Replaced Voodoo Engine

[obspsd]

Update. Got the replacement engine which is an '19 "R". Had it about 3 weeks and 340 mi and on way to work it just shuttered real hard and sputtered. I was able to coast into a parking lot and have it towed in. Dealer said motor seized up and towed it to dealer that put engine in. The dealer that installed the motor says a piston hit spark plug. I am thinking a wrist pin came loose or maybe a faulty injector caused high compression that detonated the spark plug. With the virus situation the dealer is saying they have a skeleton crew and may be a while before they can replace motor. They have offered a loaner car sos far.

Wow. That’s disappointing.

 

[Frank.Herbst]

Getting the itch again to buy one of these... Is the inherent issue that's causing blown engines still a mystery?

Thx!

It does happen but very limited. As said before with the web giving people a place to tell their story we hear about in a manner that makes it sound like it's something new. It. Happens with all brands and even to non performance cars. It's just the web. If you want a great car just add a warranty and you should be fine.

Also don't count on every post being accurate. The guys that really have an engine problem will often post pictures and give good information on the process. I think some of the posts are fan boys from other brands just having fun stirring things up.

 

[Stang 19]

Getting the itch again to buy one of these... Is the inherent issue that's causing blown engines still a mystery?

Guess you got your question answered, Huh?

Thx!

 

[Ron Swanson]

It does happen but very limited. As said before with the web giving people a place to tell their story we hear about in a manner that makes it sound like it's something new. It. Happens with all brands and even to non performance cars. It's just the web. If you want a great car just add a warranty and you should be fine.

Also don't count on every post being accurate. The guys that really have an engine problem will often post pictures and give good information on the process. I think some of the posts are fan boys from other brands just having fun stirring things up.

Guess you got your question answered, Huh?

Sorry, I must be missing something?


I am not here to troll, I've driven this car numerous times and love them. I am looking to switch up cars again soon, so i was hoping we had some idea what the inherent issue with this engine is. I have no problem buying a car with inherent issues, all cars have them. I have a problem buying a car with an inherent issue that grenades engines and nobody has any idea why. There is some issue here, there's no denying it.

I'll back off if I'm just offending people, that's not my goal here. I am legitimately flabbergasted that no aftermarket provider of Mustang parts or performance shop has figured this out yet. I thought I was just missing a solution in my research.

 

[shogun32]

I have a problem buying a car with an inherent issue that grenades engines and nobody has any idea why.

Ford isn't publicly disclosing what the issue is, for sure. That's assuming they care to run it down. It's probably being chalked up to "manufacture variability" and being ignored. Or the solution is too expensive (QC incoming parts, changing supplier, paying for for a better quality of component) to bother with. If they're only losing 1% of engines and are making $$$ on each one such that there is no accounting loss at the end of the day, it's unlikely the problem will be addressed.

 

[orangegrower]

Sorry, I must be missing something?

As Showgun32 said Ford will never release any information on these failures. They are very tight lipped and do not allow the dealerships to dig into these engines. I have an 8 year powertrain warranty and sleep like a baby at night. Buy one and get a warranty and enjoy the ride. The failure rate is hard to track down and the cause is even harder to nail down.

 

[torque124]

As Showgun32 said Ford will never release any information on these failures. They are very tight lipped and do not allow the dealerships to dig into these engines. I have an 8 year powertrain warranty and sleep like a baby at night. Buy one and get a warranty and enjoy the ride. The failure rate is hard to track down and the cause is even harder to nail down.

What @orangegrower said.. I am on my powertrain warranty and I can extend it next year for another 24k miles and 3 years (which I will do) . Many if not all other performance car companies had engine failures which caused the whole engine to grenade... I even owned a few of them : BMW S85 engine (M5 with the V10, which was eating rod bearing for breakfast), E46 M3 (rod bearings again), Audi A4 turbo (fuel pump eating the camshaft due to follower wear, causing engine failure as debris will get into oil passages for sure above 100k miles), Porsche 911 Carrera with IMS shaft failure causing many engines to blow... Mercedes AMG C63 with cylinder walls too thin cracking...

It is the name of the game

 

[orangegrower]

Everybody will have theories on the failures. I have a few myself as I have built my fairshare of race engines. But without inside information from Ford Performance it's all speculation.

 

[03reptile]

I also think the GT350 engine is pretty substantial and reliable. I don't have the production figures for each full model year since 2016, but it's probably similar to the GT500's. In round figures I'd think around 4K cars a year, so that's approximately 16K cars out on the street. Given the oil usage and other failures reported on the forums, it's a small number. Granted there is an issue and we all know Ford will say nothing. And it's true that almost all manufacturers of performance engines have had issues. I'm just glad Ford has replaced the majority of engines that have failed, so we've got that going for us. I remember reading about the flat plane engine Ford was developing and how all other (mostly European) FP engines had far fewer liters than the GT350 engine, and that they had problems with larger displacement engines, so they stayed small; IE., Ferrari. I think all in all, the 5.2 FP engine is pretty damned amazing! Mine has been perfect..so far! LOL!

 

[Ron Swanson]

What @orangegrower said.. I am on my powertrain warranty and I can extend it next year for another 24k miles and 3 years (which I will do) . Many if not all other performance car companies had engine failures which caused the whole engine to grenade... I even owned a few of them : BMW S85 engine (M5 with the V10, which was eating rod bearing for breakfast), E46 M3 (rod bearings again), Audi A4 turbo (fuel pump eating the camshaft due to follower wear, causing engine failure as debris will get into oil passages for sure above 100k miles), Porsche 911 Carrera with IMS shaft failure causing many engines to blow... Mercedes AMG C63 with cylinder walls too thin cracking...

It is the name of the game

I have owned many of those engines you note as well, haha. (Minus the A4 and the M96 and whatever the other Porsche engines were called that had the IMS issue) And thats actually my point... the manufacturers and/or the aftermarket came to the rescue and these issues were WELL documented. Sure, you were buying a vehicle with these issues, but you *knew* the issue you were getting into.

For conversation sake:
- The M156 block in the C63 is stout as hell, the issues with that engine are all in its head. First it was head bolts (MB fixed this issue) and after a while the solid lifters will beat up the cams and you will get cam wear on the intake came bc of lack of less lubrication. But this is an issue that will creep up after 80, 100, 120k... not on a new engine.
- Although the S54, S65 and S85 all ate bearings (they also have well known VANOS issues), a.) these issues happen over time, and BMW released an updated bearing for those vehicles that fixed the issues. Would I replace bearings every 30kish if I tracked, and 60-80k for a street car... yeah I would. But again, the manufacturer admitted the issue and it was well documented on forums even before this.

Everybody will have theories on the failures. I have a few myself as I have built my fairshare of race engines. But without inside information from Ford Performance it's all speculation.

If you dont want to say, I understand, but I am curious to hear what the speculation is. I sort of get why Ford is tight lipped, although it disappoints me, but I am blown away theres not a performance shop that has torn a couple of these apart and has a pretty good idea whats going on.


However - I do get your point - an extended warranty is the way to go. I'm not a "warranty" guy. I wrench on cars for fun, its a hobby for me.. but I'll have to get over that and look into extended warranty options for this if I decide to take a plunge. Is everyone going through Ford directly to ensure the engine is covered with no BS?

 

[torque124]

[QUOTE="Ron Swanson, post: 2858884, member: 33681" Is everyone going through Ford directly to ensure the engine is covered with no BS?[/QUOTE]

Funny you should ask, but I just called around today, and Ford are the only one able to extend my powertrain warranty when it expires next year (after a quick inspection on the car).
If you are still under the bumper to bumper (3 years, 36k miles) warranty and want to extend it before it expires (within 41 months of starting) you can get it from anyone backed up by Ford, does not have to be Ford ...

Good luck

 

[Droopy1592]

My dealer found main bearing bad in cyl 4 causing the piston to do some bad things to the cylinder liner. Not sure why the bearing went bad though.

 

[DCShelby]

I think you mean rod bearing, main bearings are for the crank.

 

[Droopy1592]

I think you mean rod bearing, main bearings are for the crank.

you’re right. On the jack Daniels when I wrote it.

 

[AdamIsAdam]

We will know the problem area(s) as the cars go out of warranty and owners have to hire someone to fix them. Hopefully, it will be something that is fixable by the after market, like the great IMS bearing issue (which lost a class action suit). Those failures were as high as 9% in later 996's.

And of course there's the issue of how many failures there really are for the Voodoo vs any other car. I mean, there's a good chance that close to 100% of GT350 owners are at some point on some forum, Facebook thread, group, etc even if just occasionally. But take someone like my brother-in-law who lost the engine in his brand new Jag SUV mysteriously, I promise you, he's not investigating the reason on a forum. In fact, this sums up his knowledge and interest level in the engine when I asked him what was wrong with it exactly: "It's shot." And I said, "yes, but what specifically was wrong?" To which he replied: "It's TOTALLY shot."

Those people do not have their voices heard and their engine failures logged on line.