Boss 290 Oil Problems

[Falchoon]

http://newsmotoring.news.com.au/dailyteleg...5E17002,00.html

Muscle car burns too much energy

01aug03

FAULTY piston rings are blamed for the Falcon GT's recent engine troubles, says PAUL GOVER.

The Falcon GT has just run into its first roadblock – engine trouble. The born-again Ford muscle car is suffering from oil consumption problems, with reports of up to 20 per cent of cars affected by the drama during running-in.

A small batch of faulty piston rings is to blame, with Ford Performance Vehicles investigating the trouble and working on a solution for customers.

It refuses to confirm the number of V8 engines involved, or rumours of early engine rebuilds. "We have only had a handful of reported cases," says FPV's communications manager, Andrew MacLean.

"We have rectified the problem in production and we are, at the moment, gathering the data to work out how many engines might be affected. We are deciding the best way to service our customers."

The trouble with the locally engineered and assembled 5.4-litre V8, which produces 290kW of power, comes after Expensive Daewoo had similar dramas with its GEN III V8.

The Expensive Daewoo engine was originally the subject of excessive oil use but since then it has been hit by bigger dramas and plenty of V8s have been rebuilt to get cars going.

FPV says it has no reports of engine failures, but admits the oil problem could be significant if owners don't keep an eye on their oil levels.

"The worse case scenario, if they don't check their oil levels, is significant damage to the engine," says MacLean.

The problem has been traced to an oil control ring on the pistons. A small batch were too hard and damaged the cylinder bores, allowing blow-by and seepage down into the sump. But FPV stresses the problem has only been occurring while engines are being run-in, with no reports of problems on V8s, which have clocked up more than 3000-5000km. Nonetheless FPV says GT sales are right on track, but held back by production from its factory in Broadmeadows in Melbourne. "We are still not keeping up with demand," says MacLean.

"The more we build, the more they want. The anticipation for the car created a significant order bank and now they're on the road more people are seeing them and the demand has increased."

Meanwhile every new owner of a fast Falcon from Ford Performance Vehicles is going to learn how to drive it properly.

FPV has decided to include a performance and defensive driving course, worth $430, as part of its customer benefits package.

The course is provided by the John Bowe Institute of Defensive Driving.

The first course was run for 12 owners in Sydney two weeks ago, while 14 new FPV owners went through the school at Melbourne's Calder Park last week.

"It's not a racing driver's course. It's a basic defensive and advanced driving course," says MacLean.

"It highlights the active safety systems in the car, including anti-skid brakes and traction control, and how to use them.

"It also give owners a chance to drive their performance car in a controlled environment on a racetrack."

"At the end of the day there is a bit of fun, too, with some hot laps."

[Cobra]

surprise surprise surprise .... probably similar to the GM problem ... cause the excuses sound the same...

there are those that say it is in the engine management system .... this will start a never ending witch hunt ....

I can here the GM guys smiling now ... B)

[Macktheknife]

The only way an engine management system could cause excessive oil consumption is if the fuel mix was too rich and causing oil wash on the cylinder walls, thereby not allowing a correct bedding-in and consequent seal.

My money is on a material incompatability issue.

[Cobra]

  Macktheknife said:

The only way an engine management system could cause excessive oil consumption is if the fuel mix was too rich and causing oil wash on the cylinder walls, thereby not allowing a correct bedding-in and consequent seal.

on the money

[camerooch]

HOW INTERESTING.......

[Venom XR6]

I think it has more to do with FPV filling the motors with a semi-synthetic oil, which is probably too slippery to help run-in the motor. At least Ford can admit a problem, unlike those arrogant Expensive Daewoo pricks who believe their oil consumption problems are the customers fault, not thiers.

[Turbo6man]

Although the headline was bad for Ford the article itself bagged the Expensive Daewoo motor even more ...

[240 T]

The prob can be and has been fixed already by FoMoCo australia the car being produced now are not haveing this problem and the cars that do have the problem will have new rings at the dealer I guess???? any way the only boss to have the problem is the Boss 290 which means the problem is no where near the size as holden's dodgy GEN 3 because ford manufactur the part here and assemble the motors in broadmedows the prob can be fixed amediatly unlike holders crate motor from canada

[240 T]

And yes I know the ford block comes from canada

[Falchoon]

Interesting why it is only the Boss 290 that is mentioned having problems, what about the XR8 Boss 260? Wouldn't the XR8 motor share most of it's components with it's big brother?