Factory ordered my 05 xlt Aug 10. Dealer says due to production delays it wont be available to mid Dec. Initial estimate was 10 weeks outside. Anyone else seen this?

 

Blue Oval News said the delay was due to engine problems. Ford had to determine whether they were going to replace them in vehicles already made or leave as is. The new engines would be fixed or modified.

Good luck----Bob

Ford Orders Stop Shipment Of 2005 Trucks, Mustang Due To Defective Engines -
Ford GT "40" Alleged To Have Defective Cylinder Heads
07 September 2004
Dearborn, Michigan.
Robert Lane

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updated 27 September 2004, 3:35pm, est.
Internal Ford Motor Company documents supplied to BlueOvalNews substantiate the article below. We will post scanned copies of these documents on this site in the near future. Until then, let the uninformed take delivery of early model year production vehicles.


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updated 08 September 2004, 10:00pm, est.
We are now stating for a FACTUAL matter that Ford has ordered assembly plants to stop shipping 2005 model year vehicles due to defective 4.6L and 5.4L engines. Should Ford wish to challenge this information, they know our address.

At this time, we are only ALLEGING that the GT "40" heads are defective.

The article below is presented how it was originally published.


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Sources at one of Ford's engine plants told BlueOvalNews that Ford Motor Company has instructed assembly plants to stop shipping certain 2005 model year vehicles because they can contain defective 4.6L or 5.4L engines. BlueOvalNews was first altered to the problem after we received a news tip at the end of August.
The products that can contain the defective engines include the 2005 Ford Mustang GT, 2005 F-Series, 2005 F-Series Super Duty, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator. Ford has instructed the assembly plants to stop shipping vehicles until they are screened to see if they contain the defective engines. It is not known if any products were shipped to consumers before the problem was noticed.

The 2005 model year 4.6L and 5.4L engines in question were built with defective cylinder heads. According to sources, the defective cylinder heads will have an adverse effect on performance and will cause the engine to fail to meet Ford's specifications. <added 27 sept 04: according to internal Ford documents, the engines may contain lower than specified compression>.

It's not immediately clear if Ford will replace the entire engine at the assembly plant or just replace the defective cylinder heads and approve the vehicle for shipment to customers.

A Team Mustang source told BlueOvalNews that a stop shipment order means that Ford won't ship GT Mustangs to dealers, but it doesn't mean that Ford will stop building Mustangs - they can still build V6 powered models until problems with the 4.6L engines are corrected. Further, even though Ford officially launched JOB1 of the Mustang today, shipments don't occur immediately. "Somewhere within two weeks after Job #1 we have an OK to ship meeting where all the upper management on the program proclaim the vehicle is OK to ship. . . .launching a new vehicle in a new plant can have its issues. That's just part of what a launch is all about.", said our source.

In what could prove to be the most devesting news; however, is that the Ford GT "40" is alleged to have cylinder heads that contain defects in the combustion chamber pocket area. According to sources, Ford is allegedly making design changes to the cylinder head and will create a new casting which is targeted for release by 01 January 2005. Rather than issue a recall for the Ford GT, Ford would most likely issue a TSB (technical service bulletin) and repair the vehicles only as needed. Look for an update on the GT heads at a later date.