My tensioner is NOT activated. Engine built by John Altodonna. 2,200 miles. Scheduling an appointment the dealer soon. Contemplating driving or towing, dealer is about 5 miles away…..
Hello All. I am new to the blog world. I purchased a new GT350 in December with a build date 7/2020 engine builder Jason Altadonna. I have 1,900 miles on the car and have been thru half a dozen pulls with no issue. I became aware of the service bulletin last weekend so I stopped by my local dealership on Monday the 3rd - they were unaware of the problem. They said they could come to my home to check it but it would be at least a week to do that. Wow really I’m 4 miles away so I rolled the dice and drove it to them and to my surprise it failed the check and I witnessed this along side of the mechanic. They said we’re not starting it anymore so we pushed it into an open bay and that’s where she sits. UnbelievableMy tensioner is NOT activated. Engine built by John Altodonna. 2,200 miles. Scheduling an appointment the dealer soon. Contemplating driving or towing, dealer is about 5 miles away…..
Not looking good, I have the same builder and mine was built around the same time as well. I have an appointment next week to check it out. I have 4,035 miles on mine
The mechanic also rotated the motor several times plus had another mechanic verify his assessment and they both noted that the guide on top of the tensioner was chewed up a bit. He asked if it has ever ran rough or if I’ve ever noticed a check engine light which I have not. He felt it most likely was still in time but wouldn’t know for sure until he gets the motor opened up. He said the good part is he will be able to inspect all the primary and secondary tensioners guides and chains. Good luck to all.Not looking good, I have the same builder and mine was built around the same time as well. I have an appointment next week to check it out. I have 4,035 miles on mine
That is at least 4 motors on this forum built by Jason Altadonna with the same issue. Pretty much confirms it was builder error and not a defective part. Unbelievable that the builder would make the same mistake every work day for a year. I wonder how many engines he ruined, my guess is at least 100 in a year if total production is around 2000 engines. I hope none of the engine in the thread jumped time.
Well, its an assembly line that is probably highly scripted. The good news is that they discovered it and are correcting it. If you are going to make an error- doing it consistently is best since its easier to correct!
It will be very interesting to find out the status of the other tensioners after the motor is opened up if I can get the mechanic to come clean with me. I’m also concerned about the shavings from the chewed up guide going thru the motor. I’m thinking an extended warranty by Ford should be part of the fix.
As I mentioned in the video, the guides are made from PA46.DrumReaper said:
Thanks for that video! It was an amazing explanation. Thanks you so much!!I wanted to take a closer look at the secondary chain tensioner itself so I ordered one through my Ford Parts guru - thanks again Bryan. I filmed a quick video with my phone to hopefully capture a better view of the tensioner.
In a nutshell, if you can see the groove like this you should be all good (assuming the tensioner on the other cylinder head was released as well).
If your tensioner is still compressed such that you see no groove as in the above photo you may want to stop driving your car and contact your dealer immediately.
Note that the guides themselves are subject to wear and can be replaced. So if you notice a chewed up guide you may want to have that serviced in short order.
As I mentioned in the video, the guides are made from PA46.
PA46 "enables lower frictional torque in comparison with any other material (e.g. PA66) at relatively low engine speeds ranging from idle to 1800 rpm. PA46 allows for reliable solutions due to its high abrasion resistance (7 times better than PA66)." For more on PA46 see the attached pdf.
Sorry to hear that, if you read through the TSB, they will perform a series of checks and replace any potentially affected components. It is possible if you pass the checks that you will have your car back within a reasonable timeframe. Since your car drives fine, hopefully your checks are all OK...at least it is better than a blown motor, which would take a very long time to resolve.
