Saying goodbye to my S550

[BlueAngel19]

Experience with my S550 has been a nightmare. At first I had always been dreaming of a mustang for many years and finally got a 2019 GT with only 30k miles. It was intended as a daily/weekend car but shortly turned into a project. My experience does not represent all S550's.

Nevertheless, shortly after owning it stalled at stops/in traffic and rough idle with no codes. Figured it was a vac leak or VCT solenoids so I tore into it and discovered premature camshaft wear on the lobes/followers on left bank with some metal in oil. Cause? Undetermined. (Car had a perfect oil change history and the engine was perfectly clean on the inside). This is rare, one other forum member has a thread on this.

More details here: https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/abnormal-camshaft-lobe-wear.209347/

Anyways, replaced cams along with new phasers, solenoids, timing chains, etc. $3k later it ran better but still had a rough idle and then intermittent misfire. Additionally the VCT solenoids I put in were aftermarket NTK and caused the PCM to go into the fritz throwing false cam phasing codes. Tore it down a second time with OEM and made sure timing was perfect. Codes went away but still had rough idling issues. For added fun the plastic coolant T/rad hose failed, spewing coolant (always replace these if you mess with it).

Rough idle can also be caused by a failed intake manifold runner, evap, crank sensor, throttle body, etc but the logs checked out. My approach may have been incorrect with guessing and using the parts cannon but I'm not a pro mechanic. Considering there was some metal in the oil from the start..the engine was already compromised and I was gambling.

I finally threw in the towel. Sure after that much you may think why not keep going but It quickly turned into something I couldn't rely on.

They are awesome cars in general I just happened to get one as a lemon.
I'm not going to say they're bad and you shouldn't buy one. Just have due diligence, know it's history and check data logs before committing. Seemingly, a rough idling gen 3 is fairly common, search the forums and you'll see. Ford has had a history with timing component issues and the coyote is no exception. My patience simply ran dry and sold it. Best of luck to you all.

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[NickStangBlue]

So sorry to read about your experience. Last thing anyone wants to happen to a car intended for regular use. I hope your next car treats you much better, whatever make or model it ends up being.

 

[CoyoteRacing]

amigo

 

[SBR70.3]

Sorry to hear about your experience but I am happy to hear it hasn't jaded you.

 

[ice445]

I wouldn't keep that car after all that either tbh. I'm curious what your threshold for rough idle is though. Since new my car has an idle you can feel, it's not like most cars where you can't tell it's on. But the rpm doesn't waver and the cams hold lock so

 

[stannypack]

Sucks to hear bad stories like this. Makes me glad mine is holding up with no issues after 2 years of hard driving.

 

[Sparky1337]

Sucks to hear, but understandable. I remember when your thread popped up. I was hoping for a better outcome.

What are you going to replace it with?

 

[agmattocks]

I stopped reading after " finally got a 2019 GT with only 30k miles". That car was traded in so soon for a reason.

 

[Rock&Roll]

Dam ... my 2016 Premium has been perfect. 29k miles so far.

Carvana just offered me $25k. If they'd just go up to $26 maybe ? I certainly would miss her but my GTI is a better daily and I hardly drive the Mustang.

 

[Strokerswild]

Sorry to hear. Best of luck with what's next.

I understand though. My '19 F150 exhibits a faint lemony scent, and now has the dubious distinction of being the least reliable vehicle I have bought new, in the shop for repairs four times (one of which was cam phaser solenoids at 20K) with not even 31K on the clock. I debate constantly about punting it but it's long paid for, I need a truck, and RCSB 4x4s are scarce these days....

 

[Goterr0r]

Sucks for you for sure. Nobody likes to get somebody else's problem car. But this is also a good reminder for people to not just throw the parts cannon into the mix. If you can't properly troubleshoot the issue, just throw in the towel and have someone that can take a look at it for you. It will get resolved quicker and in most cases cost less than throwing parts that won't make a differance at it.

Glad your not just knocking the platform. Much respect for that and good luck. I'm a lucky one. 1 S197 and on my 3rd S550 and haven't had anything like that happen yet. And two of them have been boosted and beat to hell and back.

 

[raasnio]

My 2019 GT Premium has been awesome. Sorry your car didn't work out. If you ever get another, I do recommend having someone assess it and fix it for you.

 

[mejohn50]

Experience with my S550 has been a nightmare. At first I had always been dreaming of a mustang for many years and finally got a 2019 GT with only 30k miles. It was intended as a daily/weekend car but shortly turned into a project. My experience does not represent all S550's.

Nevertheless, shortly after owning it stalled at stops/in traffic and rough idle with no codes. Figured it was a vac leak or VCT solenoids so I tore into it and discovered premature camshaft wear on the lobes/followers on left bank with some metal in oil. Cause? Undetermined. (Car had a perfect oil change history and the engine was perfectly clean on the inside). This is rare, one other forum member has a thread on this.
Anyways, replaced cams along with new phasers, solenoids, timing chains, etc. $3k later it ran better but still had a rough idle and then intermittent misfire. Additionally the VCT solenoids I put in were aftermarket NTK and caused the PCM to go into the fritz throwing false cam phasing codes. Tore it down a second time with OEM and made sure timing was perfect. Codes went away but still had rough idling issues. For added fun the plastic coolant T/rad hose failed, spewing coolant (always replace these if you mess with it).

Rough idle can also be caused by a failed intake manifold runner, evap, crank sensor, throttle body, etc but the logs checked out. My approach may have been incorrect with guessing and using the parts cannon but I'm not a pro mechanic. Considering there was some metal in the oil from the start..the engine was already compromised and I was gambling.

I finally threw in the towel. Sure after that much you may think why not keep going but It quickly turned into something I couldn't rely on.

They are awesome cars in general I just happened to get one as a lemon.
I'm not going to say they're bad and you shouldn't buy one. Just have due diligence, know it's history and check data logs before committing. Seemingly, a rough idling gen 3 is fairly common, search the forums and you'll see. Ford has had a history with timing component issues and the coyote is no exception. My patience simply ran dry and sold it. Best of luck to you all.

I‘m not trying to be dense, but how was the engine “perfectly clean on the inside” while also having metal in the oil from the start? Also, again, not trying to be obtuse, but how does a vacuum leak or VCT issue turn into replacing all the expensive timing stuff and cams without any mention of what you did to diagnose and solve the possible vacuum leak before tearing into the engine? Regarding the intermittent misfire, you said there were no DTCs so I’m wondering how you figured there was a misfire. Finally, how did the logs “check out” for the suspected bad components but turn up no other issues if there was an idle issue and misfire.

It sucks you dealt with issues, and it’s too bad you couldn’t solve them, especially with the financial outlay for the cams and all that. I guess I’d just like to see a little more info that people should check for, considering your warning, before buying a gen 3 since you didn’t see any DTCs or issues in your data logs before shotgunning parts at the car.

 

[BIGG_RIBB]

That really sucks that this happend to you. These cars are so much fun. I bought mine new wiht 184 miles on it and now it's up to 93K miles on it. I have never had any serious problems with it. I hope next time you have a better experience and the car of your dreams. Good luck!

 

[Tripp051420]

If you don’t mind the question, how much of a loss did you take on the car when you sold it, after installing all those parts.
I do not blame you at all, all those issues would have soured me towards the car and I never would enjoy it as much as I could have.
taking the loss must have been a hard pill to swallow though

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