Engine Died - Motorcraft Rebuild - Question on reason

rookie94sc

Registered User
Ok well I had a motorcraft reman'd motor put in my car a couple months ago and it died wednesday after about 8000 miles. The dealership told me it was because the combustion chamber temperatures were too high, and was possibly due to EGR deletion or the chip I have. The chip is an Apten Tune but just a base tune pretty much. I don't think either had anything to do with it as earlier SC's some didn't come with EGR so I don't see why what would change. Any ideas?


As far as how the motor died it was running rough at idle and under load and producing white smoke out the exhaust. it happened really fast too.

My thought is that my radiator has been leaking but I keep an eye on it regularly and fill up the expansion tank all the time and make sure the radiator has fluid. Could there have been an air bubble in the system which caused a head or cylinder to overheat?


Oh and to avoid the possibility of confusion they're not denying warranty and have already ordered the replacement motor and everything. (probably helps that I used to work there lol)
 
I don't think the EGR deletion would cause that. But you need to find out how and where the leaks or engine failure is. What caused your original engine to fail?

Any codes?

To pinpoint where the problem may be: Get a compression check, pressure check your cooling system, and maybe a leakdown test

Possibilities:
Cooling fan working? Bad IRCM, fuses, wiring, ECT sensor?
Get new radiator cap
EEC or Chip came loose
Heads are warped
Need new O2 sensors
Cat's are clogged
Have your injectors checked, maybe they are sticking open or closed.
 
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I don't think they used a non-sc longblock cuz I worked there when they put it in and the heads said SC right on them.

Original issue was a head gasket failure at 164,000 miles.

O2 sensors were replaced at the time the motor was replaced, cats are gutted, haven't had injectors checked may just invest in a new set and MAF. Radiator cap is new. Heads should be ok as it was a long block but who knows. fan was working, ECT sensors are both new.

I'll check the chip when I get it back. I'll probably take it out at that time to send back to Apten for a reburn to take out the EGR function.
 
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My engine is running just fine after my shadetree refresh.
As you know I also run a Apten Chip. I do have the EGR still installed on my engine. But I doubt the lack of EGR would lead to a engine failure.


I have read some horrow stories on the Ford rebuilt engines for the SC.


Get your money back. Put in that local $300 dollar engine. Then rebuild a H Beam killer motor to bolt a Whipple on. :)
 
sounds like most of the Ford Reman blocks. There are a lot of similar stories of motors going in very short intervals. I would reccomend a refund and head to Jasper.
 
Hmmmm-wonder where those techs were trained?

As far as how the motor died it was running rough at idle and under load and producing white smoke out the exhaust. it happened really fast too.

More than likely they had weak HGs in the longblock. You were definitely burning coolant-as if that had to be said.
 
Supercharged 3.8 remanufactured engines from Ford are junk in short time. I know, I've had two. Your best bet is to find a good engine man and let him do it right.
 
Sounds like I might be using this 3yr 36k warranty for a while lol


at least until I can afford to build the motor up and fix a bunch of other issues a 169k mile car has lol
 
1BADSC said:
Except now your motor only has 28,000 more miles left on the warranty.

Yeah I know :) I worked at the dealership as a warranty admin. But now instead of a 70 mile commute per day I'm only doing a 5 mile commute each day so it won't be such a stress on the car.

I bought it in 2002 with 122,000 miles on the car and by august of 2003 I already had 158,000 miles on it.
 
Josh,
Sorry to hear the bad news bro....My FORD Reman. lasted approx. the same amount of miles....Mine went in like 5500mi. and past the 3year mark so I missed the warranty....Bottom line is simple...They are JUNK IMO...Mine lost the main and connecting rod bearings when it went...I had EGR at the time...I however don't have EGR now and have ran the current rebuild for close to 10K miles with ZERO issues for the most part...

This time around ace the Plastic POS Radiator, and don't bother putting the EGR back...Make sure you have a nice cool runner and GOOD LUCK..."Mine prolly runs to cold right now, and I really don't give a chit...I like the temp. gauge sitting below the "N"...I have a Black Magic aftermarket fan with a fresh Brass tank radiator, and a 180 deg. T-Stat and never have ANY worries with temps on the hottest of days...My Fan has a programmable temp function that I am sure helps out alot...


Brad
 
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