Well, crap?

"You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much" (youcantellafinn) 03/05/2018 at 14:54 • Filed to: i wish i still had my sti, get bent, get bent again

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The FoRS in its natural habitat

The local Ford dealer called today. They have a new head coming from Ford and should receive it within the next day or so. Apparently someone at Ford figured out that they’d better get my car fixed before they end up buying it back. Frankly at this point I don’t trust the car to survive a 20 mile trip, so I was hoping it would sit in the shop long enough that Ford would have to buy it back. Looks like they’ll probably have it back together this week though, so it won’t have enough time out of service to count as a lemon law car (yet).

Friday it got towed back to the dealership after I had it for a day and a half. Turns out my suspicions were correct, the CEL and misfire on cylinder 4 were caused by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . So that makes 3 out of the four cylinders that have had bent valves. Their first two attempts to put the engine back together after replacing the head gasket per Ford’s TSB have not been particularly successful. Their first attempt at getting the car put back together resulted in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

TL;DR

Round 1 - Replace head gasket per Ford TSB
Round 1.5 - Come pick up car. Never mind, don’t come pick it up, CEL came on when we took it for a test drive
Round 2 - Pick up the car. I almost made it back to work before the CEL reappeared. They put the head back together incorrectly and bent intake valves on cylinders 2 and 3.
Round 3 - I had the car for a day and a half and almost 50 miles of driving. CEL comes on, code shows P0304, misfire on cylinder 4. They called this morning, bent valves on cylinder 4. New head is on the way from Ford.

In happier news, the RS turbo inlet is happy.

Not my picture, but I have seen this very view. Except mine had pistons 2 and 3 up instead of 1 and 4.

Future next gen S2000 owner > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 14:56

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Check your local laws. It may be that is you have a car in for a certain number of times, it will qualify.

Takuro Spirit > Future next gen S2000 owner 03/05/2018 at 15:00

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Repair attempts for same issue or amount of time in the shop will do it in WI.

E90M3 > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:01

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The RS seems like a great car, but the execution was terrible.

functionoverfashion > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:02

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Ugh, and I REALLY want to love that car. In that color, and everything. I hope it either gets sorted out soon so you can enjoy it.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Future next gen S2000 owner 03/05/2018 at 15:03

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I’ve already been in contact with a lemon law lawyer. If this repair attempt fails, or I don’t get the car back by Friday then Ford and the dealer will get notified. If the car is out of service for 30 days, or has four failed repair attempts for the same problem the lemon law kicks in and Ford will have to buy it back.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:06

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Geezus. This might be the worst RS story I’ve heard and will ever hear. As many times as they’ve bent the valves, I’d check the pistons for tapping marks and demand a new engine all together to be delivered and installed by a more competent tech.

The RS might be the GT-Turbo reincarnated...

Discerning > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:12

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Any damage to the pistons? Did they take any pics.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:14

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That engine with the floating cylinders and those wrong head gaskets have been a huge mess for these cars...

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Discerning 03/05/2018 at 15:20

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My thoughts exactly. I’d want photos at the very least.

450X_FTW > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:24

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4 failed attempts in 1 year*. I know because I had to look into it for my truck.

Future next gen S2000 owner > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:27

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What are you going to replace it with?

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Discerning 03/05/2018 at 15:32

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The first time there was no visible damage to anything. They haven’t taken the head off yet, they are waiting until the new one shows up. I’m planning to take a drive over there when they do pull the head.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Future next gen S2000 owner 03/05/2018 at 15:35

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I’ve been eyeballing STi’s again. There is no way I’ll be driving this after the warranty expires, so even if it’s not a lemon law buy back it will get traded in sooner rather than later.

Future next gen S2000 owner > 450X_FTW 03/05/2018 at 15:40

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I thought you picked up the Sierra used.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:43

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I don’t know, after all that I would almost be getting rid of it.....pretty ridiculous for a supposedly quality product you spent a lot of hard earned money on...

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 15:45

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

- CobraJoe, 2017

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 03/05/2018 at 16:08

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Ouch, LOL! I like the car, and until this fiasco haven’t regretted trading in the STi. I like the hatch better than the sedan, there are a lot more creature comforts, there is so much more power in every situation and it is much more fun to drive. Then again the STi spent a total of... never even a single night in the shop over 10 years.

camarov6rs > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 16:15

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CTR? Veloster N?

Discerning > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 03/05/2018 at 17:23

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I just noticed that your pistons are going to make it tricky to identify if they contacted the valves (could be mistaken). I’d go as far as running your fingers across all 4 pistons to feel for any rough metal and examine them as close as possible.

450X_FTW > Future next gen S2000 owner 03/06/2018 at 07:46

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I did, from a GM dealership. Lemon law still applies, but it covers less items once it’s a 2nd owner.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > camarov6rs 03/06/2018 at 16:09

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AWD is a must have for me. I see something like 200-250" of snow every winter.