Yep..the motor is on a stand..they told me it was covered under warranty. The Service Manager calls and says he has a problem...he doesn't think Ford will pay for the repair. He says the dealer will sell me a long block at cost and they will cut thier labor about 30%. I say well....why is warranty work denied..he said Ford hasn`t denied it. In fact he hasn't even presented it to the hotline. Just that the head gasket work they just did could not have caused the damage..metal gone from head..electrode burnt off....compression down on #3. I say document your justifications..Cause I do. Said he`d call me back today....Never heard from him. Still in the Dark. Sure hope they see the light.
Guess I'll go look at a 03 Cobra. Coletti said they broke about eight motors before they got that one right. This is my 4th Lightning and second motor. Not sure I wanna go through 6 more to get It right. By the way What is Overboost and how do you get it and how does this cause the block deck to warp..That's what they say now. Last time the deck was flat...now..well it is out 3 thousands.....

 

Twisted99-Sounds like your head replacement has become a nightmare also!! I have had a rough idle ever since mine was replaced and they cant seem to figure it out. It idled so smooth before. When they started the engine up for the first time after the work was completed, they forgot to put some plug in the back of the head and it pumped out 5 quarts under my hood!! Then when they backed it out of the stall, they caught the edge of my R/F wheel on the racks and knocked a nice chunk of metal out of it!! Then the service manager tells me he doesnt want to see my truck back in his shop because Im too particular about it!! WTF?? Hell, all I wanted was the wheel replaced not repaired like he wanted to do! I wanted to stick a foot in his a$$ soooooooo bad, but its not worth going to jail over I guess. Sometimes I wish I had just let the damn thing leak oil, Id been better off! Im gonna post pics of the head they removed later on, there are some interesting things about it everyone here needs to see. Sorry so long, but you would think Ford would treat people better, especially SVT owners.

 

Yeah nightmare is the right word. I too wish I had let the head leak. The truck was approaching the end of the warranty so I was having the loose ends taken care of. Guess the loose ends unraveled. My truck ran fantastic until it went in for the head work. I changed to the Densos thinking that would help avoid plug related problems. I have discovered that Ford's flat rate does not cover the hours needed in some repects. So I was told that it's common place to add ghost charges in warranty bills. Such as stripped bolts..they get a few hours labor for each incident. Hope they remembered to strip one out. Otherwise ..well you know. The other head was written up as having a leak and the gasket replaced. However it was not. This is why Ford probably refuses a good deal of warranty work. They get tired of being gouged (as they see it) by the shop and customer. Most of this stuff is discretionary. So is the brand I buy.. That Z06 looks pretty good from My new perspective.

 

What the dealer is trying to do to you is blackmail. Play their game-agree to pay it yourself then pay with a credit card, dispute the charges once it is done and sue their **** off!! As soon as you get it back from being repaired trade it on that Z06 and go have fun. That is my recipe for a solution to your situation.

 

Automan....I like the way you think. In fact I was contemplating just that. I have done this before..and it worked like a charm. I had a 1972 240Z that I drove from the paint shop half a block away to the Datsun dealer for a valve job. When I go to pick it up it had a nice new crease across the right front fender...No doubt in my mind they dropped it on the fender. I confronted them. They denied it. Said it was like that before I brought it in. They would not accept the fact that they did it. I spoke with the owner..NO luck. I paid with a personal check and drove directly to my bank and stopped payment. Later I recieved a couple of threats from them..and then a letter stating..that "if" they did the damage they would fix it in thier shop. Just bring it in.

I laughed about it for days. The fender repair was much cheaper than the valve job. I could have paid Datsun the difference and would have had they not been such complete Asses.

 

Twisted99:

It pisses me off to think the dealer would give you a line of ***** like that!! Obviously they think they have a dealing with a sucker, but it sounds like you know better than to fall for that crap!!

Jason