Waiting on Ford

[GTMikey]

Laguna Seca is at the Ford dealer. It burned 3.5 quarts of newly changed synthetic 5w-50 in 800 miles. Blowing blue smoke out of the left exhaust when I come off the throttle at almost all speeds. The tech sees cylinder wall damage with the bore scope. It's a 2012 with 10 k miles and under warranty with no engine mods. I was put in touch with James Owens (Shelby/Boss Marketing Manager) through the Ford Dealer in Las Vegas where I know the special vehicles (Shelby's) sales manager. He's been great as has Ford. Waiting for their engineer to come to San Diego and let us know next steps.

I heard through various sources and other owners with the same issues the rings were changed later on in the 5.0 Coyote motors. The tech thinks its the rings. Will keep you posted, hoping owning 6 Fords is worth something

 

[BlackICE]

Seem like it should be covered by the warranty. Good luck. I hope Ford doesn't take too long to replace or repair your motor.

 

[FENZO]

That blows more than blue smoke. Hope all turns out well.

If they were to change the motor does that affect the whole #s matching thing?

 

[GTMikey]

Not super concerned about it, it's a club/track car and fun as hell to drive. I just want it back on the road.. Been sitting for a month collecting dust.

 

[Indy GT]

GTMickey, two questions.
You say no engine mods, however, do (did) you use or install TrackKey?
Do you have an oil separator in the PVC line to the inlet plenum?

 

[GTMikey]

Indy GT, Yes, Ford installed Track Key. Car does not have an aftermarket oil separator installed. I read up on them those this week and it seems like something to look into when I get it back on the road. Your thoughts?
Pretty sure the car got bad rings, after looking into it, reading the Boss Forums, talking to lots of people, a bunch of Boss' blew motors or had bad rings, seems like early 2012's like mine.

 

[Indy GT]

Your post was of interest to me as I too have an early (April 2011) Boss LS and have not really had any oil consumption problems. I did notice that while on the dyno under WOT pulls there was a slight amount of oil burn smoke but nothing I felt concerned about. And I did not see a comenserate oil burn on dip stick levels. I have tracked the LS a number of times and took it to NOLA at last years rally.

I just changed the oil in my car (8.5 quarts of Motorcraft 5W-50 as recommended) and will monitor. Not that TrackKey would really have anything to do with rings or oil consumption (although who really knows as it is suppose to alter 600 different engine paramaters). I never installed TK as the rollout and eventual availability to us 2012 Boss owners by Ford Racing was abysmal, watered down from initial promotional displays and soured me on the whole concept.

I use the JLT oil separator on the passenger side PVC route (there is one available for the driver side as well but I think one is sufficient). I have the black annodized unit and the appearance is very stock. This unit was recommended to me by other FGT owners who campaign(ed) Bosses and I have been very pleased with the unit. Takes 30 seconds to install.

 

[GTMikey]

This car ran without any issues for 9K miles then on a highway cruise from Palm Desert to Las Vegas with 125 mustangs the guy behind me comes up at the first stop and says he can smell it and see it burning oil. I have Kendall's oil cooler so it's 9.5 quarts and it was changed the day before the cruise. Ford then asked me to start a consumption test and I did and it burned 3.5 quarts in 800 miles. 5 laps at Spring Mountain included in that which they know about. I love the car just hoping I can get it back for car events this summer. Been out of commission for 6 weeks now.

 

[GTMikey]

Apparently early in 2012 Boss production the machine used to tighten heads had a miss-calibration and over tightened the left said heads causing an issue with the valve guides causing blow by under some conditions. New heads have been ordered for the left side and hopefully the issue is solved. This is
under warranty. This info came form a former engineering manager who is now working with another company now. Back channeled the information to the service manager at the dealer where the car is. The engine has great compression and passed the leak down test which points to the valve guides.

We shall see....

 

[nota4re]

Yeah Mike, the worst part about this is how long it is taking for Ford to step up to the plate. It hardly counts as "coming through" if they do elect to cover all under warranty (as they should) when they have essentially denied you utilization of the car for its intended purpose for now coming on 2-months. I know there's a delicate balance between getting fully covered and pushing/escalating, but this is taking too long.

FYI: I was at SM lastweek with AlohaGT in his identical LS and, as usual, Kelvin was driving it like he stole it. That car has a LOT of track miles - just as Terry's did (both more than your LS) and each of these car don't use a tad of oil. I sure hope you get yours back soon and can join the fun at SM many times this summer!

 

[GTMikey]

So I got the Laguna Seca back from Ford today with new left side heads and all appears to be ok. Until I throw the track key on and do some spirited driving it won't be certain this was the cause of the burning oil. Ford covered all under warranty. I am
hoping this is it

 

[Indy GT]

Thanks for the update GTMikey. Glad Ford made you whole again. And hope the new "head" solves your oil consumption problem. Confirm if you would please it was only the singular left side head (driver side) which was replaced? ("with new left side heads"?)

 

[GTMikey]

So when the service manager researched this we discovered Ford had 54 left side heads in a stock in the U.S. and 3 right side. Do you think they know there is an issue? only left side heads replaced. Ford warrantied all parts and labor, I hope this solves the issue.