[ecostang2015]

I was turning a corner, and hit the gas pedal a bit, and then it made a nasty almost popping sound and thud maybe, then I saw white smoke out the back, and the car felt like it was dragging, and then it just stalled and wouldn't start, the oil dipstick was overfilled, and there was a milky substance in the inside of the oil fill cap . I had it towed to the Ford dealer, waiting to hear what they say.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Milky white substance in the oil is a good sign there is coolant contamination which means you probably did blow the head gasket. Are you SURE your car wasn't modified before you purchased it? (I know that's a rhetorical question because you have no idea what the previous owner did to the car) It almost sounds like the previous owner had modified the car, but returned it all to stock before trading it in. All of the issues and symptoms you've posted on the forums tends to make me think this could be the case.

U.M.

 

[ecostang2015]

not sure if it was modded or not. So Ford looked at it, there is a broken rod,underneath the spark plug hole. they are leaning towards the sparkplugs as the culprit. So, the engine is gone sounds like. Never heard of spark plugs destroying engines or breaking rods. Sounds like Ford doesn't want to back their engines, the car seemed to run a bit off for the longest time, they claim there was nothing wrong whenever I complained about it.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Wait a second... they are contributing a thrown rod to a bad spark plug? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! The motor is still under warranty, correct?

U.M.

 

[ecostang2015]

its got 31K on it. its under warranty. they want to believe that the spark plug broke and somehow broke the rod and so forth. I'm suspecting a bad bearing or rod, that was weakened over time and finally broke. or I'm thinking the head gasket blew and caused hydrolock, that would explain the flooded dipstick, because I've read that hydrolock can be caused by head gasket failure, which hydrolock can cause the engine to fail internally by destroying rods, etc. They owe me a new engine, I think they just want to play hardball. I had pinging issues in the engine off and on the past 2 months, plus the idle seemed rough and missing, the engine seemed noisier than your normal ecoboost mustang, my dad is a professional mechanic, he says there is almost no way for a spark plug to destroy an engine. I told Ford about my concerns with the engine several times, they claimed they found nothing wrong during those times I brought the car in

 

[ecostang2015]

it seems to me, most likely whatever caused the rod to break, probably forced the piston to hit the head and damage the the spark plug. My dad says thats probably what happened, the rod broke the plug not the other way around. he told me to let them tear down the engine and take pictures of the head, he probably would be able to tell what happened from the pictures.

 

[Sarge]

Do you have records of your earlier complaints and their responses?

 

[ecostang2015]

yes i do.

they want to blame the spark plugs for engine failure but have to tear it down to see what happened.

 

[ecostang2015]

I have never heard of a broken spark plug causing engine failure

 

[Uncle Meat]

The spark plug tip (electrode) barely protrudes into the combustion chamber. If the tip were to break off it would definitely scar up the top of the piston and the combustion chamber itself as it banged around in there, but I don't believe it would cause the rod to fail. If I had to guess I would bet your head gasket failed allowing coolant to leak into the cylinder which would then cause hydro-lock which will bend/break rods.

I'm no mechanic, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express recently. ;-)

U.M.

 

[ecostang2015]

The spark plug tip (electrode) barely protrudes into the combustion chamber. If the tip were to break off it would definitely scar up the top of the piston and the combustion chamber itself as it banged around in there, but I don't believe it would cause the rod to fail. If I had to guess I would bet your head gasket failed allowing coolant to leak into the cylinder which would then cause hydro-lock which will bend/break rods.

I'm no mechanic, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express recently. ;-)

U.M.

this is my opinion as well. All the mechanics I talked to said there is a very slim chance if at all that the spark plug would have been the cause. I suspect the head gasket/hydrolock event would be most likely the cause.

 

[ecostang2015]

so, they removed the head.

 

[Sarge]

Is that #3 cylinder?

 

[ecostang2015]

I think it is. The dealer said they'll honor the warranty