Mishri

This TSB covers what we know is the #8 Piston failure, and it describes how to determine if aftermarket parts were ever put on the vehicle and to proceed with voiding the warranty. Although if something comes up unrelated to the modification they are supposed to still fix it though they may try to deny it.

A little bit scary, so far the people who have the #8 piston failure have just a tune or cai+tune, are running a 93 octane tune from various tuners and atleast a couple at one point had bad gas or lower octane gas in the tank with that tune.

Go ahead and post any reports you know of this issue. It is disconcerting, I don't believe any mustang has ever been actually known to have issues with a cai+tune only. especially since we know people are hitting 600-700whp on the stock engine without this issue.

Joenpb

The 5.0L engine seems to have a number of problems indicated by owners. Continued oil guzzling is a major issue if your car is going through a quart every 1000 miles or so, except Ford now says its not a problem if you don't have to add a quart within 550 miles.

Say what? On a brand new car?

In comparison the 3.7L V6 doesn't burn a drop, and there hasn't been a single thread in the V6 forum indicating such a problem.

It appears to me there are some design flaws with the 5.0L engine. Add #8 cylinder problems, the MT-82 transmission malfunctions, and Ford is most likely looking to minimize the damage warranty claims can inflict on profit when numerous issues are likely to be widespread during the warranty period.

The bottom line is having a good dealer. Here in San Diego there are a number of dealers, but one stands above the rest in terms of putting the customer first. This particular dealer doesn't run away from anything, will diagnose the problem and not try to void a warranty because of a few mods, unless the modification did indeed cause the failure. I'd suggest people who have an option of where to take there cars for service do a little research to find that type of dealer in their town.

Truckbutt

Thanks for posting that. I guess you really have to trust that the tuner you bought if from is reliable and that the tune you are using is not pushing the engine beyond its tolerances. In addition if you get any knocking/pinging go back to stock and contact your tuner. Of course, no cheap gas.
A couple of months ago, AM sent out revised tunes for ones that had been shipped with too aggressive spark advance. I appreciate that they followed up on this and made it right. My only gripe about it is that they weren't forthcoming in the purpose of the update. I had to find out in the forums even after I specifically asked about the purpose of the update. Here is what they wrote me when i asked why they sent it to me:
"Hello Scott,I apologize for the delay in response. We had some updates available for your tunes, so we updated your files for you. We suggest returning the car to stock, updating the device, and loading the updated files. Thank you and have a great day! Dann M.SCT TechAmericanMuscle.com1(877) 841-1275"

AMChrisRose

That wasn't the message that was actually supposed to go out with the update. I'll look into what happened, there. We weren't trying to hide anything when we sent out an update. It was simply to make sure that those 60 or 70 people (I forget the exact number) were running the safest possible custom tunes. Sorry about that.

Truckbutt

Chris,
I appreciate your response. In addition have to apologize. My memory was a little off. This is the first e mail that I received:

"Attached is your Bama Custom Tune you had requested. Below are instructions on how to load this onto your hand held tuner device. You MUST also make sure the Device Updater is up to date and that you update the FIRMWARE as SCT just released a new one. *Please note that the car will need to be returned to stock before updating the device* The Firmware is updated by selecting the ‘AUTOMATICLY CHECK FOR UPDATES’ and following its steps to update. If you have any questions please let us know."

I then asked what was up. I received this:

"In order for Bama to bring you the best quality tunes possible, we keep a constant watch on Mustang enthusiast forums. Some of you may have read about isolated instances in which 2011 Mustang GT owners have had #8 cylinder piston failure. As Ford and the aftermarket come to a conclusion, we want to be proactive until more is learned.

The attached tune will not sacrifice performance, but ensure that the safest parameters are being used. Be confident that your Mustang has not been harmed and we are only updating your tune as a precautionary measure. If you have any questions, the Bama team will be happy to answer them at the contact information below!

The Bama Performance Team
Toll Free: 888.226.9764
Hours: Monday-Friday 9AM-5:30PM EST"

Then for some reason I received this:

"Hello Scott,I apologize for the delay in response. We had some updates available for your tunes, so we updated your files for you. We suggest returning the car to stock, updating the device, and loading the updated files. Thank you and have a great day! Dann M.SCT TechAmericanMuscle.com1(877) 841-1275"

There seeems to have been some confusion at AM as to what information was to go out with the corrected tunes. Two of the three e mails that went out did not say why they were sent.

SpartaPerformance

There are a couple of nice pictures of damaged pistons on that TSB. It doesn't say anything about voiding anybodies warranty however it does tell technicians to print out data logged into the PCM and attach to work order for future reference.

Truckbutt

Hey neighbor. I know it's 4th of July weekend and people are throwing back a few cold ones, but................
Yah. It do. Check out the flow diagram on page 3. It says that if modifications are present that are the cause of the problem to initiate warranty cancellation.

Sleeper5.0

I found the issues on some other forums
Gave this guy a hard time
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums...kryponite.html
Replaced this dudes engine....
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums...ing-rough.html

Kinda makes ya wonder... I haven't found a tread on the failure for a car that wasn't modded, but I just did a quick search..

Whew here is a 23 page forum post.. Ahhhh..
http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forum...take-dump.html

Internet BS but still a interesting read.. You kinda got to take it for what it is...

mapitts

I have been a "Ford only" person for a very long time. I have watched this forum section for quite a while. Ford is the absolute worst that I can think of for stuff like this. I have been around and around with them before for a bad design that they are aware of, and then throwing it back on the customer. I can understand them voiding a warranty over a supercharger that who knows who put on. Blaming a CAI / Tuner for a total engine failure including the clutch is down right pitiful. They have a problem and they KNOW it. Ford, in my opinion, is only trying to free themselves of the problem by grasping at straws. I know what you guys are up against and I hope Ford steps up to the plate and admits that they have a problem. I can deal with that, but it really seems that they are trying to blame anybody but themselves for bad engineering. Hope all turns out well for each and every one of you. I sure do not like the thoughts of me having to take my business elsewhere.

parchisi

Maybe you think Ford is the worst because people like us only pay attention to Ford. I'm pretty sure most car companies treat warranty work the same way.