, in terms of the buying process it has been a positive experience for me. I just emailed the MAS folks today, I’ll keep you updated as to how they are in terms of the post sale customer service.
Some times I wonder if these failures are the result of the process where the save money guys get involved. I think others have said they cut back on part costs and calculate the savings even after dealing with the acceptable failures. The idea of acceptable failures is understandable, maybe even acceptable untill it happens to one of us.
Those f*cks are always involved. Cost containment is the holy grail of all recently trained MBAs. Cost of Repair/retrofit * probability < cost of sourcing more reliable parts, QED buy the cheapest piece of sh*t they can get away with. This may mean buying from countries and suppliers who cheat on their material specifications and/or processes and definitely don't bother with honest quality control.
You nailed it...
Engineers should be trying to contain costs as well - assuming they are doing their jobs. No process is perfect. I wouldn't blame cost cutting for this engine problem. As far as I remember I've never even seen this failure before. So if this failure was due to some sort of cost-cutting, my opinion is that the correct manufacturing process was probably chosen. The valves in the Voodoo engine seem to be incredibly reliable (so far anyway). Crossing fingers...
See the OP's first post.
Is there an emotional attachment to the vehicle? I mean in almost all 50 States, any vehicle that is inop at the Service Center for 30-consecutive calendar days OR 30-days within a calendar year automatically qualifies as a Lemon Buy Back - period.
