O2 Sensor Broke

[Lugi 98 SVT]

I hit a pot-hole the other day in New York City.
The Check engine Light came on immediately.
My O2 Sensor Snapped off at the Ceramic Insulator.
Can I still drive it while I wait for my new one to come in?
I've noticed also that it doesn't run quite as good without it.

 

[quivvy]

happend to me too, alot of people have had this happen. yes u can drive it, its fine.

 

[FreeFlowSVT]

Guess i can look forward to that in the future...living in Vermont is pothole after pothole and the washboards and potholes on my dirt road can scare a grown man. Think i lost one of my bikes in one...still haven't found it.

 

[wagonman72]

Yeah parking tire stops cause the same thing.

 

[Lugi 98 SVT]

Had it in to get the new sensor and....
Looks like I hit the pot-hole so hard that my exhaust is now bent so that the new sensor can't be screwed in without hitting the oil pan.
Worst part is that I was told that it is NOT covered by warrantee because a road hazard caused the problem.
This sucks. Why the hell isn't there some kind of skid plate under there? I was only going about 5 miles an hour when I hit it.

The car sputters like hell, my exhaust is bent, no O2 sensor, and now my windshield is broken all within a month and less than 9k on it.

I should have NEVER gotten rid of my Cobra

 

[AZ SVT]

Originally posted by Lugi 98 SVT
Had it in to get the new sensor and....
Looks like I hit the pot-hole so hard that my exhaust is now bent so that the new sensor can't be screwed in without hitting the oil pan.
Worst part is that I was told that it is NOT covered by warrantee because a road hazard caused the problem.
This sucks. Why the hell isn't there some kind of skid plate under there? I was only going about 5 miles an hour when I hit it.

I suspect there isn't a skid plate because there is already only marginal ground clearance. A skid plate (strong enough to prevent this) would be so low it would be dragging and hitting things constantly. And 2700 lbs going 5 miles per hour isn't a trivial amount of force.

Road hazard damage isn't covered by warrantee, however every product is covered by an implied warranty of merchantability which basically means it must not fail under its normal intended use. That would mean that if Ford designed the exhaust wrong, they would be liable to fix the problem. What makes it bad for you is you hit a pothole, A pothole could do major damage to any car if its big enough and is hit at the right speed/angle.

FWIW: SVTFs have had similar damage (broke O2 sensors and/or exhaust bent so a new O2 sensor won't fit) just from bumping stops in parking lots. And some of those were fixed by the dealer at no cost to the owner. Some of those may have been to keep a good customer happy but some may have been done to avoid an implied warranty of merchantability suit in small claims.

Maybe shopping dealers will get you a free fix if you are less sure how it happened and mention you heard of people getting the damage in normal parking.

I don't believe in trying to cheat a dealer or Ford but I think this really could be a case of bad design. Manufacturers do it all the time with full prior knowledge if the projected costs (repairs, lawsuits, publicity) are less than the advantages (cheaper to make, better performance, etc.).