GT350 Engine Refresh Time!

[bauern]

I contacted JE Pistons, Diamond, Manley and Mahle this week about current "shelf" pistons. Mahle makes the Voodoo pistons. There are a couple options and I'm deciding on which to go with next week.. I was really shocked at the new price for the OEM pistons...I not sure why they are that high and I remember I bought the OEM Voodoo rods, Pistons, pins, C clips and Rings for under $800 for my current motor in 2016. Trying to get to 13:1 is tricky if you want to keep the VCT. PTV clearance is much tighter in the Voodoo engine due to the 14mm lift cams and the domed pistons.
I'm afraid that even if you can get a custom piston to fit with larger dome that the flame front will be too compromised to make it worth the effort.

Interesting on the switch of part numbers for the tensioners. I ordered a pair of the GR3z's on 12/4 through fordparts and that's what I received. It could just be timing of the orders but I have found that the dealers online ordering/catalog have the wrong part numbers in some cases. They have the Coyote tensioners under the Voodoo page. The oil squirters listed for the Voodoo are also actually for the Coyote (they're also wrong on fordparts).

Stock rods have also increased in price to $75. making the Manleys more price competitive. They can be found for about $700 on sale with the base bolts. Gone are the days where you could buy the complete intake tract forward of the throttle body inc. maf, air filter and housing for $25.

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[AceOne]

Interesting on the switch of part numbers for the tensioners. I ordered a pair of the GR3z's on 12/4 through fordparts and that's what I received. It could just be timing of the orders but I have found that the dealers online ordering/catalog have the wrong part numbers in some cases. They have the Coyote tensioners under the Voodoo page. The oil squirters listed for the Voodoo are also actually for the Coyote (they're also wrong on fordparts).


Stock rods have also increased in price to $75. making the Manleys more price competitive. They can be found for about $700 on sale with the base bolts. Gone are the days where you could buy the complete intake tract forward of the throttle body inc. maf, air filter and housing for $25.

I sent an email earlier to the engineer for clarification on the tensioners.. I should know something for sure sometime this week. Squirters are totally different for Voodoo verse Coyote. My parts guy caught several of the coyote parts numbers that I had loaded into cart according to their online breakdown when I was making my list for the 5.2 build. Head gaskets were one of those bad parts. There are new head gaskets also for the newest blocks....there is a revised water port between the two exhaust valves that is now enlarged slightly so I believe they revised the gasket for that. I have not seen the new gasket yet though to confirm if that was the only change.

I tried to buy that intake track back then too after it was posted...order got decline after about a week.. :(

 

[AdamIsAdam]

The pistons and rings have been revised for tighter clearances for 18+ engines. The factory specs (tolerances) for piston to cylinder wall clearance minimums are now less than half of what they were in earlier engines..
The new OEM pistons are much more expensive too. Like $160+ each now.

Do you know if this change was made for all MY18 cars or was it a rolling change that depends on build date? (Owning a 2018, I'm hoping you'll say this change started on a hard date.)

The attached TSB on oil consumption was dated December 2017, so maybe this change was made to all engines produced after that point? Do we know?

The big question then is when did they start building the engines that were installed in MY 2018 cars?

If you look at the allocation/Production Timing document I attached, it seems to state that MY18 production started in October of 2017 (and November for non-R's), then stopped for Dec & Jan, and then resumed in Feb 2018 through June.

So when was the piston and piston ring change implemented?

My car is a Feb 2018 build date, do I have old or new piston rings?

 

[Darkane]

This is turning into a fantastic thread.

Thanks for all the info gentlemen.

 

[Zeromaz]

So you’re saying i should blow my engine so they can replace it with the freshly upgraded MY18 version. Hold my beer

 

[ClayDee]

I was thinking that as well. And parts counter but part numbers change all the time. Time will tell as mileage on the 18's accumulate.

I remember reading a while back in the blown engine thread a gentleman with a MY18 350, engine went kaput due to oil consumption. I'm almost positive his build date was after Jan 1st. I want to say it was after March when it was built, but it's been a while since I read that.

I have a MY18 built in March 18. Car has 1350 miles on it now, bought it with 5 miles off the showroom. No issues and hope I never have any.

 

[Sagittaria]

The pistons and rings have been revised for tighter clearances for 18+ engines. The factory specs (tolerances) for piston to cylinder wall clearance minimums are now less than half of what they were in earlier engines..
The new OEM pistons are much more expensive too. Like $160+ each now. There is a new chain tension revision also due out this spring. I just noticed the new part number is JL3Z -6L266-B. you might want to check into the revised pistons and rings if you were experiencing "excessive" oil consumption.

Wow. Good on Ford for addressing the issue if true. May I ask how you were able to obtain this information? Can it be verified?

Falls inline with what another forum member reported a couple months ago
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/updated-pistons-and-ring-packs-for-my18.113063/

Not a primary source or anything but worth adding. Also interested
/thread hijack

 

[EF300]

I had a 2017 that had a motor replacement about 6 weeks ago do to a fiasco related to the AC compressor. I'm assuming I got a 2018 long block. I'm going to see if I can find the production date for it. Hopefully I got the updates. So is anyone certain when the switch to the updated internals occurred? Great info here thanks.

 

[honeybadger]

Please keep engine replacement info to the blown engine thread guys .Trying to keep this focused on rebuilds.

Thanks!

 

[nastang87xx]

Am I the only one who's getting sick and tired of Savage Geese's mellow dramatic narcissism?

Anyway, moving on, does the service manual also give specs for ring gaps?

 

[EF300]

Please keep engine replacement info to the blown engine thread guys .Trying to keep this focused on rebuilds.

Thanks!

 

[482supersnake]

If you still have your heads handy, would you measure the exhaust port opening for me please?

 

[nastang87xx]

If you still have your heads handy, would you measure the exhaust port opening for me please?

• 38.3mm intake valve and 32.5mm exhaust valve

I believe they're 260 CFM on the exhaust side.

EDIT: Oops...port opening, not valves.

 

[honeybadger]

Had a chance to finish the engine tear down tonight. Everything looks fairly good me thinks. There is some light scoring on the cylinder walls, but nothing the fingernail can catch. Thinking of a quick honing, new piston rings, new main and rod bearings, a deep wash and I should be good. Am looking around a bit at pistons. @AceOne are there pistons that are OEM replacements worthwhile looking at?

Pics below:

Bit of skirt wear, but not bad

Piston slap wear. Slight - nothing that catches the fingernail. Consistent across all 8 cylinders.

Some on the very bottom as well

The big ol' FPC looks fantastic

Cams look pretty good as well. Is a bit of extra wear on the back cylinder for each bank. #8 for example:

Underneath the main bearings....a bit of wear.

 

[honeybadger]

If you still have your heads handy, would you measure the exhaust port opening for me please?

Ahh, just missed it. They're on their way to RGR right now. Will measure when I get back

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