Engine "locked up" on a 2003

[gnorrell]

I was driving on the freeway today. All of the sudden the transmission had trouble finding a gear. I smelled very slight burnt clutch odor. I accelerated, the engine revs up, then goes dead. The battery light and the check engine light came on. I coasted to the shoulder. Had the car towed to a dealership. The electrical system and fuses seemd to be fine but the car would not turn over. The battery was fine. The car is a 2003 with only 17k miles. The mechanic couldn't get the the crankshaft to move with a ratchet. He says "this is bad" the engine is "locked up" you'll probably need another one!? When I asked what could cause this he said he did not know. The oil and coolant were fine no smoke or sounds came from engine, no unusual reading on the guages, it just died. Guy in the service desk said this was the "second Marauder like that they'd seen". When I asked if this was a known issue of some kind, he would not really answer. Has anyone heard of something like this/know what might have caused it? :(

[hitchhiker]

I was driving on the freeway today. All of the sudden the transmission had trouble finding a gear. I smelled very slight burnt clutch odor. I accelerated, the engine revs up, then goes dead. The battery light and the check engine light came on. I coasted to the shoulder. Had the car towed to a dealership. The electrical system and fuses seemd to be fine but the car would not turn over. The battery was fine. The car is a 2003 with only 17k miles. The mechanic couldn't get the the crankshaft to move with a ratchet. He says "this is bad" the engine is "locked up" you'll probably need another one!? When I asked what could cause this he said he did not know. The oil and coolant were fine no smoke or sounds came from engine, no unusual reading on the guages, it just died. Guy in the service desk said this was the "second Marauder like that they'd seen". When I asked if this was a known issue of some kind, he would not really answer. Has anyone heard of something like this/know what might have caused it? :(

Get your new waranty engine and insist on a new tranny too!

[MarauderMark]

Get your new waranty engine and insist on a new tranny too!



Yepperz What he said!!!

[junehhan]

Yepperz What he said!!!


However, with your car only having 17k miles, I would be very insistent that they give you a brand new engine. A remanufactured or rebuilt wonder is simply not acceptable on such a new car IMHO.

[bigslim]

Read my thread on "Engine Breakage".

[studio460]

Wow! That's scary! Whatever happens, DO NOT GIVE IN! Call the corporate number, get the address (corporate can give you the runaround on the phone all day, but it's MUCH harder for corporate to ignore actual hard copy letters sent via the USPS) and DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

[Mad4Macs]

Read my thread on "Engine Breakage".

What's the latest in the "Engine Breakage" scene? I'm at 32k. I've picked up a beater, so I won't be putting another 30k on my MM this year, but I'll likely cross the 40k mark without too much trouble.
Keep us posted.

Thanks!

[Petrograde]

Man that sucks! :depress:

I have almost 16K on mine, so far so good.

Did you have any previous indications of engine problems?

Do you drive her real hard?

hmmmm..... Please keep us posted on this!

Hope they don't give you too much trouble!

[gnorrell]

Thanks. That makes allot of sense, especially how they clammed up when I asked if this was a known issue.

[bigslim]

What's the latest in the "Engine Breakage" scene? I'm at 32k. I've picked up a beater, so I won't be putting another 30k on my MM this year, but I'll likely cross the 40k mark without too much trouble.
Keep us posted.

Thanks!
I am still learning more about this myself. I will post as soon as I have something.

[gnorrell]

I have never had any problems with the engine. I drive fast when on the open highway like I was when this happened. Like between 80-95. But 90% of the time just city driving. I will hear Monday what they have to say.

[studio460]

That makes allot of sense, especially how they clammed up when I asked if this was a known issue.
gnorrell:

My $0.04: Go to Staples and buy a plastic folder that can hold all your documents. Start organizing your service records. After having ANY discussion with ANY Ford representative (dealer, corporate, service writer, etc.) immediately make notes after the call/conversation so you can remember the exact quotes, and who said them. Their silence on the issue sounds like a good sign! I'm sure everything will work out!

[MERCMAN]

I have never had any problems with the engine. I drive fast when on the open highway like I was when this happened. Like between 80-95. But 90% of the time just city driving. I will hear Monday what they have to say.


Did you have the OEM OP gauge?

[TheDealer]

I was driving on the freeway today. All of the sudden the transmission had trouble finding a gear. I smelled very slight burnt clutch odor. I accelerated, the engine revs up, then goes dead. The battery light and the check engine light came on. I coasted to the shoulder. Had the car towed to a dealership. The electrical system and fuses seemd to be fine but the car would not turn over. The battery was fine. The car is a 2003 with only 17k miles. The mechanic couldn't get the the crankshaft to move with a ratchet. He says "this is bad" the engine is "locked up" you'll probably need another one!? When I asked what could cause this he said he did not know. The oil and coolant were fine no smoke or sounds came from engine, no unusual reading on the guages, it just died. Guy in the service desk said this was the "second Marauder like that they'd seen". When I asked if this was a known issue of some kind, he would not really answer. Has anyone heard of something like this/know what might have caused it? :(


Could be the trans locked up. You said the trans was acting weird. I've seen it happen in other cars and you can't turn the engine. Just my .02.

[chrish]

Dealer do you know about any of this stuff about crankshafts failing? Bigslim seems to have some info?Do you work on these cars at a dealer?

[TheDealer]

Here's what I stated in that thread!!!


We have never seen a broken crank in our dealership.

Well that part number fits 4.6 engines built after 1/2/02 in Crown Vics, Mustang GT's, Lincoln Town Cars and Grand Marquis including Marauder. Ford's average months sales for that part number is 12. That's for 1/2 of 2002, all of 2003 and 2004. That a lot of vehicles with sales of 12 per month?????? Doesn't sound like a big problem to me.

I forgot to check that it also fits Aviators, Mountaineers, and Explorers. That's a lot more units in operation!!!!! 12 per month is a drop in the bucket!!!!! We also don't know why they were replaced. Could be for wear. I think we are geting upset over nothing.

[gnorrell]

Did you have the OEM OP gauge?

yes I did have the OEM guages

[bigslim]

I will tell you my father had a Crown Vic and the engine locked up on him. They pulled the trans and found a bolt had come loose and jammed the tranny and locked up the engine.

[TheDealer]

Torque convertors lock up and cause the engine to die. Then the engine won't turn. You seperate the trans from the engine and the engine is fine. You said you smelled a clutch like burning smell. Did you smell the trans fluid? Guess we'll have to wait to see what the dealer finds. :up:

[Ross]

Where is Fairview, Texas? Glad to see you on the site, but not under these conditions.

[gnorrell]

Fairview is south of Mckinney and north of Allen of 75 north of Dallas.

The dealership said today they are talking with ford on whether or not they need to replace the engine or tear it down before replacing and will know Tuesday. No word on what exactly went wrong. Just said again that the engine "locked up".

[Rob1559]

I have a question that may have an effect on this issue.
Does the "black box"/Computer store a history of driving habits, such has how fast you have driven the car or other facts that FoMoCo could throw in your face?

[RF Overlord]

Does the "black box"/Computer store a history of driving habits, such has how fast you have driven the car or other facts that FoMoCo could throw in your face?

Yes, it does.

This is from the on-line owner's manual:

Data Recording
Computers in your vehicle are capable of recording detailed data
potentially including but not limited to information such as:
- the use of restraint systems including seat belts by the driver and
passengers,
- information about the performance of various systems and modules in
the vehicle, and
- information related to engine, throttle, steering, brake or other system
status.

Any of this information could potentially include information regarding
how the driver operates the vehicle potentially including but not limited
to information regarding vehicle speed, brake or accelerator application
or steering input. This information may be stored during regular
operation or in a crash or near crash event.
This stored information may be read out and used by:
- Ford Motor Company.
- service and repair facilities.
- law enforcement or government agencies.
- others who may assert a right or obtain your consent to know such
information.

[Marauder386]

Oh just wunnerful !!! Big Bro watchun...and keepin it safe for Big Business whilst keepin it hard for Us HotRods to have fun with our toys....

Just my .02 cents....

M386

[CRUZTAKER]

15 minutes with the battery unplugged and that data is bye-bye history!:up:

[RF Overlord]

15 minutes with the battery unplugged and that data is bye-bye

Barry:

Are you sure? I read somewhere that that data was stored in non-volatile memory...

[martyo]

Barry:

Are you sure? I read somewhere that that data was stored in non-volatile memory...


If it is for accident reconstruction purposes one would think that the loss of battery power would not wipe out this data.

By the way, the Car Chip that has been discussed on this site in the past serves the same function and the memory in that gizmo is non-volatile.

[RoyLPita]

Torque convertors lock up and cause the engine to die. Then the engine won't turn. You seperate the trans from the engine and the engine is fine. You said you smelled a clutch like burning smell. Did you smell the trans fluid? Guess we'll have to wait to see what the dealer finds. :up:

During my early pee-on days where I work, we had an F150 come in. Stalls at every stop. To drive the thing, you had to rev the engine high and then neutral drop it. It didn't spin the tires but it ran like a manaul with the clutch engaged. We found out that some sensor in the trans went bad that controls the Torque converter clutch.

Just my .02 and then some.

[Ross]

So if disconnecting the battery won't erase the computer's memory, is there some way to manually erase it? Kind of like clearing your computer's cache and cookies? This wouldn't prevent LE from getting the info after a crash, because after a crash you probably wouldn't have time to go through the clearing process before LE arrived. It would, however, allow us to periodically clear the memory so a lot of irrelevant, long term storage of info would be gone. Any techies out there got a clue?

[MENINBLK]

Here's what I stated in that thread!!!


We have never seen a broken crank in our dealership.

Well that part number fits 4.6 engines built after 1/2/02 in Crown Vics, Mustang GT's, Lincoln Town Cars and Grand Marquis including Marauder. Ford's average months sales for that part number is 12. That's for 1/2 of 2002, all of 2003 and 2004. That a lot of vehicles with sales of 12 per month?????? Doesn't sound like a big problem to me.

I forgot to check that it also fits Aviators, Mountaineers, and Explorers. That's a lot more units in operation!!!!! 12 per month is a drop in the bucket!!!!! We also don't know why they were replaced. Could be for wear. I think we are geting upset over nothing.

You don't see 12 crankshafts per month as a problem ???

If the engines were reliable, I would say that maybe 1 or 2 cranks per month was not a problem.
12 cranks per month adds up to 144 cranks in a YEAR.

A reliable engine will had some failures since they are all created by man,
but at the rate of 12 per month, there is a problem...

[MENINBLK]

So if disconnecting the battery won't erase the computer's memory, is there some way to manually erase it? Kind of like clearing your computer's cache and cookies? This wouldn't prevent LE from getting the info after a crash, because after a crash you probably wouldn't have time to go through the clearing process before LE arrived. It would, however, allow us to periodically clear the memory so a lot of irrelevant, long term storage of info would be gone. Any techies out there got a clue?

Ross,

You are confusing the OBD (On Board Diagnostics) system with the Real Time Flight Recorder (Black Box) that operates with the Supplemental Restraint system.
The SRS system takes a snapshot of the last X seconds before the SRS system was activated.
This information can be used to determine if the system responded correctly or malfunctioned.
In many cases, the information is used to determine the speed of the vehicle, and which sensor first triggered the SRS system.

The Flight Recorder can't be erased, but the OBD can be reset by disconnecting your battery for a minimum of 20 minutes.
This will reset all of the parameters including the learned shift patterns for the automatic transmission.

When you reconnect your battery, your Marauder will drive like the day it was driven off the assembly line.

[sailsmen]

12 crankshafts assumes it was a quality issue. How many were replaced due to owner negligence hit somehting and otre off the oil pan, or shop negligence didn't titen the oil filter?

For the number of vehicles, over 200,000 per year 12 per month is nothing.

[TripleTransAm]

When you reconnect your battery, your Marauder will drive like the day it was driven off the assembly line.


CRAP! You mean I'm going to have to deal with the harness-slicing issue all over again???? :help:

:lol:

[Ross]

.When you reconnect your battery, your Marauder will drive like the day it was driven off the assembly line.

Disconnecting the battery won't do anything as far as "un-programming" an after market chip, will it? After reconnection, the chip will still do the same things it did before, right?

[MENINBLK]

12 crankshafts assumes it was a quality issue. How many were replaced due to owner negligence hit somehting and otre off the oil pan, or shop negligence didn't titen the oil filter?

For the number of vehicles, over 200,000 per year 12 per month is nothing.

For what it is worth, rebuilding an engine from the bottom up is more costly than a complete short block swap.

Owner negligence finalizes in a seized engine, thrown rod, etc..., not an engine rebuild.

To tear off the Oil Pan on a FWD car, requires also tearing off a big part of the subframe that surrounds the oil pan.
To tear off the Oil Pan on an SUV requires to drive the car off road which is something that less than 1/2% of all SUVs actually see during their lifetime.
Soccer Moms don't drive off road, unless they are chasing the soccer team...


I'll never forget the customer that came into the Buick dealership that I worked at.
He drove a 1990 Buick Century with the 3300 V6.
He had 30,000 miles on it and NEVER changed the oil.
When the Service Manager asked him about it, he claimed that the technology used to build the engine
was so good that it didn't require any service at all for 100,000 miles.
The Service Manager asked him if he had ever seen the Mobil Oil TV Commercial,
and then said to him, "You can pay it now, or you can pay later. Later comes much faster than you think."

The following day, guess who's Buick Century ended coming into the shop on a hook...
Threw not ONE, but THREE RODS through the side of the block.

[MENINBLK]

Disconnecting the battery won't do anything as far as "un-programming" an after market chip, will it? After reconnection, the chip will still do the same things it did before, right?

Aftermarket Chips will 'reprogram' your vehicles PCM to a certain degree.
This reprogramming happens every time you turn on your ignition.
The reprogramming that is done is to modify the PCM's working parameters so that
whatever modifications you have made will be utilized within these new parameters.

The PCM by itself, has a set of stock calibrations, and a 'learning' mode to create its own set of working parameters.
These learned parameters have to fall within a range of specs set by the calibration in the PCM.
When the 'learned' parameters fall outside the range of the stock calibrations, your Check Engine Light is turned on.

The Aftermarket Chip takes care of the parameters and alters them so that the Chips programming
will not create a CEL unless the parameters are outside the range set by the chip's calibration.

Sometimes, even with the technology we have today, we need to cold start our PCMs
to clear any irrelevant data that may have been written to the PCM.
To do this requires a no power condition for 20 minutes or more so that everything
inside the PCM loses all charges and the memory is lost.

This does not affect non-volatile memory, such as the memory in the Aftermarket Chip,
that holds the chip's programming, or the calibration inside the PCM, that holds the OEM programming.
It only affects the 'working' memory of the PCM that holds the 'learned' parameters.

Have I confused you enough ??? :help: :help: :help:

[Ross]

Pete, I think I have it. If I disconnect the battery for awhile, it will reset what came from the factory, but it won't reset or change anything I've put on myself, right? What about things like my radio presets? Will I have to reset those?

[RF Overlord]

Ross:

I think what MENINBLK was trying to say is that, NO, disconnecting the battery will not erase or otherwise affect your chip...but, YES, you will have to re-program the radio presets.

[MENINBLK]

Pete, I think I have it. If I disconnect the battery for awhile, it will reset what came from the factory, but it won't reset or change anything I've put on myself, right? What about things like my radio presets? Will I have to reset those?

There is a trick to doing this but I don't know if it will work on all cars...

If you take a cigarette lighter plug and wire it correctly to a 9V battery socket,
you can make yourself a 'keep alive' power source for your radio when you take off the battery terminal.

Like I said, I don't know if it will work, but if it does, it will supply just enough power to keep the memory alive in your radio.
Just make sure you keep the doors closed before you disconnect the battery,
and don't reopen them until after you've reconnected the battery.

Otherwise, you will lose the radio station settings as well as the clock settings.

[Ross]

Actually, they make a device like this that you put a 9V battery into and then plug it into your cigarette lighter. I have one at home. I wonder if using this device will keep your presets, but still erase the other black box info from the past?

[MENINBLK]

Actually, they make a device like this that you put a 9V battery into and then plug it into your cigarette lighter. I have one at home. I wonder if using this device will keep your presets, but still erase the other black box info from the past?

Ross,

Please don't confuse the Black Box with your PCM.
They two are very different.

While you can reset your PCM, you can't reset the Back Box.
Even if you were interested in resetting the Black Box, all you would lose is the snapshot it took for the very last few seconds you were driving.

There is a keep alive feed to the PCM, but I think it is a separate circuit from the keep alive in the radio.
You would have to try it out and report back to us what happens.

[Ross]

Thanks for the help. As you can see, modern electronics eludes me. What ever happened to the days of just changing points, plugs and condenser? :confused:

[martyo]

What ever happened to the days of just changing points, plugs and condenser? :confused:


Daddy, what is a points, plug and condenser??

[MitchB]

Clearing the KAM (keep alive memory) by disconnecting the battery (5 minutes is all you need) will return your EEC to the baseline calibrations. This is basically fuel trim and knock. If you have a chip, the chip's calibrations become your baseline. Your EEC's adaptive controls work the same whether it is using the factory calibration's or a chip's.

Mitch

[Ross]

Daddy, what is a points, plug and condenser??

Go to your room, young man! :argue:

[Mad4Macs]

I thought that we had an engine locking up somewhere in here ;)

[MENINBLK]

Clearing the KAM (keep alive memory) by disconnecting the battery (5 minutes is all you need) will return your EEC to the baseline calibrations. This is basically fuel trim and knock. If you have a chip, the chip's calibrations become your baseline. Your EEC's adaptive controls work the same whether it is using the factory calibration's or a chip's.

Mitch

Mitch,

5 minutes is for clearing out any MIL Codes.
20+ minutes is for FULLY resetting the PCM including the Keep Alive Memory,
and all 'LEARNED' attributes such as Idle Quality and Automatic Transmission Shift Points.

Check your Ford Service Manual.

[junehhan]

For what it is worth, rebuilding an engine from the bottom up is more costly than a complete short block swap.

Owner negligence finalizes in a seized engine, thrown rod, etc..., not an engine rebuild.

To tear off the Oil Pan on a FWD car, requires also tearing off a big part of the subframe that surrounds the oil pan.
To tear off the Oil Pan on an SUV requires to drive the car off road which is something that less than 1/2% of all SUVs actually see during their lifetime.
Soccer Moms don't drive off road, unless their are chasing the soccer team...


I'll never forget the customer that came into the Buick dealership that I worked at.
He drove a 1990 Buick Century with the 3300 V6.
He had 30,000 miles on it and NEVER changed the oil.
When the Service Manager asked him about it, he claimed that the technology used to build the engine
was so good that it didn't require any service at all for 100,000 miles.
The Service Manager asked him if he had ever seen the Mobil Oil TV Commercial,
and then said to him, "You can pay it now, or you can pay later. Later comes much faster than you think."

The following day, guess who's Buick Century ended coming into the shop on a hook...
Threw not ONE, but THREE RODS through the side of the block.


Kinda sounds like a local lady who bought a BMW 3 Series and never changed the oil for 40k miles. At 40k miles, the engine siezed and she threatened to sue the dealership saying that such an expensive car should never need to have it's oil changed...............

People who neglect to maintain their cars just make me sick. The ones who are guilty of this out of arrogance, make me even more angry than the ones who do this out of stupidity.............

[TheDealer]

So let's get back on topic. What happened to the engine????? Has the dealer looked at it yet????

[Rob1559]

My original thought was based on a dealer using info from the computer to dispute a "locked up engine" claim if he, the dealer, could claim abuse of the engine or trans by the driver.
Sorry :depress:

[gnorrell]

Talked to dealership today. They seemed to want replace the engine, but said Ford told them they had to tear down the engine determine the source of the failure, then contact Ford again see if it could be repaired or be replaced based on what they find. Then they would have to order parts and wait on those whatever they might be. So no word until at least next Wednesday on even how they will proceed.

[gnorrell]

That makes sense since they want to tear it apart. Haven't done anything but drive fast on the highway and take of quick from a stop light when able. Nothing I would consider abuse especially for a performance car. Changed the oil at 5K intervals with the factory motorcraft oil always ran 91 or higher octane fuel. Car only has 17k and there was plenty of coolant in it and the mechanic even siad the oil looked like it was two days old. No warning lights came on prior to problem.

[MENINBLK]

Talked to dealership today. They seemed to want replace the engine, but said Ford told them they had to tear down the engine determine the source of the failure, then contact Ford again see if it could be repaired or be replaced based on what they find. Then they would have to order parts and wait on those whatever they might be. So no word until at least next Wednesday on even how they will proceed.

If it has been less than ONE YEAR since you purchased your Marauder, INSIST that the engine be replaced with a NEW ENGINE.
The assembly line is still working and they can pull an engine for you.

FORD usually replaces entire assembles within the first year,
so question why they want it torn down.

[gnorrell]

The dealership called today and said the crankshaft had broken. They said they had asked for engine replacement but Ford said since their was no damage to the upper half of the engine they will replace the lower half and have it running next Thursday. Makes sense since there was not sound or smoke when it went out. I have 19K on the warranty and if they don't fix it right I figure I'll know it before then.

[carfixer]

The dealership called today and said the crankshaft had broken... no damage to the upper half of the engine

Our motors are interference motors. If the crank broke, at least some of the pistons would have contacted the valves. The engine will have valve and piston damage.

Can you get some pics of your engine while its apart, especially the crank?

Hope you get it back soon.

[gnorrell]

Unfortunately not. I was on a road trip when this occurred and the car is 70 miles from my house. Seems if they fix it incorrectly they'll just have to turn around and do it again. If I have any more problems and they do not replace engine there always the lemon law.

[Mad4Macs]

It might be helpful, I don't know, to file a report with the NHTSA.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Whether crankshaft failures are going to be an issue (or not), I think that there might be a few former V8 SHO owners that are getting nervous. :(

[gnorrell]

Thanks I will do that.

[bigslim]

The dealership called today and said the crankshaft had broken. They said they had asked for engine replacement but Ford said since their was no damage to the upper half of the engine they will replace the lower half and have it running next Thursday. Makes sense since there was not sound or smoke when it went out. I have 19K on the warranty and if they don't fix it right I figure I'll know it before then.
Everyone thought I was crazy when I posted this. I wish I had more info but I am still trying to find out what is going on too.

[junehhan]

It might be helpful, I don't know, to file a report with the NHTSA.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Whether crankshaft failures are going to be an issue (or not), I think that there might be a few former V8 SHO owners that are getting nervous. :(


The V8 SHO owners just plain royally got screwed, which still has my jaw dropped. I just can't believe that Ford was willing to screw some of their most enthusiastic customers like that. However, the important thing, is going to be that we stay together so that it doesn't happen to us if this becomes an epidemic. There is strength in numbers, and we must not be afraid of flaunting our presence............

[Ross]

Slim, I don't think anyone thought you were crazy about the warning you posted, it was just that you seemed to be saying that there was going to be a sort of epidemic of crank failures. If there was any kind of large numbers of failures, we should have started seeing them by now. This latest failure is bad, but it's far from any kind of trend unless we see a whole lot more like it.

[gnorrell]

The mechanic called Ford and said they could not repair the engine and so now Ford says they will replace the engine it should be done next week.

[Petrograde]

The mechanic called Ford and said they could not repair the engine and so now Ford says they will replace the engine it should be done next week.


:rock: :banana2: :burnout: :up:

[nexstar7]

way to go. good luck. :up:

[Murader03]

The mechanic called Ford and said they could not repair the engine and so now Ford says they will replace the engine it should be done next week.


Took 22 days to get mine replaced. At that time there were only 2 remanfactured engines in the enitre country. Mine came out of Texas, the other was in Arizona! Good luck!

[gnorrell]

Its been 26 days so far. Will be 32 days if it arrives when they said and gets installed. Said it was on its way and will take a day once arrives. Did the warranty start over from the day the new engine was installed? They said the factory was sending a new one out. If I keep this car I will definitely be getting an extended warranty.

[MitchB]

So do you know what actually failed in the engine? More specific than 'crankshaft broke'.

Mitch

[gnorrell]

No. Thats all they ever said. The dealership its at is couple hours from my house so I have not been able to go take a look.

[David Morton]

Could be the trans locked up. You said the trans was acting weird. I've seen it happen in other cars and you can't turn the engine. Just my .02.This one has my vote. As a former trans tech for General Motors sounds like TCC is locked down or the pump took a dump and locked on the convertor hub.

Ooops. I just read about the crank. Sure sounded like convertor lock down. :o

[David Morton]

You don't see 12 crankshafts per month as a problem ???

If the engines were reliable, I would say that maybe 1 or 2 cranks per month was not a problem.
12 cranks per month adds up to 144 cranks in a YEAR.

A reliable engine will had some failures since they are all created by man,
but at the rate of 12 per month, there is a problem...Dude, 150 cranks out of 1.5 million in service would be a failure rate of 0.001%.

I wouldn't call that bad.

[David Morton]

Took 22 days to get mine replaced. At that time there were only 2 remanfactured engines in the enitre country. Mine came out of Texas, the other was in Arizona! Good luck!Wonder if it's a Fred Jones rebuild. A friend of mine once had a 1967 Fairlane GTA with a Fred Jones built 428 SCJ. They did good work back then. He outran me on a 750 Kawasaki when I had the 135mph speedometer pegged one night. Mustv'e been going 160 at least cause he went around me at a good 15-20 mph more than I was. Damn near blew me off the road.

[merc406]

Wonder if it's a Fred Jones rebuild. A friend of mine once had a 1967 Fairlane GTA with a Fred Jones built 428 SCJ. They did good work back then. He outran me on a 750 Kawasaki when I had the 135mph speedometer pegged one night. Mustv'e been going 160 at least cause he went around me at a good 15-20 mph more than I was. Damn near blew me off the road.



The Power of an FE plus a great engine builder, good story David. :burnout: :rasta:

[gnorrell]

They got the new/re-manufactured engine in, and work was finished 6/18. They dropped the engine stand on the car and so had to fix the hood and fender. Got the car back 6/25. Runs as good or better than new. :burnout: Definitely glad to be rid of the Taurus rental. It took way too long for Ford to decide to replace rather than repair, but I have a new engine with a new warranty and the car runs great so I am happy with the results.

[TripleTransAm]

Any further info on the post-mortem of the original engine?

[jgc61sr2002]

gnorrell - Welcome back. Good luck.

[cruzer]

Mine came out of Texas, the other was in Arizona! Good luck!
03, your engine was probably done by AER Engineering here in Dallas---I just toured their facility and was very impressed---they have a chromed 4.6l engine in their reception area--looks awesome. They do all the remanufactured engines for Ford in this area. I won an AER engine at their car show--still haven't taken delivery---know any one that needs a completely remanufactured long block Ford 302, 351 Windsor or Chevy 350 ?? I have my choice and it is for sale. I had an AER engine in my '92 GM--got it at 88,000 mi. under 100m warranty---still running strong at 195,000 miles---can post picture of chromed 4.6 when I go back to pick up engine, Maury

[gnorrell]

Never heard anything else about the old engine.

Don't know anybody who is looking for a new engine.