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New owner - engine failure

Nick@VaBeach

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Hey guys,

Been looking for a GT350 for a long time, finally pulled the trigger on a 2020 car in black. 7k miles, tech pack, beautiful car. Picked the car up on 9/16 from a Ford dealership. My first Ford, and my first Mustang.

Started driving home on some back roads, initially the car was driving great. Eventually got on the interstate and noticed a weird missing/skipping sensation at constant cruising throttle. Cruise control wouldn't stay set, and after about an hour a little wrench popped up saying "check manual". All temps were normal, I pulled over and checked the oil, new and fresh and at the normal level.

Pulled in to a Ford dealership near where I was, service was closed but the manager took a look. After I turned the car off the wrench disappeared so he couldn't figure anything out. No code was stored.

Continued driving the car home. Always restarted with no code, ran fine for a bit, and then got weirder with the missing/skipping/stutter at cruising speed the longer I drove. Car felt good in 1-4 accelerating, but then started acting up in 5th and 6th. Almost felt like the clutch was slipping, a weird miss then surge.

Got home, woke up the next morning and took the car to my local Ford dealership - not where I bought it - for them to see what was going on. Of course, on restart no code was stored, wrench was gone. Puttering around town, car felt normal.
IMG_2364.jpg

The dealership took a week to do anything. Then, when they looked they found no stored codes but noticed misfires while driving the car. They spent yesterday on the phone with Ford, then I got the word yesterday that they found very low compression in cyl. 5. Dealership is thinking the car will need an engine replacement. They are trying to figure out how such a serious problem didn't throw any sort of code or cause a limp mode. There are more diagnostics being run before Ford approves the replacement. There are apparently also some issues with the variable charging from the alternator so they're looking at that too. Ford seems to think the alternator can cause funky codes, but I don't see how it would cause low compression... to me low compressions = engine replacement but Ford wants more proof. I asked the dealership for compression/ leakdown documentation.

Just putting this story out there so anyone who starts having similar issues can see. Will keep this updated. I'm supposed to be speaking with both the dealership service manager and a Ford rep later. Definitely concerned about the immediate loss of value from the engine replacement, and how quickly an extremely minor problem turned into tens of thousands of dollars of work. We will see what happens.
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LSchicago

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Sorry to hear this. Of all the late model Mustangs, the GT350 definitely have the most engine issues. At least yours should still be under warranty.
 
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Nick@VaBeach

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The dealership is confirming warranty coverage, but as far as I know the car is 100% stock and has warranty remaining. Hoping they'll take care of everything, get it sorted, and that this will be the awesome car I think it can be.
 

Cobra Jet

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The dealership is confirming warranty coverage, but as far as I know the car is 100% stock and has warranty remaining. Hoping they'll take care of everything, get it sorted, and that this will be the awesome car I think it can be.
Out of curiosity, have you reached out to the selling dealer yet?

Was the car advertised by the Selling Dealer as "certified"?

Since it is now down, ask your Servicing Dealership to run an OASIS report and that you want a copy of it. This will show warranty start history, any repairs (warranty or not) at any Ford Dealer where it may have been serviced and any recalls that were performed or if any remain open.

Also to note - there was this TSB issued earlier this year, ask your Servicing Dealer if it was ever performed on that car.

GT350 Timing Chain TSB thread if you have not seen it:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/tsb-for-secondary-cam-chain-tensioner.158799/
 
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Nick@VaBeach

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I saw the OASIS report before I bought it, completely clean. The selling dealership certified that there were no outstanding recalls when I picked it up. It wasn't Ford "CPO" but it was/ is still under the original bumper-to-bumper warranty. I was thinking of the timing chain TSB when they certified no recalls (found that excellent information here so thanks to the forum for that). I called the selling dealership about an hour after I picked it up, and they're in the loop but not currently involved in the repair. I need to reach back out to them.

Received a call from the service manager at my local dealership this morning that Ford won't approve the engine replacement until the dealership installs a new alternator and reruns whatever diagnostics need to be run. The service department is not very communicative so I've really been struggling to get more information from them but they said their communications with Ford are "classified" but that they'd give me some documentation about the tests once the service is done and I pick the car up. Since this is my first Ford I don't really have a relationship with them, and I'm trying not to give them a hard time, but I'm also kinda freaked out that my very expensive new car is undergoing major repairs...

I'm going to try to call Ford to see if they can tell me exactly what's going on. I'm not the world's best mechanic but there's no alternator on earth that will restore compression in cyl. 5.
 

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sublime1996525

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I wouldn't be too freaked out. Right now your car is just getting a new alternator. I wouldn't call that a major repair. I get being concerned but it is under warranty. If you don't like the service that dealer is doing, maybe take it back to where you bought it. Unfortunately dealers/service departments are very hit or miss. Good luck and keep us updated.
 

Mspider

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I saw the OASIS report before I bought it, completely clean. The selling dealership certified that there were no outstanding recalls when I picked it up. It wasn't Ford "CPO" but it was/ is still under the original bumper-to-bumper warranty. I was thinking of the timing chain TSB when they certified no recalls (found that excellent information here so thanks to the forum for that). I called the selling dealership about an hour after I picked it up, and they're in the loop but not currently involved in the repair. I need to reach back out to them.

Received a call from the service manager at my local dealership this morning that Ford won't approve the engine replacement until the dealership installs a new alternator and reruns whatever diagnostics need to be run. The service department is not very communicative so I've really been struggling to get more information from them but they said their communications with Ford are "classified" but that they'd give me some documentation about the tests once the service is done and I pick the car up. Since this is my first Ford I don't really have a relationship with them, and I'm trying not to give them a hard time, but I'm also kinda freaked out that my very expensive new car is undergoing major repairs...

I'm going to try to call Ford to see if they can tell me exactly what's going on. I'm not the world's best mechanic but there's no alternator on earth that will restore compression in cyl. 5.
The CPO simply means the car has been certified used. But you should still have warranty regardless.

Only thing to really worry about is if the car was tuned, lack of maintenance, or previous owner abused the car. But its part of the risk you decided to take on. So hopefully everything checks out and you get a new engine/free repair.
 
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Nick@VaBeach

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The CPO simply means the car has been certified used. But you should still have warranty regardless.

Only thing to really worry about is if the car was tuned, lack of maintenance, or previous owner abused the car. But its part of the risk you decided to take on. So hopefully everything checks out and you get a new engine/free repair.
Yeah, hopefully everything checks out. I certainly did not agree to take on the risk of a tuned or abused car, and I expect that Ford will cover whatever work is necessary under warranty.
 

460Fred

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So sorry to here about this. One thing I guarantee is Ford will eventually take care of the problem, eventually šŸ˜‰
Itā€˜s easy for those of us not going through this to say youā€™ll be just fine.
Post Covid everything is flat out screwed up. Supply chains, employee issues and many other things have changed the way things are done. Customer service has changed forever. Sad. I recently retired from an automotIve repair industry. I was self employed and worked for all dealerships. Before Covid, dealerships had problems. Post Covid, all hell has broken loose, itā€™s a disaster.
Try and stay on top of everything, including meeting the guy who will replace your engineā€¦.it makes a difference.
Just try and be thankful you have a warranty and think long and hard about extending that warranty before itā€™s needed.
Iā€˜m all but certain things were checked before you were told the factory warranty will cover your problem. Meaning no tune or anything that would void the factory warranty was done.
 

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I'm going to try to call Ford to see if they can tell me exactly what's going on. I'm not the world's best mechanic but there's no alternator on earth that will restore compression in cyl. 5.
For all you know, they got the compression issue wrong. Rep may have spoken out of place. Hence the bird dogging of an electrical issue.

When under warranty, they tend to keep the info close to the vest.
 

Inthehighdesert

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I wouldnā€™t be to concerned if you do need an engine swap. There arenā€™t many 20ā€™s running around or for sale. It wonā€™t affect your value, thatā€˜s over blown in my opinion. It sucks its happening but generally Ford takes real good care of these cars with the customers.
 

Mspider

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Yeah, hopefully everything checks out. I certainly did not agree to take on the risk of a tuned or abused car, and I expect that Ford will cover whatever work is necessary under warranty.

OP
So sorry to here about this. One thing I guarantee is Ford will eventually take care of the problem, eventually šŸ˜‰
Itā€˜s easy for those of us not going through this to say youā€™ll be just fine.
Post Covid everything is flat out screwed up. Supply chains, employee issues and many other things have changed the way things are done. Customer service has changed forever. Sad. I recently retired from an automotIve repair industry. I was self employed and worked for all dealerships. Before Covid, dealerships had problems. Post Covid, all hell has broken loose, itā€™s a disaster.
Try and stay on top of everything, including meeting the guy who will replace your engineā€¦.it makes a difference.
Just try and be thankful you have a warranty and think long and hard about extending that warranty before itā€™s needed.
Iā€˜m all but certain things were checked before you were told the factory warranty will cover your problem. Meaning no tune or anything that would void the factory warranty was done.
If the car was modded or proven that it was abused. If anything it will be the dealerships problem, not Ford.

But hopefully this won`t be the case, but its something people need to be aware of.
 

AvalancheSVT

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okay, so a few things jump out so maybe this will help ease your mind

1. low power will cause all kinds of wacky stuff on any kind of car
2. these newer cars have EVERYTHING dependent upon the electrical system
3. that includes your throttle body. voltage required to actuate it dips for a bit then by the time it receives the right voltage time has passed and it "wakes up" then orients to the correct position causing a surge.

long story short, just enjoy knowing you have a very special car that is still under warranty and the stuff you're talking about could easily be something simple.
 

cortez

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...Continued driving the car home. Always restarted with no code, ran fine for a bit, and then got weirder with the missing/skipping/stutter at cruising speed the longer I drove. Car felt good in 1-4 accelerating, but then started acting up in 5th and 6th. Almost felt like the clutch was slipping, a weird miss then surge.
i have a 2020 model that exhibited the same behavior i bolded above. I also experienced cruise control issues in 5th/6th gear. the dealership replaced the alternator and battery first, but this didn't fix my issues. The real culprit in my case was the Tone Ring; there was a TSB for 2019 models, but it was expanded to include 2020 models. Once the Tone Ring was replaced, no more surging, cruise control issues and stuttering. i'm not suggesting this is your issue; just adding my observations incase your dealership's current troubleshooting doesn't resolve the problem.
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