I'm Screwed, Ford won't fix tick. Voided warranty

[fakesnake.com]

I'll try and keep this as short as possible. First some history. Took car in a year ago for mild "tick". Dealer retorqued per SVT recommendation and it didn't help. Car was making a loud noise 5 months ago that sounded like rattling cats. Took it to dealer, they said oil pan was dented,causing oil to starve engine and the end result was I needed a new engine. Car had full performance at the time and no check engine lights.

I thought it was plausible as I had ran over a huge truck tire 2 weeks prior. Dealer replaced engine and ran it through insurance due to me hitting a moving object in road. Not a warrany item- agreed.

I sold the engine, the guy that bought it had an SVT mechanic go through it and he said the engine was fine, associated noise with "the tick" and just retorqued bolts,etc... I also noticed that the new oil pan has a slight dent in it. I think they are just designed this way with a curviture in pan.

2,500 miles later on new engine, same exact noise on new engine. After reading more on this board, I associate this noise with the "tick". Take it to dealer and tell them to NOT replace engine as it must be the tick and inform them to look up TSB on replacing Driver side head. They call me back and ask if I had had a chip in the car. I said, yes on first engine. They call me back and told me a Ford Engineer came out to inspect,inspected computer took pics of it, sent the pics back to Ford and voided warranty because I had had a chip. I told them I could understand them voiding warranty because of modification but they have a known problem with "TICK" and a TSB on it. The dealer said "sorry, Ford is voiding your warranty on the engine. They said I have a warranty on the rest of the car still. Oh boy! Looks like I learned the hard way on modding my engine.

Let this be a lesson,warning to the rest of you.

 

[03 COBRA SB]

if you mod, some things will not be covered, part of the game owning a high preformance car from a volume(mega-size) manufacture.

 

[fakesnake.com]

if you mod, some things will not be covered, part of the game owning a high preformance car from a volume(mega-size) manufacture.

I agree with your statement and the tone of my thread was more don't do what I did. However, not working on car despite a known TSB sucks!

 

[SNCBOOM]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune...so what do you plan on doing now?

 

[Shadowgray03]

Do you think that if the tick becomes so widespread and complained about that Ford will do a recall and if they do can they avoid doing the recall work due to a chip?

 

[fakesnake.com]

It's time to either sell it as is or put in a Sean Hyland short block. My car has been in the shop 2 out of the last 12 months so it is a little frustrating.

 

[BAD03SVT]

i thought there was a silent recall out there on this "tick" if that is the case modded or unmodded it can be fixed under warranty. note they will remember mods for next warranty claim on engine. but if there is a recall silent or not or a TSB it still can be fixed regardless of modifications. as far as i know

 

[mike79]

They cant void your warrenty unless they can prove that the chip caused the problem to start with. MAKE THEM PROVE it that the chip caused the tic, then your set. Everyone on here knows the Tic was a problem from the start, including Ford. You should be ok on this. Fight it man!!!!

 

[Shadowgray03]

Originally posted by snakeluvr
i thought there was a silent recall out there on this "tick" if that is the case modded or unmodded it can be fixed under warranty. note they will remember mods for next warranty claim on engine. but if there is a recall silent or not or a TSB it still can be fixed regardless of modifications. as far as i know

Why would you buy a short block from SHM? Unless im out in left field shortblocks dont have heads which means you would move over your ticking head to new shortblock? Why not just buy a new head from ford?

Originally posted by snakeluvr
i thought there was a silent recall out there on this "tick" if that is the case modded or unmodded it can be fixed under warranty. note they will remember mods for next warranty claim on engine. but if there is a recall silent or not or a TSB it still can be fixed regardless of modifications. as far as i know

The "silent recal" was posted by Blue oval news, they are not very reliable for news sources.

 

[Shadowgray03]

Originally posted by mike79
They cant void your warrenty unless they can prove that the chip caused the problem to start with. MAKE THEM PROVE it that the chip caused the tic, then your set. Everyone on here knows the Tic was a problem from the start, including Ford. You should be ok on this. Fight it man!!!!

Thats likely what I am going to have to do as well, either that or get a new EEC and pull my kenne bell damn tic.

 

[fakesnake.com]

Shadowgray 03, I'm just throwing ideas out there. A local shop is getting ready to do an engine rebuild on an 03 Cobra (anyone here on this board?). They plan on replacing pistons,rods,port and polish heads,etc... I plan on following this job and see how it turns out.

 

[Shadowgray03]

Originally posted by fakesnake.com
Shadowgray 03, I'm just throwing ideas out there. A local shop is getting ready to do an engine rebuild on an 03 Cobra (anyone here on this board?). They plan on replacing pistons,rods,port and polish heads,etc... I plan on following this job and see how it turns out.

Nothing wrong with you entertaining ideas, but the bottom ends on these cars are tough as hell, if your sure its the drivers side head tick, then why spend all the money and time redoing a perfectly good engine? Im going to wait before I do anything with my ticking head and see if it results in an all out recall. If not I will take it to ford down the road some and worse case scenario just buy a new head from ford.

 

[fakesnake.com]

Shadowgray,

your comments make sense. What exactly is the problem with the driver side head?

I would think that going through existing heads,port and polish,etc... would hold up better in the long run.

I don't think Ford has solved this tick problem. My new engine had a blue stripe on driver head. Wouldn't that mean it was built fairly recently?

 

[mike79]

Ive heard of guys on here who had the KB on their car and had the head replacement done. Ford knows the tic was a problem to start with, and things such as a KB blower, chip or whatever didnt cause the Tic. Dont take everything off. Some dealers are just lazy and dont want to see us getting away with mods on our cars and something as big as the tic fixed. It must be a pride thing....who knows.

 

[03 COBRA SB]

Originally posted by Shadowgray03
Nothing wrong with you entertaining ideas, but the bottom ends on these cars are tough as hell, if your sure its the drivers side head tick, then why spend all the money and time redoing a perfectly good engine? Im going to wait before I do anything with my ticking head and see if it results in an all out recall. If not I will take it to ford down the road some and worse case scenario just buy a new head from ford.

no one knows if the tick will be a long term problem, or just one of those things that you put up with and fix later when you rebuild the motor, or just pass on to the next owner.

 

[mike79]

I have the blue stripe as well. Its actually the entire head that is blue, but you can only see the one part and it looks as if its a stripe. You have the new head on your car.

 

[Johnny Random]

I took mine in today for the tick. The service manager came up to me and wanted to hear because he said it might be something normal. Then he heard it and changed his mind. He was an @ss too.

Told me at first to take it to the dealership I bought it from. Then later said nothing else about it. Its not my fault they didnt have any '03 Cobras in and I had to drive 30 minutes away to get one. Why should they even car? Him and the mechanics are going to get paid the same damn thing for warranty work regardless of whos car they are working on. Same hourly rate or salary for working on mine or one from Alaska.

Some say this tick is no big deal but no one knows about any long term effects. This is metal rubbing on metal. They don't slide around without friction. Damage could be serious over time. Who knows?

Damn I don't want to sell out on my car here so soon. It has the potential to be something great.

 

[Shadowgray03]

Originally posted by fakesnake.com
Shadowgray,

your comments make sense. What exactly is the problem with the driver side head?

I would think that going through existing heads,port and polish,etc... would hold up better in the long run.

I don't think Ford has solved this tick problem. My new engine had a blue stripe on driver head. Wouldn't that mean it was built fairly recently?

My car is supposedly a second run car and I have the tick and from what I have seen the TSB in place doesnt cover cars built as late as mine yet my tick is very prominent. I will give it some more time and let more unmodded people come forward and for it to become more common knowledge among dealers and deal with it down the road. A few guys here have had the head replacement done and report no tick so I think ford must have it licked. As forporting/polishing, wont do anything as far as holding up goes I wouldnt think but you could expect some power out of it. This wouldnt involve the bottom end though, if the time comes and you have to pull the intake/blower to pull a bad head, maybe pull the pass side headm buy a new one and have them both ported/polished while you have it broken down that far

Originally posted by mike79
Ive heard of guys on here who had the KB on their car and had the head replacement done. Ford knows the tic was a problem to start with, and things such as a KB blower, chip or whatever didnt cause the Tic. Dont take everything off. Some dealers are just lazy and dont want to see us getting away with mods on our cars and something as big as the tic fixed. It must be a pride thing....who knows.

Well, we have 3 svt dealers here I suppose I could try and see what happens

 

[Daffy]

Fake,

If $ is an issue and you're not too frustrated already, it is true that they must demonstrate that the chip caused damage & that the tick isn't a defect. With the TSB and other sources of info you stand a very strong chance of making them reverse this decision. I've not done this, but I believe others here have, you may need to contact your Concumer Advocacy Group or some Dispute process, try a free legal consult to see what you'd need to do.

I know its bad & you probably want to move on; in which case I would have a head job done (he he), port polish and reassembled correctly - should take care of it. But if you want to fight, it seems the facts & the law are on your side.

Dave.

 

[cito]

Isn't the engine under a different warranty than the first engine anyway? It should be warranteed by FRPP or Ford just like if I stuck it in my (hypothetical) pinto, right?

Your engine was purchased by you through the insurance company, not replaced by Ford under warranty.

You state that you never had the chip on with the second engine. They could void the warranty on the first engine, a moot point to be sure.

However, what is the warranty from Ford on the second engine, which you essentially purchased separately from Ford. They would have to prove you had the chip on at the same time as you had that engine in, wouldn't they?