Road Rage

1) Extended Life Coolant warning! Field use of Texaco Havoline DexCool and Prestone Extended Life coolant formulas are causing premature gasket failures in Ford V-8 4.6 liter engines. Motor Magazine recommends against using these coolants in any Ford or Chrysler vehicles. [Motor August 2001] I contacted a friend at Honda engineering and he said Dex is ok with Hondas, per a previous post I did on the topic.

2) 1999-2000 Mustang Cobra> Ball joint assembly where the lower control arm attaches in the rear knuckle moves forward or backward from its installed position causing stress on the knuckle casting which could fracture, allowing the corner of the vehicle to drop, and the lower control arm could contact the inside of the rear wheel affecting steering.

3) 2002 Acura 3.2TL> Failure to comply with requirements of DOT safety seat belt assembly standards because passenger seat belt buckles do not release the seat belt tongue within the specified force limit. (That's all it was - something for wimpy fingered former Saab owners?). Damn,, I would have passed on it.

4) 2001 Avalon, Camry, Sienna> Front sub frame assembly was not welded properly, causing sub frame separation and loss of steering control.

5) BMW: 1994-1995 5-Series with M60 V-8> These engines were built with Nikasil cylinder liners which experience premature cylinder wall wear, as soon as 40,000 miles. Installing steel cylinder liners from the Vega engine (an exact fit) is a less expensive option than the factory rebuilt short block.

6) VANOS variable camshaft control system (Variable Nockenwellen Steuerung) has a tendency to fail from the actuator piston sticking, which is caused by a build up of sludge in the VANOS housing. The sludge is caused by the unreasonably long oil change intervals called for by BMW, and use of non-synthetic motor oils. When this happens, the actuator piston tends to stick in the advanced position, which results in a rough idle and engine noise in some cases.

Note #6 for all the synthetic bashers - also, a special thanks to BMW and its accountants for making available "free" maintenance - just make sure you dump the car after the warranty expires, because the "lubricated for life" mentality ain't payin' off. Pathetic. Another reason I didn't buy the M3 I was no. 2 on the wait list for.

RUF87

Vega??? As in the Chevy Vega? You got to be joking!?!?!?!

If not . . .

Mega-LOL

RUF

coffeefingers

Dude,


Nah...he means the Susan Vega engine! I believe its factory code is the "My Name Is Luka" engine.

SoundSpeed

Good information, especially number 3.
What is the source of all this information?

bioyuki

Roadrage is secretly a member of the Automotive CIA


hehehe

SoundSpeed

Covert operations inside the headquarters of all the largest auto makers.

Road Rage

The source can be some or all of the following based on my professional exposure:

1) Various trade publications (professional) such as Motor, etc.
2) I subscribe to an on-line service
3) SAE monographs
4) SAE colleagues
5) TSB's
6) NHTSA

The Secret Warranties come to us from people who give us feedback.

And yes, it is the Chevrolet Vega insert! Some theories was that is is a material from the star Vega - I will have to check with Jody Foster on that.

Is this stuff valuable or should I keep it to myself?

rockinTLS

Personally, I enjoy these automotive tidbits.

The Vega thing is hilarious. We used to buy them in 80's for cheap transportation. Car = $200 + head machine & gasket = $100. Total cost = $300. It was good for about 6 months to a year and we'd buy another one. Ahhh, the good ole days.

In a $$$ bimmer? Too much!

Road Rage

At the risk of bringing myself into public ridicule, but as a gesture to RickinTLS, I will admit I actually owned a Twin-cam Vega! I call it the midget father of the Northstar!

To show you how corrupt BMW NA is - they knew that all the other luxo engines manufacturers (and our own Anna-Ohio mfd. V6) use steel inserts to address the issue of corrosive deterioration of the cylinder wall by the action of sulfuric acid. When, sure enough, the M60 engines started to lose compression, Munich's official response was "It is the US' dirty fuel". Pressed for a better answer and in response to outcry from owners, BMW did not recall the engines for replacement or repair, but instead extended the warranty duration. You could see through the deceit - their enginners and accountants surely had done the math, and determined that if the engine had not suffered the problem by 40k, it would likely make it to 100k, then suffer the inevitable! This was discussed with much anger in the BMW Club magazine, Roundel.

It is another reason (along with the famous 1.8L cylinder head gasket blowouts) I did not buy the new M3 I ordered.

bricot

Very interesting excerpts, I also find them very interesting. Helps maintain ones perspective.

rockinTLS

Thanks for the gesture Rage!

Of course, the Cosworth Twin Cam Vega's are actually a collector's item now. The "base" models never will be!

mackdaddy

Keep'm coming RoadRage. There's no such statement as "too much information" as far as automotive news is concerned (in my vocabulary at least.) Thanks for the enlightening news....

Jim

SoundSpeed

Yep.