Ford Left Collate In Sump

[DAZZA]

Ford droped a collate down my motor after they put stronger valve springs in and left it there.

They said it should not be a problem.

The next morning driving my car put my foot down made a noise then went bang.

They pulled the motor down, found the damaged collate and now there not covering nothing because they said it was not the collate.

Does anyone no if you drop a collate down will it blow your motor up if you leave it there?

[Draytox]

Sounds dodgy to me. I wouldnt let them get away with it.

It could easily damage the engine and/or block the oil pickup which intern will screw ya motor. Any foriegn material is bad for ya engine, that's why you have an oil filter.

Cheers mate

[Guest hank]

Need more info. What was the damage done to the engine? How much to fix? Did they do a "mates rates" deal for you (they felt guilty - an admission of fault)? Pretty hard to tell without knowing what went bang....

I don't know about the T engine, but on every other engine I've pulled apart, the oil pickup is a pretty big wire covered pickup in the sump so larger foreign objects shouldn't get in there. However, Draytox is right, you have a filter to stop crap floating around, so it's negligence leaving it in there.

Do you have any proof they left the object in there? They obviously admitted it face-to-face, but do you have anything documented/witnesses etc?

Personally I would not let it drop mate and set the rotweilers (sp?) on them. Best of luck.

[F6 UTE]

Depends on what 'went bang'.

Anything dropped down the bottom will generally stay there and collect around the pickup.

A collet, being so small would prolly get smashed up by the crank into a little bit of metal, what material is it made from??

'Bang' is usually pretty bad, what else was done to it? was it tuned already? Who tuned it? Was the power you are making rated above what generally is assumed safe for stock internals? Have you been running alot of power on standard valve springs for long? ( too long?? )

If they pulled the engine down, you can get a good indication of what kind of condition it was in prior to stopping. How were the bores, any scoring? What did the pistons look like? any detonation present? Any valves have marks on them?

Need more info.. An engine isn't a black and white issue..

[DAZZA]

Depends on what 'went bang'.

Anything dropped down the bottom will generally stay there and collect around the pickup.

A collet, being so small would prolly get smashed up by the crank into a little bit of metal, what material is it made from??

'Bang' is usually pretty bad, what else was done to it? was it tuned already? Who tuned it? Was the power you are making rated above what generally is assumed safe for stock internals? Have you been running alot of power on standard valve springs for long? ( too long?? )

If they pulled the engine down, you can get a good indication of what kind of condition it was in prior to stopping. How were the bores, any scoring? What did the pistons look like? any detonation present? Any valves have marks on them?

Need more info.. An engine isn't a black and white issue..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[DAZZA]

The material is made from iv been told is toughened steel.

It was tuned and running fine at 290 rwkw for the last 2000 kms motors done 26000.

D&T done the tuning last, 2 months ago, I was heading up there that morning to get the tune on it when it went.

The bores were like new no scoring.

Top of piston was left in the top of bore and the rest was in the sump in small bits.

Pistons were all fine not running lean no detonation 1 bent valve.

[FPV TRANNY]

Sounds like you reached your power limit.Some motors have been known to let go at that power level.What rod did it throw?Where you flogging it when it happend?

You have to be honest with it as your car has been modded,not to say that what ford did was right and I would chase for compensation but sounds like another XR6T rod thrower to me.

My mates XR6T threw a rod at 250rwkw at only 10000km on it.NO WARRANTY!!!!!

but it was a pretty high strung tune thou!

[vibe ute]

Hi Dazza,

If they found the collet damaged in the sump it must have come into contact with something, could the damaged collet be off the damaged valve? I would be asking questions about the bent valve because if they didn't fit the collets properly to that valve it may have been the starting point of the failure by allowing the valve to drop and come into contact with the piston, it is very unlikely that a collet in the sump could cause this type of failure once it has reached the bottom of the sump. Either way they or Ford are responsible for the repairs, either FOMOCO as warranty on the engine or the Dealer as warranty on their workmanship. Don't let them bluff you into paying for the repairs yourself, as from what you've told us your in the right.

Cheers,

Steve.

P.S. I've been both Warrantry Clerk & Service Manager in various dealerships, including Ford, so if you want to discuss it further PM me.

[mk11tute]

If the collet is undamaged and has no marks on it then I would say as others have that the collet had nothing to do with your engine self destructing.

[DAZZA]

The coolate was chipped, dented and pitted all the way around it. (chewed up and spat out).