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Thought I Blew My Engine @ Laguna

ARDrummond25

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For any of you that attended the Northern California Shelby Club Turkey Bowl event at Laguna Seca the Friday after Thanksgiving you likely remember the GT350 dumping oil and white smoke down the main straight before lunch. That was me.

Thankfully I didn’t actually blow up my engine as folks (including me) originally suspected. Turns out the knuckleheads at my local shop (Campbell Ford Performance) didn’t properly install the oil filter and when I missed a shift in the morning session the oil pressure spike from the over rev blew the gasket on the oil filter apart and oil started spilling. Ford confirmed that while I should stop missing shifts, the gasket should not have blown under the conditions and was installed improperly.

Despite all that, I managed to put on a good show and meet a lot of very concerned fellow drivers. It was a very empathetic and supportive community at the track that day.

At the end of the whole drama, it turned out the car still had a couple quarts of oil in it which prevented the engine from seizing or being damaged. Ford did an oil analysis, compression test, leak down test, etc. They found no knocks or other problems with the motor. So all I really needed was an oil change. Sadly, I did spill 7-8 quarts of oil all over my driver side brakes so I needed to replace my pads and rotors. They did have several track days on them so not the worst thing but they definitely didn’t need to be replaced yet otherwise.

All things included (tow, track cleanup bill, repairs) the whole series of shenanigans wound up being just under $5,000 to set right. Much cheaper than a new voodoo plus I got fresh brakes out of it.

Question for anyone who has knowledge on this sort of thing, I do still have oil splashed all over the bottom of the car and I can smell it when the engine is warmed up. How urgent is it I get this grime off? Ford recommended a steam cleaning but I’m not clear if that’s something I NEED to do or perhaps just an optional suggestion. Thoughts?
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460Fred

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Great news for you especially thinking you blew a voodoo.
As far as cleaning? Yes get it as clean as possible. Grease and grime are just crappy to work with, it can Also hide problems.
 

Caballus

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Glad everything worked out well. Out of curiosity, why did your dealer who improperlly installed the filter not pick up the bill?
 
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ARDrummond25

ARDrummond25

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Glad everything worked out well. Out of curiosity, why did your dealer who improperlly installed the filter not pick up the bill?
wasn’t a dealer. It was a small time shop that I just wanted to move on from.
 

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I gather you have an early model year 2017 with the spin-on filter. This particular failure, if that's the filter your engine takes, was the inspiration for Ford to switch to a cartridge filter part way through the 2017 model year. Lots of Voodoo's blew the filter off because the oil change tech didn't understand that it has to be torqued very tight to stay on. Every other car on the planet, you just spin it on hand tight and you're done. On the Voodoo, it takes a torque wrench and a special socket to get it tight enough. Once tightened properly, it's perfect, but if it's hand-tight, the gasket will blow out every time. And the failure just happens when it happens - an over-rev might have hastened it, but it was going to fail eventually.

As for the oil on the bottom, it'll attract dirt and so on, but if you drive the car in the rain a few times, it will eventually wash off enough that it's not a problem. But it will smell for a while.
 

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That shop was always on my shortlist of shops to try out if I ever needed any after warranty/after market type stuff done. Did the shop take responsibility or are they totally avoiding you? I'd be livid if I had to foot the entire bill.
 
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ARDrummond25

ARDrummond25

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That shop was always on my shortlist of shops to try out if I ever needed any after warranty/after market type stuff done. Did the shop take responsibility or are they totally avoiding you? I'd be livid if I had to foot the entire bill.
candidly I never even told them. I was so upset that I didn’t think I could have a civil of productive conversation about it with them. By the time I calmed down enough a week later and had the car fixed and all the related bills paid I just wanted to never think about it again. Until this post I guess.

campbell Ford performance actually turned down a couple jobs I offered them (like installing an auto blip module and a rear tow hook) because they refused to accept any liability related to the install. Take that for what you will. They are very pleasant and welcoming but they know 70s and earlier cars much better than late model Fords.
 
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ARDrummond25

ARDrummond25

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I gather you have an early model year 2017 with the spin-on filter. This particular failure, if that's the filter your engine takes, was the inspiration for Ford to switch to a cartridge filter part way through the 2017 model year. Lots of Voodoo's blew the filter off because the oil change tech didn't understand that it has to be torqued very tight to stay on. Every other car on the planet, you just spin it on hand tight and you're done. On the Voodoo, it takes a torque wrench and a special socket to get it tight enough. Once tightened properly, it's perfect, but if it's hand-tight, the gasket will blow out every time. And the failure just happens when it happens - an over-rev might have hastened it, but it was going to fail eventually.

As for the oil on the bottom, it'll attract dirt and so on, but if you drive the car in the rain a few times, it will eventually wash off enough that it's not a problem. But it will smell for a while.
yeah some guys told me about that after it happened at the track.
 

fatbillybob

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Wow 5k to rectify. That’s a lot.
 
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ARDrummond25

ARDrummond25

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Wow 5k to rectify. That’s a lot.
yeah. $400 for the tow, $400 for the track cleanup, $225 for diagnostics at the dealer, $150 for the oil change, $3600 for new brakes and rotors at all corners. Obviously I could have done some of those things cheaper if I hadn’t gone to the dealer but I was not in the mood to take chances given what had just happened.
 

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ARDrummond25

ARDrummond25

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I don't understand the requirement to replace brake calipers and rotors. These can be easily cleaned with brake cleaner, etc. What am I missing?
dealer said they were un-savable and I think you’re probably right but I also didn’t want them to use turning down recommended repairs down as the reason for denying a future warranty claim. Also, they did have about 150 track miles on them so I wasn’t opposed to a fresh set even though they weren’t near the end of their life. The new ones definitely bite harder than the old ones did.
 
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ARDrummond25

ARDrummond25

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Campbell Ford would be paying $5k... not me.
I would say you'd need to take it all the way to court if you wanted to make that a true statement. I have better ways to spend my time. Much rather be back behind the wheel than in a room arguing who needs to pay the bill.
 

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Just curious OP, did you buy the car new and have had previous oil changes or was this the first? I always mention three things at any oil change even the same dealer I go to every time....10 quarts, 5W-50, and torque da filter. I would consider asking the place that changed the filter for reimbursement only if I mentioned these and they didn't follow through. Would like to but can't always blame someone for not knowing about this specific car, just good insurance to always mention the above.
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