Murader03
04-20-2004, 11:50 AM
Several of you knew I took a "Check Engine Light" during then Philly Cruise night run from Delaware to Philly. I cleared it while we ate. It never returned, however, the engine was running rough at idle, in gear, and kinda surged when the brake was released.
Back in February, the thermostat stuck closed and allowed the engine to heat up. It never quite got to the top of the gauge, and the "Check Engine" light never came on. Never made it to the dealer and had to call for a tow. The thermostat was changed and all seemed well, until a couple weeks ago when I first noticed the rough idle.
I pulled the Denso's over the weekend thinking one mught be bad, and installed the Motorcraft plugs I had removed when Denso's went in. They didn't help the problem. Thankfully, I left them in, replaced the stock ECC program, removed my chip, and went to the dealer this morning.
The #8 cyclinder only had 110# of compression. The tech used a borescope and found one of the exhaust vavles recessed into the head. He was about to just recommend a new head, but instead pulled the rest of the plugs and checked the cyclinders. On the #4 cyclinder, he found a rather large hot spot on the cyclinder wall, and stopped his investigation there. He is now recommending that the entire engine be replaced. Should know something back later today or tomorrow. BTW, this dealer has performed "all" the service on my MM, so everything is on file.
Thank goodness I bought the extended warranty. The car would have been sittin' a long time before I got the cash for a new engine.
Was going to have Dennis install the cooling upgrade in June when I visited the shop, but now I'll see if the dealer will install it on the new engine. Can't hurt to ask....
For those thinking about this mod, I'd think a little harder.....It just might be money in the bank!
The loaner Taurus will just have to do until next week. Drats! They had a nice new CVLX Sport on the lot they could have given me, Yea! Right!
Back in February, the thermostat stuck closed and allowed the engine to heat up. It never quite got to the top of the gauge, and the "Check Engine" light never came on. Never made it to the dealer and had to call for a tow. The thermostat was changed and all seemed well, until a couple weeks ago when I first noticed the rough idle.
I pulled the Denso's over the weekend thinking one mught be bad, and installed the Motorcraft plugs I had removed when Denso's went in. They didn't help the problem. Thankfully, I left them in, replaced the stock ECC program, removed my chip, and went to the dealer this morning.
The #8 cyclinder only had 110# of compression. The tech used a borescope and found one of the exhaust vavles recessed into the head. He was about to just recommend a new head, but instead pulled the rest of the plugs and checked the cyclinders. On the #4 cyclinder, he found a rather large hot spot on the cyclinder wall, and stopped his investigation there. He is now recommending that the entire engine be replaced. Should know something back later today or tomorrow. BTW, this dealer has performed "all" the service on my MM, so everything is on file.
Thank goodness I bought the extended warranty. The car would have been sittin' a long time before I got the cash for a new engine.
Was going to have Dennis install the cooling upgrade in June when I visited the shop, but now I'll see if the dealer will install it on the new engine. Can't hurt to ask....
For those thinking about this mod, I'd think a little harder.....It just might be money in the bank!
The loaner Taurus will just have to do until next week. Drats! They had a nice new CVLX Sport on the lot they could have given me, Yea! Right!