Any studies on how many Coyote engine have issues that need replacement

[Robotaz]

I‘ve been lurking for a couple of days because I see Mustangs in stock and am considering buying another.

i joined specifically to comment on this thread. I started out with my first car being. 1979 Mercury Capri 5.0 and most recently sold a 1992 F150 4.9L with 330,000 miles that I owned for 20 years. At age 49 I have owned Fords from age 16-47. Owned quite a few actually.

I had a ‘13 Grabber Blue V6 Premium convertible. Loved the car, but the top developed holes from the mechanism not working correctly and let’s just say I took a blood bath on that car and bailed. It also kept having the hydro bushings replaced for knocking until the dealer just said enough is enough and wouldn’t replace them anymore with only 15,000 miles.

Oddly, I went back to Ford and bought a ‘15 Mustang GT Premium with every option except the one that included ACC and auto wipers. It had a MT-82 that was so bad that I ended up trading it, again at about 15,000 miles. But the 5.0 was perfect. No noise. Not a single hiccup. Fantastic engine.

Fast forward to 2017 and I bought an F150 Lariat with the 5.0. I thought it would be bulletproof. Boy was I wrong. The engine developed an astonishing knock, that sounded like a badly loose wrist pin or something. The piston knock was crazy bad and sounded like it was going to blow up. Ford completely 100% screwed me over and over on that truck and I traded it to a stupid Honda dealer with about 7,000 miles.

my point here is two-fold. First, like all machines, this 5.0 can be a lemon. Or it can be fantastic. The problem isn’t the engine. The problem is Ford. They completely refused to deal with the F150. I was not just frustrated. They actually just wore me down until I was actually very unhappy in general, with anxiety and all kinds of issues just feeling completely screwed with a brand new truck.

My point here is to say all engines have issues, but Ford just doesn’t own their defects and help customers. Therefore, you’re really taking a huge gamble. I hear a lot of people say that’s what a warranty is for. But what good is a warranty that won’t be honored by the manufacturers. I guess the moral of my story is that you better have a fantastic dealer that you’re 100% confident will not leave you stranded because Ford just straight up does not care about you.

Take it for what it’s worth. I was a life-long Ford owner, but as good of a deal as the Mustang GT is, I don’t think I can bring myself to try it again.

edit - And I came back add a comment about complaints of cars rattling. My ‘13 and ‘15 Mustangs were two of the best cars I’ve ever owned for not rattling. I’ve owned now 26 new cars, including my current 2021 4Runner (my first Toyota ever), and if you think the Mustang is bad, you are in for a very rude awakening with other car brands. My 2006 F150 did not rattle once in 65,000 miles and was hands down the best interior quality of any of my 26 new cars. Honda, believe it or not, and I’ve owned 8-9 brand new ones in just the last 15 years, has surprisingly bad interior quality. The parts look and feel nice, but they scratch very, very easily and there are always rattles. This Toyota I drive now is a complete and total rattle trap. Drives me insane. The vehicle is crazy bullet proof all around, but interior quality is abysmal. I’ve had the roof ripped down and the entire sunroof and track system replaced trying to fix sunroof rattles and it’s actually even worse now. Had the truck at the dealer 5 times, which is extremely inconvenient, until they finally found the wiring harness rattling badly where it goes through the firewall. Still, when I hit bumps the truck sounds like it made out of Legos inside. When the dealer gave me a rental Yaris and shuttled me in a Sienna van, the Yaris had appalling rattles and pops and the Sienna had side doors on both sides that rattled loudly and constantly. Toyotas have very, very poor interior engineering quality. And my truck is made in Japan, shattering that myth that somehow it’s better than made in America.

Iam surprised to hear people complain about Mustang interiors. It honestly makes me wonder how much experience the people have with other cars and brands from the last 10-15 years. Oh, and my BMW M2, shockingly bad interior noise. Traded it away with 5,000 miles it was so annoying.

I recommend people try to fix rattles and be happy with their cars because it doesn’t get better. It gets worse, and I know.

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[Hack]

What shouldn't be overlooked is this fact:
The pool of members here is so small compared to the pool of Coyote owners who either don't post in forums or don't even go online.

The Coyote isn't only in the S550 - but has been available as a crate engine and is used in many other engine swap or kit car configurations.

To say the Coyote or VooDoo has issues or isn't reliable because of *some* posts on this site is a complete misleading thought or statement when looking at the bigger picture AND how many are out in the wild, as opposed to this little piece of the web with a small number of owners to both platforms.

I agree that there probably are few people on this forum compared to the total number of people that have Coyote engines. I disagree that posts on here about failures are misleading. If 100 members on this forum have new Coyotes and 2 of them post about problems, that gives an idea of what percentage of new Coyotes have problems. You might say it isn't statistically valid. Perhaps not, but it is generally predictive. Odds are the failure rate inside a sub-set of Coyote owners will be similar to the failure rate of the entirety.

 

[OLdchuck]

OP here:
Did not want to start a back and forth about Ford vs ?. I was just asking the question as had been away from the board for awhile. Any vehicle can have issues. Even Porsche had issues some 20 years ago with the IMS however, the dealers did not blink and offered new engines without question.
As mentioned, I can afford a Porsche however do not like to throw money away and the cost and maintenance was not something I wanted to deal with year after year especially when a warranty expires. Spending $50 large for an engine and trans is not something I wanted to do. They are also getting harder and harder to work on for the DIY guy.
I have always liked Mustangs and stated I have had four the last being a first gen Coyote S197.. I just wanted to get a factual assessment from owners and not start a back and forth.

 

[OLdchuck]

Need to update my vehicles as I sold the 2016 Porsche GTS.

 

[KingKona]

I agree that there probably are few people on this forum compared to the total number of people that have Coyote engines. I disagree that posts on here about failures are misleading. If 100 members on this forum have new Coyotes and 2 of them post about problems, that gives an idea of what percentage of new Coyotes have problems. You might say it isn't statistically valid. Perhaps not, but it is generally predictive. Odds are the failure rate inside a sub-set of Coyote owners will be similar to the failure rate of the entirety.

The information from members here is most specifically not representative of average Mustang reliability. M6G members are the ones that tune, modify, race, drag, and/or totally baby their engines and deny them proper break-in.

There's waaaaay too much obsession and modification going on here for objectivity to exist. M6G is the last place I would look to find objective information on Mustang reliability.

 

[OLdchuck]

Kona,
Knowing that about this forum I figured if ANY engines were suspect they would show up among enthusiasts. Agreed, most here are not always grocery getters and expect more of their cars and given that are most likely more critical.

 

[Hack]

The information from members here is most specifically not representative of average Mustang reliability. M6G members are the ones that tune, modify, race, drag, and/or totally baby their engines and deny them proper break-in.

There's waaaaay too much obsession and modification going on here for objectivity to exist. M6G is the last place I would look to find objective information on Mustang reliability.

I disagree with that. People who enjoy chatting on the internet about cars are not necessarily doing anything different than those who chat in person etc. I don't see the internet as a nexus defining how hard core of an automobile fan a person is. The most hardcore people probably are busy beating on their cars right now rather than typing like me.

 

[Sandy Law]

I owned a 2005 GT and absolutely loved it... throttle body had to be replaced twice... should have been a recall. Bought a Roush 2 in 2017 new. No problem until it rolls over to 73,000 miles.. waiting now for a new engine due to defective lobes/cams....Ford will not do anything money wise. I will never own another Ford or Coyote engine

 

[Bikeman315]

I owned a 2005 GT and absolutely loved it... throttle body had to be replaced twice... should have been a recall. Bought a Roush 2 in 2017 new. No problem until it rolls over to 73,000 miles.. waiting now for a new engine due to defective lobes/cams....Ford will not do anything money wise. I will never own another Ford or Coyote engine

Any reason for resurrecting a thread that’s been dead for over two years?

 

[Qcman17]

I owned a 2005 GT and absolutely loved it... throttle body had to be replaced twice... should have been a recall. Bought a Roush 2 in 2017 new. No problem until it rolls over to 73,000 miles.. waiting now for a new engine due to defective lobes/cams....Ford will not do anything money wise. I will never own another Ford or Coyote engine

Is that a boosted car I assume so if its a Roush?

 

[EFI]

Any reason for resurrecting a thread that’s been dead for over two years?

Which is exactly what was said in the beginning of this thread. It's usually only the ones bitchin' about the engine that post, while a vast majority of others that have good luck with it don't.

 

[1958cyclist]

If it helps, refer to my recent thread here about timing chain maintenance. I was surprised to find that there are some caveats regarding this system. Otherwise, with motors left in stock form, there doesn't seem to be any longevity issues, that have been popularized.

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