Dealership Over heated my 03 cobra

[ademily87]

Last summer I got caught in a flash flood in my cobra after leaving the movies and it started to sputter so I immediately shut it off to make sure I don't get any water in the engine. I call a tow truck and my car gets towed to the local ford dealership to get looked at.

Long story short, they call me and say the fan isn't working and there's no water in the oil so they say it's fine. They also did a compression check and the average pressure loss was 3% except for cylinder #6, which had a 7% pressure loss and that's not bad for the car and the mileage (approximately 122k miles at the time).

I get the car home and start looking at the paperwork from the diagnosis.

You know how they found out my fan wasn't working? They left my car running in SC summer heat unattended long enough to "purge coolant"!

So now here I am, 9k miles later, nothing else done to the car for the past 32k miles besides a new fan and tires, and I lose cylinder #7 (0psi) and cylinder #6 is at 54psi.

I'm knowledgeable of cars and engines, but I'm no mechanic. I guess my question is, what are some possible things that could have happened from my car overheating for an unknown amount of time? Bent a valve? Slightly warped head?

I just hate that my car randomly took a crap like this. I treat her good, and daily drive it. I drive it easy enough that I got 30k miles out of my last set of tires? Lol

Am I over thinking this?

I feel like if I call them and say my car overheated they'll say it should be looked at and the damage coyld be severe. But if I called them and said THEY over heated my car, they're gonna brush it off their shoulders. What do you guys think? Thanks!

 

[offroadkarter]

so your car is around 154k miles and it just lost #7? Your car is an 03 right?

Its been 32,000 miles I doubt they are going to own up to this even if they somehow did cause it. I'm no expert either but I'd have to lean towards not related especially if it checked out A-ok back then.

You didn't have any common 4v head tick noise did you? Oil burning on startup?

 

[SVT F15O]

so your car is around 154k miles and it just lost #7? Your car is an 03 right?

Its been 32,000 miles I doubt they are going to own up to this even if they somehow did cause it. I'm no expert either but I'd have to lean towards not related especially if it checked out A-ok back then.

You didn't have any common 4v head tick noise did you? Oil burning on startup?

Sounds like his car has 131,000 on it as it has been 9,000 miles since the incident.

 

[Weather Man]

Your over thinking it.

 

[oldmodman]

It's just Captain Horsepower telling you it's time to build that engine Superhero Strong.

Start saving.

I generally start planning and building my new engine as soon as I get the previous one all hooked up and running.

You know it's only a matter of time.

 

[thomas91169]

If you made it 9k after the dealer had it, I got news for you bub, it's nothing to do with them.

Second, it takes quite a bit of running without coolant to do damage. I ran mine for two days with only the coolant that fit in the overflow tank because I derp'd and wasn't filling from the upper crossover. Since the stock gauge Is so laggy I was getting to my destination by the time it showed any signs of getting hot. Your dealer let it idle and watched the temp rise with the cap off to check if the fans were working. Not a big deal, not like it was sitting there for hours just spewing coolant in the corner of the shop unattended. They had it hooked to a diagnostic machine and we're watching the Temps rise very diligently, knowing at a certain point to end the test because they likely know what temp it takes to cause any damage.

You have a moderately high mileage Terminator. Who knows how multiple owners before you treated it.

 

[Zemedici]

^^ all of this

 

[ademily87]

Sounds like his car has 131,000 on it as it has been 9,000 miles since the incident.

Correct

It's just Captain Horsepower telling you it's time to build that engine Superhero Strong.

Start saving.

I generally start planning and building my new engine as soon as I get the previous one all hooked up and running.

You know it's only a matter of time.

Already on that lol

If you made it 9k after the dealer had it, I got news for you bub, it's nothing to do with them.

Second, it takes quite a bit of running without coolant to do damage. I ran mine for two days with only the coolant that fit in the overflow tank because I derp'd and wasn't filling from the upper crossover. Since the stock gauge Is so laggy I was getting to my destination by the time it showed any signs of getting hot. Your dealer let it idle and watched the temp rise with the cap off to check if the fans were working. Not a big deal, not like it was sitting there for hours just spewing coolant in the corner of the shop unattended. They had it hooked to a diagnostic machine and we're watching the Temps rise very diligently, knowing at a certain point to end the test because they likely know what temp it takes to cause any damage.

You have a moderately high mileage Terminator. Who knows how multiple owners before you treated it.

You're right. Thats mainly what I was asking. If any damage was done, could it take 9k miles for the car to take a crap.

And they told me they overheated the car on accident. I called them after reading that my coolant purged.


I've already got plans for a rebuild, and I'm excited for my build! I was just wondering if something like that could cause any long term damage. I've put almost 32k miles on the car with out changing a thing besides maintenance. No 5th or 6th gear pulls, tracked it maybe 3 times at a crappy 1/8 track, etc and juat daily driving.

Heat is not good for valves, am I right there?

 

[sunburned]

Pretty sure it wasn't their fault. After I got the engine rebuilt in my Cobra, I overheated it twice, both times enough to leak out a ton of coolant. My fan had stopped working because of the PCRM I believe it was. Driving was fine, but as soon as I stopped, I watched the temp gauge go up, even in sub-freezing weather. Replaced the computer, and refilled the coolant properly, all was well for many hard, high-boost miles after that.

 

[RX1Cobra]

Correct



Already on that lol



You're right. Thats mainly what I was asking. If any damage was done, could it take 9k miles for the car to take a crap.

And they told me they overheated the car on accident. I called them after reading that my coolant purged.


I've already got plans for a rebuild, and I'm excited for my build! I was just wondering if something like that could cause any long term damage. I've put almost 32k miles on the car with out changing a thing besides maintenance. No 5th or 6th gear pulls, tracked it maybe 3 times at a crappy 1/8 track, etc and juat daily driving.

Heat is not good for valves, am I right there?

If you want to do a quick check to see whats the problem before you tear into the engine you can. Take the compression gauge hose and hook it up to an air compressor. Make sure both valves are closed on that cylinder and put some air into it. If it leaks out the exhaust or intake there is an issue with that valve. If not its rings or a piston.

 

[oneslo5.0]

Over thinking.

 

[CobraBob]

I would dismiss the dealer from the equation at this point. 9 months have passed and you had no issues during the time period until now. And proceed with your new build. What are you plans at this point as far as the build. Any particular shop at this point?